Jr. Redmen Squirt AAA Hockey Team runs unbeaten streak to 10 games.

The Jr. Redmen Squirt AAA Hockey Team kept rolling going 2-0-1 over the weekend and ran their unbeaten streak to 10 games.

The Jr. Redmen started a busy weekend of hockey with a dominating 3-0 win over the Burlington Devils.  The Jr. Redmen knew they would have to be at their best as they were missing star goaltender Ben O’Keefe.  The Jr. Redmen called up superstar Mite goalie Megan Cunningham and she fit in great, making a number of great saves, earing the shutout.  The Jr. Redmen opened up the game with some pretty tic-tac-toe passing that led to early scoring chances for Billy Doherty, Conor Cremin, and Jake McDonough but the big Burlington goalie made all the saves.  Burlington had a couple of early chances as well but outstanding defense from the pairing of Justin Rooney and Timmy Sweeney kept the game scoreless through the first 8 minutes of the game.  Jason Cooke put the Jr. Redmen ahead with 3:24 left in the 1st period as he blew a high wrister past the Devils’ goalie, assist to Justin Rooney.  The 2nd period started with the Devils getting early pressure but a great glove save by Megan Cunningham kept the lead for the Jr. Redmen.  The Jr. Redmen went on the powerplay with 7 minutes left in the 2nd period and got great puck movement and scoring chances from the line of Alex Pescatore, Andrew Grieco, and Andrew Della Piana.  The Jr. Redmen took a 2-0 lead with 2:44 left in the 2nd period when the Chapman siblings combines for a hard working goal.  Maci Chapman stole the puck from a Devil defenseman at the right faceoff circle and fired a wrist shot on net where her brother Brady Chapman was there to knock in the rebound.  The 3rd period was dominated by the Jr. Redmen as they had sustained offensive zone pressure for the majority of the period.  Jack Griffin had the early chance to give the Jr. Redmen a 3-0 lead but his hard wrister from the high slot rang off the right post.  Conor Cremin and Billy Doherty worked a nice give-and-go out of the left corner but Doherty’s shot was snagged by the Devil goaltender.  The Jr. Redmen got a late goal by Sean Murphy to close out the scoring and secure the 3-0 shutout win.

The Jr. Redmen were back at the rink on Saturday March 22nd for a 7am battle against the Framingham Jr. Flyers.  The early morning start time at Hallenborg did not keep the fans away as the Jr. Redmen faithful were out in full-force to cheer on their favorite hockey team.  The Jr. Redmen were once again without goaltender Ben O’Keefe so they called up goalie Zak Fontaine from local coaching legend Brian Kierce’s Squirt AA team.  The Jr. Redmen came out sluggish and Framingham had the early chances but solid saves by Fontaine kept the game scoreless through the first 5 minutes of the game.  The Jr. Redmen got on the scoreboard first when Sean Murphy scored a pretty powerplay goal as all 5 Jr. Redmen players touched the puck before Murphy’s bomb hit the back of the net, assists on the goal to Alex Pescatore and Justin Rooney.  The Jr. Redmen took a 2-0 lead just 18 seconds later when Jake McDonough sent a high backhander over the sprawling Framingham goalie, assist to Maci Chapman.  The Jr. Redmen were under heavy pressure late in the 1st period but great defensive work from Andrew Grieco and Andrew Della Piana kept the 2-goal lead for the Jr. Redmen.  The Jr. Redmen opened the 2nd period with solid offensive zone pressure and nearly took a 3 goal lead when the line of Brady Chapman, Conor Cremin and Jason Cooke had back-to-back scoring chances hit a post and then the crossbar.  Framingham scored midway through the 2nd period to cut the lead to 2-1 and nearly tied the game on the next shift but Timmy Sweeney made a great defensive play breaking up a 2-on-1.  Framingham was awarded a penalty shot with 32 seconds left in the 2nd period and big #15 put the puck in the back of the net on a nice deke move to tie the game 2-2.  The Jr. Redmen opened the 3rd period looking to regain the lead and did so just 1:12 into the period when Sean Murphy scored his 2nd goal of the game on a high wrister from the point, assist to Jake McDonough.  Framingham fought right back and tied the game 3-3 just 1:34 later.  The final 8 minutes of the game was a fast-paced battle between 2 great skating teams.  The Jr. Redmen had great chances with just over 6 minutes left in the game when Maci Chapman intercepted a breakout pass and fired a hard wrist shot that the Framingham goalie saved.  The Jr. Redmen played great defense down the stretch and got some great saves from Zak Fontaine to leave the rink with a hard-fought 3-3 tie.

The Jr. Redmen closed out their busy weekend of hockey with a 7pm battle against the Methuen Rangers on Sunday 3/23 at Methuen High School Rink.  The Jr. Redmen were happy to have their goalie back as Ben O’Keefe returned to the lineup.  The Jr. Redmen needed “OKIE” in this game as Methuen came out flying and put 4-5 quality scoring chances on net in the first 3 minutes of the game that O’Keefe turned aside.  The Jr. Redmen also got some great defensive efforts early on from Timmy Sweeney and Justin Rooney, to keep the game scoreless.  The Jr. Redmen were finally able to gain some offensive zone pressure when the line of Maci Chapman, Jake McDonough and Sean Murphy worked the cycle down low, resulting in a one-time from the slot from Murphy that rang off the crossbar.  With time winding down in the 1st period Conor Cremin used his speed to win a race for the puck in the neutral zone resulting in a great scoring chance but Cremin’s wrister just sailed wide of the net.  Methuen scored 1st just 3 minutes into the 2nd period to take the 1-0 lead.  Methuen kept attacking and had chances to increase their lead but the rock-solid defensive tandem of Andrew Grieco and Andrew Della Piana kept the Rangers off the board.  The Jr. Redmen were finally able to tie the game 1-1 with 1:03 left in the 2nd period when Brady Chapman fired a wrister from an odd angle that found the back of the net, assists to Jason Cooke and Timmy Sweeney.  The 3rd period turned into an offensive outburst as a total of 6 goals were scored.  Brady Chapman scored his 2nd goal of the game just 1:02 into the 3rd period as his spin-o-rama wrist shot found its way through the 5-hole for the 2-1 lead.  Methuen tied the game just 1:44 later as speedy #81 scored a pretty goal.  The Jr. Redmen did not back down and regained the lead just 41 seconds later when Billy Doherty connected on a hard-working goal.  Doherty took a big hit in the Methuen zone but bounced right up to find the puck back on his stick.  Doherty took a quick look across ice to see if anyone was open but instead fired a hard wrist shot that the Ranger goalie never saw until the ref pulled it out of the back of the net, assists to Jack Griffin and Jason Cooke.   The Rangers tied the game with 3:02 left in the game and the Jr. Redmen knew they would have to dig deep to pull out the win.  Alex Pescatore delivered for the Jr. Redmen with 35 seconds left in the game as he fired a bomb just under the crossbar past the Ranger goalie for the 4-3 lead, assist to Jake McDonough.  Justin Rooney scored an insurance goal just 8 seconds later as he won the ensuing faceoff, split the two Ranger defenseman and beat the Ranger goalie with a beautiful backhander for the 5-3 win.