By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — The Select Board recently honored two youth hockey teams for winning championships in their respective divisions.
Select Board Chairman Joe Connell said during a recent meeting that the Saugus-Lynnfield Youth Hockey Mite 2 team “finished the regular season in first place in the AAA division after starting the season as a AA team.”
“The team captured the Valley Hockey League Mite AAA title by decisively defeating Woburn 7-4 in the championship game,” said Connell while reading a citation from the Select Board.
Connell recalled that the Mite 2 team included Joey Berlinghieri, Aiden Brown, Nico Cavallo, Remo Colucciello, Elle Ferguson, Jack Freehling, Max Lawler, Zayd Limem, Luca Mandell, Nico Mandell, Charlie O’Hara, Jace Roy and Marcel Sardina. He said coaches Ryan Ferguson and Mauro Colucciello and team manager Sabrina Mandell did a great job leading the Mite 2 team to the championship win over Woburn.
“These laudable accomplishments are a reflection of the dedication of the athletes, coaches and parents whose commitment and effort is necessary for such high achievement,” said Connell.
Connell said the Mite 2 team’s players “demonstrated high levels of skill, dedication and sportsmanship that stand as a credit to the team, the league and the community.”
“We, the Select Board of the town of Lynnfield, do hereby offer our congratulations and those of the town for their achievements,” said Connell.
Ferguson said the Mite 2 team “had a great year.”
“We couldn’t be more proud of the kids,” said Ferguson. “The team was terrific.”
Colucciello agreed.
“I am so proud of these kids,” said Colucciello. “They worked very hard. We are very proud of them.”
After the Mite 2 team’s players received their citations, they were given a round of applause by a large group of attendees.
The Select Board also presented citations to the Saugus-Lynnfield Youth Hockey Pee Wee 1 team.
“The Pee Wee 1 team finished the regular season in third place and then won two thrilling playoff games in overtime to advance to the championship game,” said Connell while reading the citation. “The team upset top seed Chelmsford 4-1 in the Valley Hockey League finals to win the Pee Wee AAA championship.”
Connell congratulated Pee Wee 1 team players Chase Austin, Alex Braley, Ryan Burns, Dalton Diozzi, Gavin Diozzi, Chase Dixon, John Doyle, Donovan Lane, Domenic Magliozzi, Justin Migliero, Henry Riester, Danny Ryan, Michael Santos, Luca Sarni, Eddie Torri, Brian Trainor, Gregory Underwood and Joseph Visconti for winning the Valley Hockey League championship.
“These laudable accomplishments are a reflection of the dedication of the athletes, coaches and parents whose commitment and effort is necessary for such high achievement,” said Connell.
Connell also thanked coaches Jim Diozzi, Brian Trainor and Ed Torri, as well as team manager Susan Diozzi, for leading the Pee Wee 1 team to the championship victory over Chelmsford.
“We, the Select Board of the town of Lynnfield, do hereby offer our congratulations and those of the town for their achievements,” said Connell.
Coach Jim Diozzi said the Pee Wee 1 squad was a “Cinderella team.”
“We had a beautiful mix of the older kids and the younger kids,” said Diozzi. “A majority of these kids did not play together, which is uncommon. Usually, you play together and work your way up. We came together and had an up-and-down season, but we got hot at the right time at the end of the season. We had an overtime thriller against Beverly in the playoffs. We went on to beat Chelmsford in the championship game. It was truly an amazing season. I want to thank the team because this was my best season coaching ever. I have been coaching since 1999. Youth hockey is truly amazing. It’s my favorite sport.”
Diozzi thanked the Select Board for recognizing both youth hockey teams. He also thanked the players’ parents for supporting the teams this past year.
After the Pee Wee 1 team’s players received their citations, the players were given a round of applause by the large group of attendees.
Connell said the Saugus-Lynnfield Youth Hockey program is “quite literally a hockey factory of success.”