The Tewksbury Redmen Mite AAA Hockey team kicked off the school vacation week with a 4-3 win over first place Triton on Tuesday February 19^th at Haverhill Valley Forum.

The Redmen came out flying and took an early 1-0 lead just 24 seconds into the game when Center Jason Cooke fired a wrist shot over the goalie’s blocker, assist to Billy Doherty.  The Redmen kept attacking and had some great chances to increase their lead when Left Wing Jack Griffin used his speed to blow past a Triton defenseman and fired a hard wrist shot on net.  Nick Calouro jumped on the rebound but his shot just missed the far post. Triton showed why they are a 1^st
place team and used their team speed to create pressure on the Redmen but great
defensive efforts from Conor Cremin and Andrew Grieco kept the puck away from
the Redmen net.  With 4:25 left in the 1^st period the Redmen had a great scoring chance when Brady Chapman and Jason Cooke worked the 2-on-1 to perfection but Chapman’s wrist shot landed in the goalie’s catching glove.  Triton was able to tie the game 1-1 with 2:13 left in the 1^st period on a great end-to-end rush by speedy #44.

The 2^nd period was much like the first, a hard fought, up and down battle between 2 great teams.  Triton had early chances to take the lead but Redmen Goalie Ben O’Keefe made back-to-back saves that even had the referees cheering for him.  The Redmen took a 2-1 lead with 7:08 left in the 2^nd period when Jason Cooke scored his 2^nd goal of the game on a wicked wrister that the goalie never saw, assists to Andrew Della Piana and Brady Chapman.  Triton was determined to tie the game and had a great chance on a 2-on-1 but Redmen Defenseman Andrew Grieco made an outstanding play to break up the play.  Grieco then skated the puck through center ice and sent a pretty cross-ice pass to Matt Cooke who skated in and fired a hard wrist shot that rang off the left post.  Triton was able to tie the game 2-2 with 3:28 left in the 2^nd period and they had a chance to take the lead with just over 1 minute to play in the period but Redmen Defenseman Danny Kierce made a great diving play to break up a sure goal.

Both teams came out flying in the 3^rd period, determined to get the win.  Jack Griffin worked hard on the forecheck and stole the puck from a Triton defenseman, sending a quick pass to the slot area where Conor Cremin gathered the puck and fired a hard wrist shot that the goalie saved.  Triton had their own chances but Redmen Goalie Ben O’Keefe made 3 saves to keep the game tied at two.  The Redmen once again took the lead with 6:05 left in the game when Jason Cooke registered the hat trick, taking the puck from one end of the ice to the other and blowing a wrist shot past the goalie, assist to Andrew Grieco.  Triton knotted the game up once again with 4:35 left in the game and with 2:32 left in the game went on the powerplay.  Triton nearly took the lead but with the puck trickling on the goal line, Redmen Defenseman Andrew Della Piana swooped in and knocked the puck away before it crossed the goal line.  The Redmen “PK” unit killed off the remainder of the penalty and with 40 seconds left in the game took the lead for good when Matt Cooke fired a hard wrist shot into the corner of the net, assists to Brady Chapman and Jason Cooke. Triton pulled their goalie but great defensive efforts from the Redmen helped secure the 4-3 win.