Wakefield Nets Late-Game Goal to Beat Lexington, 3-2

In a game decided late in the third period, the Lexington boys' hockey team couldn't hold off Wakefield Saturday night at the Burbank Ice Arena in Reading, as the Warriors scored late in the third period to pull off a 3-2 win.

Early in the game, Wakefield held possession and had several scoring opportunities, but fell short of tallying a goal. The Minutemen grabbed a breakaway, but missed an early chance when the Wakefield defense bottled up the move. Strong Lexington goalkeeping kept the Wakefield attack at bay.

With about 7:00 left in the first period, Lexington started to string together good passes, during a penalty, but the Warrior defense did a solid job killing the advantage. At the 3:30 mark, the battle for the boards picked up. Wakefield became the aggressors and maintained tight possession inside the Lexington zone.

Crisp passes by Wakefield spread the puck around nicely, and found captain Patrick McCarthy alone just inside the blue line. He calmly took his time and lined up a hard slap shot, which found the back of the net. Captain John Sartell assisted.

The first period ended 1-0, after Lexington didn't manage many opportunities. But Lexington captain Dave Nardella tried to rally his team for the next period, shouting encouragement and patting teammates on the back as they took the ice. 

The Warriors held tight to their control as Lexington did their best to clear the puck. Several icing calls kept it in their end, however. On a rare face off near the Wakefield net, Lexington got on the scoreboard near the 7:00 mark. Brian Segreve slotted it in, assisted by Andy Molgaard, to tie the game at 1-1.

With half the second period gone, Lexington got hit with a cross-checking penalty. Their defense held strong and one player made a stellar block with his body stretched along the ice, stopping a Wakefield shot. 

Captain John Sartell skated around the net a couple times, delivering the puck into the middle, but his teammates couldn't capitalize on the maneuver. Another Lexington penalty kept the advantage on the Wakefield side. When the Lexington player was sprung from the penalty box the puck happened to fall in front of him with a clear path to the Wakefield goal. He jumped on the opportunity, but was denied by a brilliant save.

The game was even at 1-1 entering the third period. A desperate shot attempt by Lexington went wide, and the Wakefield offense fired back with a clever wrist shot, which bounced off the goalie and was almost poked in. The Minutemen also saw several attempts on net, but the puck didn't fall.

Wakefield's Edward Mathews broke the back-and-forth deadlock by launching a shot from far out that is parried down, but trickles across the line into the net. Brett Buckley provided the assist. Not too long after, John Sartell combined with Kevin Doherty for the third and decisive goal.

Lexington was not quite finished, and managed to get a loose-puck goal with about 2:00 remaining in the game. Captain Dave Nardella netted the puck, assisted by Michael McWeeney. Lexington tried a last-ditch effort to score an equalizer, pulling its goalie with 1:30 remaining, but Wakefield held on for the win. 

Lexington Coach Greg Fowke said he was happy with his team's improvement throughout the game, and that the Minutemen players should continue to gather momentum.

"We will get better as the season moves on," Fowke said.