On Sunday November 17th the Jr. Redmen Squirt AAA Hockey team skated in front of a large home crowd at Breakaway Ice Center in Tewksbury and left the rink with a well-deserved 2-0 win against a talented Lynnfield-Saugus Stars hockey club.
The Stars came out flying and put immediate pressure on the Jr. Redmen but they were unable to penetrate the rock-solid defense by Andrew Grieco and Jason Cooke. The Jr. Redmen started to move the puck which resulted in scoring chances for the line of Maci Chapman, Timmy Sweeney, and Alex Pescatore but the Stars goalie was there to make the saves. The Stars had a great chance to take the 1-0 lead with just over 5 minutes to play in the 1st period when big #51 broke in all alone but Jr. Redmen goalie Ben O’Keefe flashed the catching glove to keep the game scoreless. Justin Rooney, who was flying all game long, gave the Jr. Redmen a 1-0 lead with 1:30 left in the 1st period with a hard wrist shot over the goalie’s blocker, assists to Conor Cremin and Andrew Della Piana.
The 2nd period started with the Stars looking to tie the game but Jr. Redmen defensemen Sean Murphy and Justin Rooney each made great individual plays to break up scoring chances. With just over 3 minutes gone in the 2nd period, Jr. Redmen wingers Billy Doherty and Brady Chapman worked a great give-and-go out of the right corner but Chapman’s wrister rang off the left post. The Jr. Redmen took a 2-0 lead with 2:09 left in the 2nd period when Jake McDonough picked up a loose puck at center ice, skated in along the left boards, cut in and was hauled down by a Stars’ defender but as he was going down, McDonough slid the puck through the 5-hole for a pretty goal. The Jr. Redmen nearly increased their lead to 3-0 with time winding down in the 2nd period but Sean Murphy’s hard wrist shot sailed over the crossbar.
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The Stars came out flying in the 3rd period determined to get back into the game but had trouble once again getting past the “steel curtain” defense of the Jr. Redmen. When the Stars were able to generate shots on net, Jr. Redmen goalie Ben O’Keefe was there to shut the door. The Jr. Redmen used their tremendous team speed and puck-moving ability to generate a number of scoring chances late in the game. Timmy Sweeney took a great cross-ice pass from Maci Chapman but his shot was saved by the Stars’ goalie. Conor Cremin had the crowd buzzing with his end-to-end rush but he was hauled down from behind just as he was firing his shot. The Jr. Redmen closed out the game playing great team defense and secured the 2-0 shutout for Benny.
