After press time:
North Reading defeats Triton 3-0 (Jan. 15)
By DAN ZIMMERMAN
TEWKSBURY — Sustaining back-to-back defeats last week and in the midst of a scoring drought, it was essential for the North Reading hockey team to begin finding the net as midseason comes into view. Mission accomplished – to borrow the lyrics from a popular 1959 song, “What a difference a day makes, 24 little hours.”
In a 24-hour span last weekend, North Reading’s suddenly explosive offense uncorked 15-goals in two outings, handing struggling Everett an 8-0 drubbing on Saturday followed by Sunday evening’s 7-1 rout of Pentucket. With the pivotal wins, the Hornets climbed back over .500 hockey to 5-4 overall.
“We’ve been so close in a lot of ways, at times misconnecting on plays,” said North Reading Coach Brian McAuliffe, who has his club at 3-1 in the Cape Ann League Baker standings, good for first place. “But they’re starting to click now. The talent is there, the effort is there, and the attitude is there, and now you’re seeing the great results.”
The results weren’t so great when North Reading hosted Triton on Jan. 4 and was soundly defeated, 5-2. Tom Gazda and James Nelson furnished goals in the first and third periods, respectively, but otherwise, North Reading failed to challenge the 6-3-1 Vikings.
Several days later, the Hornets paid a visit to rival Lynnfield and were dealt a 3-1 defeat to mark the first time this season the team came up short in consecutive games.
In it’s heyday, the Everett Crimson Tide hockey program was formidable. Not so today, as the 1-9 Tide has been reduced to a cooperative club represented by players from Everett, Malden, Revere and Mystic Valley. After piling up 6 goals at the midpoint of Saturday’s game at the Allied Veteran’s Rink, North Reading showed leniency and eased back on the throttle. Eight different Hornets scored goals, including Dylan O’Driscoll, Jack Hodgin, Brendan Gazda, Tom Gazda, Christian Lava, Daniel Rego, Duncan Gulino and Matthew Mericantante.
Goaltender Steven DeLisle, a first-year senior who transferred from Lincoln-Sudbury High School, was pleased to come up with a shutout and earn his first win with the Hornets.
“A win is a win,” said DeLisle, who has alternated starts with Charlie Cooper since the season outset. “My teammates were there to clean up some of my rebounds. It definitely helps that we seem to be gaining some momentum.”
North Reading hosted Pentucket on Jan. 12, the lone Sunday contest of the season. Scoreless after one, the Hornets cranked up the offense, burying three each in the second and third frames for an insurmountable 6-0 lead.
Partly inspired by James Nelson, who departed with an undisclosed injury, Tom Gazda became an offensive menace, notching a hat trick and moving into second place in Hornet scoring with 13-points (7 goals and 6 assists).
“After James went down, Coach (McAuliffe) said it was time for a gut check and we just rallied from there,” said Gazda, whose first of the night proved to be the eventual game-winner. “Me and (Christian) Lava found a connection we’ve been working on in practice and he was feeding me all night.”
Lava added 4 assists and a goal to maintain his scoring lead with 16-points (8 goals, 8 assists). Defenseman Max Forristall bookended the scoring, adding the first and last goals of the night.
Cooper was particularly sharp in net, turning aside 25-shots. He allowed an insignificant tally deep in the third period, yielding to Chase Pelletier, the Panther’s top threat.
With the entire Hornet third line out with illness, along with the Nelson injury, McAuliffe was forced to shuffle his lines. For instance, he sent freshman blueliner Dylan O’Driscoll to skate on a line with Gazda and Lava. The move paid immediate dividends.
“Dylan was money tonight, moving the puck up and down the ice with ease,” said Gazda. “You’d never know he typically plays defense. He was dynamite.”
“It was great to see players like O’Driscoll making a name for themselves,” said McAuliffe. “That’s what we’ll need to have continued success for the rest of the season. The guys knew they needed to dig down deep tonight and they certainly did.”
On Wednesday evening, North Reading traveled to face Triton in a rematch (results in after press time) and will begin the second half of the season on Monday at the Allied Rink when they tussle with 6-3 Northeast Tech at noon.