North Reading's Fitzgerald Snags Super 8 Crown

Deep inside the pile of Malden Catholic boys hockey players stacked on top of each other on the TD Garden ice was a familiar face for North Reading residents.

Sophomore defenseman Casey Fitzgerald, a North Reading resident, was a key player for the Lancers, who topped Austin Prep, 3-2, on Sunday, March 17.

Fitzgerald was among the top point scorers for Malden Catholic during the regular season. He fired home four goals and dished out 11 assists, totaling 15 points for the fourth highest total on the team.

“This title meant so much to me and my teammates because we started the season off a little slow and were not winning games we should have been winning,” said Fitzgerald. “There were a lot of people doubting us, but we pulled together as a team and had great leadership and turned things around.”

The sophomore saw significant ice time as a freshman, something that he said helped him learn immediately what it took to play at the varsity level.

Sunday’s Division 1A title game against Austin Prep didn’t, however, start off how Fitzgerald and the Lancers hoped. The Cougars took just 14 seconds to score the game’s first goal.

“That was a wake up call for us,” said Fitzgerald, whose team scored the next three tallies of the game. “After that goal, we dug down deep and stuck to our game plan and played with a lot more energy. It worked out for the best.”