LYNN — The No. 2 St. Mary’s boys hockey team came out hot and never slowed down Wednesday afternoon, rolling to a 5-1 win over No. 3 Arlington Catholic in the semifinal round of the CCL Cup at Connery Rink. The Spartans led from start to finish, scoring less than a minute into the game and riding the momentum the rest of the way.
“It was great to see us bounce back after a couple of lackluster performances,” said St. Mary’s coach Mark Lee. “Our effort was good from start to finish and we played three good, solid periods of hockey.”
Brady Bullock led the offensive attack for St. Mary’s, notching two goals and one assist in the win. Colby Magliozzi and Kyle LoNigro each had one goal and one assist, while Eric Toto scored one goal. Kory Ouellette and Harrison Kinne each had one assist.
The Spartans got off to a fast start, scoring just 35 seconds into the first period to establish control. It was Magliozzi who earned the tally after taking a pass from Ouellette, burying one in the left side of the net to go up 1-0.
“To be able to score that quick was huge for us because it gave us a great spark,” said Lee. “We used that momentum, kept playing strong hockey and played well in all three zones.”
After holding that 1-0 lead for the rest of the first and much of the second period, the Spartans struck with two goals in the final five minutes of the second to really separate themselves. The first goal came from LoNigro on an assist from Kinne, then Bullock scored on a feed from Magliozzi to make it 3-0 going into the third.
While Arlington Catholic did come out and score a quick goal to grab some momentum early in the third period, St. Mary’s didn’t get rattled. Instead, the Spartans added two more goals over the final eight minutes — one each from Toto and Bullock — to cruise to a big win.
“It was good to see us battle back like that, especially after last week,” said Lee, referring to last Friday’s game when the Spartans allowed two late goals to settle for a draw against Arlington Catholic. “I think after letting one slip away like that, the guys were really determined to not let that happen again. They kept fighting and we were able to knock in two more goals to seal it.”
St. Mary’s (5-6-3) will go up against the winner of No. 1 Archbishop Williams and No. 4 Bishop Feehan in the CCL Cup Final on Saturday (TBD).
“We’ve always felt that we’re a little better than what our record shows, and over the last few games we’ve been playing a little more up to our capabilities at times,” said Lee. “We know that no matter who we got up against it’s going to be a tough battle, so we just have to be concerned with our own game and play three complete periods of hockey. If we can do that, I like our chances against anyone.”
