Lynn Item February 14

Home > Sports St. Mary's player Tommy Braswell scored twice in the Spartans' victory over St. Peter Marian. (Item File Photo) Spartans cruise past St. Peter Marian, 5-1 By Kevin Doyle / For The Item LYNN - There wasn't much of anything artistic about the St. Mary's hockey team's 5-1 decision over St. Peter Marian Saturday night at Connery Rink. Nevertheless, SPM provided little resistance as the Catholic Central Large champion Spartans ran their overall record to 12-2-3. Junior Tommy Braswell scored the first and last goals, bracketing single tallies from Julian Yourawski, Chris Surrette and Jordan Manthorne. St. Mary's skated four lines throughout and starting goalie Donald Hesse got a rare rest from freshman Patrick O'Leary, who provided third-period relief. "Certainly not one of our best outings," St. Mary's coach Mark Lee said. "I wasn't happy with the effort. We were sloppy at times. We played in spurts and took a lot of time off. The positives are that we skated four lines and played two goalies." As they embark on a season-defining week of non-league games starting with tonight's re-match against Malden Catholic (Connery, 8 p.m.), Lee knows the Spartans must ratchet it up several notches. A Thursday visit to surging Springfield Cathedral - which shut down surging St. John's Prep Saturday - and Saturday's home date with Bay State Carey power Weymouth follow. "This is the week that will tell us where we are. For us to compete, our level of play has to be much higher. Certainly, up to this point, having won the league with a 7-0-3 record, I think we deserve to be considered for the Division 1A Tournament. We need to finish strong but the (selection) committee has usually rewarded our league champion with a spot," Lee said. Braswell staked the Spartans to a quick 1-0 lead Saturday, striking just 2:27 into the game. Defenseman Nikko Markham's shot from the high slot caromed off a Guardians defenseman and glanced off the outside of the left post where Braswell was stationed to sweep a backhander in behind SPM goalie Tyler Miller (33 saves). Cam O'Neill's persistent forechecking and subsequent dish from the rear wall set up Yourawski for a 20-footer from the right circle that beat Miller to the short side for the eventual game-winner and a 2-0 lead with 7:46 left in the period. St. Mary's scored twice 52 seconds apart late in an otherwise uneventful second period to put it out of reach. Brendan Mageary's indirect pass off the left wall sent Manthorne away for a five-hole finish at 11:59. Surrette made it 4-0 at 12:51 with a mid-air swat after Miller got a stick on Braswell's pass from the left circle but couldn't control the puck. Braswell's power play strike, a rebound deposit of defenseman Cam Kennedy's shot from the high slot, made it 5-0 with 9:44 to play. The Guardians (3-14-0) avoided the shutout when James Blute scored off a faceoff to O'Leary's left with the teams skating four aside with 7:59 remaining. Lee said that in order for St. Mary's to avoid a repeat of an 8-0 loss to Malden Catholic in December, the Spartans must build on their third-period performance in that game. "We were a little bit in awe in that first game. We were standing around, they jumped on us and we never recovered. We were much more physical in the third period and, hopefully, we learned from that game. We have to do all that we can to control that first line," Lee said.