LYNN — It all came down to the final seven minutes of the game, but the St. Mary’s boys hockey team was able to get a late goal to earn a 2-1 win over Archbishop Williams in a Catholic Central League bout at Connery Rink Wednesday afternoon. The Spartans played stout defense down the stretch to help notch the win, including killing off four Williams power plays.
“We definitely got off to a slow start and Williams pretty much dominated most of the first period,” said St. Mary’s coach Mark Lee. “But the guys stuck with the plan and came out strong in the second, and then from that point on we were able to hold the edge. It was up-and-down for a good chunk of the game, but I’m happy we came out with the win.
“We work really hard on the penalty kill in practice, so it’s good to see us be able to defend well in those situations. I’m disappointed in the amount of penalties we took and we’ll need to clean that up, but we responded well with those penalty kills.”
Kyle LoNigro, who scored the game-winner, had one goal and one assist to pace the offense. Brady Carpenter added one goal, while Owen Maguire had two assists and Christian Iacoviello had one assist.
St. Mary’s also got a big performance in net from backup goaltender Owen Giangrande, who had to step in for starter Sal Caruso due to an illness. Giangrande made 18 saves in the win.
“Sal called in sick at the last minute (Wednesday morning), so Owen started his first game for us this year,” said Lee. “The senior goes out and the sophomore steps right in to hold the fort for us. And he really did help us out (Wednesday), he made some big saves at crucial times.”
It was a slow start to the game for St. Mary’s, as the Spartans were outshot 8-4 in the opening period. St. Mary’s also got called for two penalties in the frame and Williams hit the crossbar with just over two minutes left. But despite all that, the Spartans escaped the period deadlocked at 0-0.
The second period started much better for St. Mary’s, which started to pick up its play in the final minutes of the first. Less than a minute into the action, the Spartans got on the scoreboard when Carpenter found the top shelf after a scrum in front of the net, making it 1-0.
That positive momentum was short-lived, however, as Williams scored just two minutes later to knot the score at 1-1.
The score remained there until deep into the third period. After killing off an important penalty, the Spartans got back to even strength with some momentum. They used it to their advantage this time, as Iacoviello sent a long pass out to Maguire at center ice to set up a 2-on-1 break for St. Mary’s. Maguire darted into the zone and sent a pass across the ice to LoNigro, who made one quick deke to get the Williams goalie off balance and score the eventual game-winner with just under seven minutes to play.
Next up for the Spartans (5-0-1) is a non-conference matchup with Andover on Saturday (3).
“We know that on our schedule, there are no days off,” Lee said. “This is no different, we’ll be going up against a strong program Saturday and we expect another battle.”
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BOYS HOCKEY
St. John’s Prep 3, Xaverian 0
Pat Moran, Zach McKennelley and Evan Moore each scored one goal for the Eagles, while Jake DiNapoli and Ryan Hart each had one assist. Goalie Noah Dorsey-Sorofman notched his first career shutout in net.
The Prep (3-1-1) takes on Catholic Memorial Saturday afternoon (12:30).
Gloucester 3, Lynnfield 1
The Pioneers (3-3-1) travel to Pentucket Saturday night (7).
Swampscott 2, Essex Tech 0
The Big Blue got goals from Griffin Bruhm and Conor Donovan in the victory.
Swampscott (5-2-0) hosts Peabody Saturday (2:10) at Rockett Arena.