Medfield's Magrath, Graham Continue to Shine on Ice for Bridgton Academy

A pair of Medfield natives are continuing to play key roles in the success of their Birdgton Academy Jr. A hockey team this season.

contributed to a pair of wins for Bridgton Academy last week against two strong opponents.

BA defeated rival Kents Hill (Maine), 6-4 and earned a 4-2 victory over the National Sports Academy (New York).

In the first game, Kents Hill was first on the board with an early goal. Ryan Connors (Marshfield) answered back with Bridgton's first goal assisted by Magrath and Colin Edwards (Winchester). With the score tied at the end of the first period, Kents Hill took the momentum going into the second frame.

Kent Hill netted three unanswered goals and it appeared as if they had secured the win going into the third period with a 4-1 lead. Before long, Bridgton sparked a comeback as Mike Marchianda (Hyde Park) collected a feed from Steve Bellew (Hingham) for a power play goal. In the same shift, Marchianda brought the puck around the net and put up a fight with the help of Sam Scannell (Glastonbury, Conn.) to score his second goal of the game, Bridgton's third.

With less than two minutes left in the game, Alex Pompeo (Hingham) fired a shot on net and Magrath collected the rebound to score the game-tying goal. Bridgton then kept the momentum up as Edwards carried the puck down the ice and beat the goalie over his left shoulder with just over a minute left in the game to take a 5-4 lead. Kents Hill pulled their goalie with 30 seconds on the clock in an attempt to take the game into overtime. Pompeo cleared the puck to Kevin Seeley (Berkely) who netted a cross ice, empty net goal to secure the 6-4 win for Bridgton Academy.

Later in the week, the team took the ice for what promised to be a close, hard fought game against the National Sports Academy (NSA). Play was evenly matched in the first period, remaining scoreless until the last two minutes of the period. With NSA in the penalty box, Magrath and Edwards exchanged passes in front of the net before Edwards tallied the first goal of the game for Bridgton.

In the second period, the play was back and forth and it seemed as if Bridgton would hold their 1-0 lead heading into the third. With one minute on the board, NSA snuck a goal past Bridgton goaltender Jordi Vaan Gaal (RyMenam, Belgium) to tie things up. Bridgton was still looking to hold the lead at the end of the second, as Dylan Larrow (Ludlow) netted a rebound off a shot from the point taken by Cam Kennedy (Lynn).

NSA was looking for a comeback early in the third period as they scored the game-tying goal right away. It looked as if the game would enter into overtime, until Connors finished a pass from Magrath on another power play to take the lead. While NSA pulled their goalie for a man up advantage, Scannell buried a pass from Connors with just under a second left in the game for the 4-2 win.

Up next, the team will travel to Dracut to play the New England Stars Saturday at 7 p.m. and again Sunday at noon.