On Sunday 12/16 the Tewksbury Redmen Mites Hockey Team hit the snowy roads to Conway Arena in Nashua NH to take on the Nashoba Bears and skated away with a dominating 13-1 win.

The Redmen knew they would be logging a lot of ice time as they were down to only 8 skaters as Danny Kierce and Nick Calouro were out of the lineup.  The Redmen started quickly, scoring just 45 seconds into the game when Andrew Della Piana scored his 1^st of 6 goals on the day off a hard wrist shot, assists to Andrew Grieco and Jason Cooke.  Nashoba battled back getting 2 quality shots on net but Redmen goalie Ben O’Keefe made outstanding saves to keep the 1-0 lead.  The Redmen increased their lead to 2-0 when Matt Cooke used his toughness to win a battle in front of the net, firing a quick backhander under the sliding goalie, assist to Brady Chapman.  The Redmen closed out the 1^st period with a 3-0 lead when the Cooke Brothers combined on a great passing play they must have designed in backyard Cooke Arena.  Jason started the play behind his own net, skated the puck into the neutral zone where he sent a pass to his brother Matt at the far blue line.  Matt fired a one-time pass back to his older brother who blew past the two Nashoba defenseman and fired a bomb into the back of the net that the goalie never saw.

The 2^nd period was dominated by the Redmen as they scored 7 goals and got great contributions from everyone.  The Redmen scored 48 seconds into the period when Andrew Della Piana buried a rebound for the 4-0 lead, assist to Brady Chapman.  The Redmen kept attacking and increased the lead to 5-0 when Brady Chapman fired a wrist shot over the goalie’s blocker for his 1^st of 3 goals on the day.  Conor Cremin scored 54 seconds later when he used his speed to win a race for a loose puck and buried a wrist shot for his 1^st of 2 goals, assist to Jack Griffin.  The Redmen train kept on rolling as Brady Chapman scored his 2^nd on the day, off outstanding passing behind the Nashoba net.  Billy Doherty started the play on a great forecheck as he gained control of the puck in the right corner, sending a nice pass behind the net to Andrew Della Piana, who spotted Brady in the high slot.  Brady took the pass from Della Piana and fired a one-timer into the empty net.  Andrew Della Piana scored his 3^r goal of the game for the 8-0 lead off another great passing play, assists going to Conor Cremin and Jason Cooke.  Brady Chapman got his 3^rd goal in the game for the hat trick, stealing the puck from a Nashoba defenseman and deking around the goalie.  The 2^nd period scoring spree ended when Andrew Della Piana scored his 4^th goal of the game off a great pass from Matthew Cooke. 

Nashoba opened the 3^rd period looking to get on the scoreboard but Redmen goalie Ben O’Keefe made a great left pad save on a breakaway and a glove save on a wrist shot from the slot area.  The Redmen continued to pass the puck effectively in the Nashoba zone, working the cycle down low as Billy Doherty found a wide open Andrew Della Piana on the left post for the 11-0 lead.  Conor Cremin scored his 2^nd goal of the game on a breakaway with 5:27 left in the game, assists going to Jack Griffin and Andrew Grieco.  Nashoba was able to score with 12 seconds left in the game but the Redmen added 1 more with 0.04 left as Andrew Della Piana’s 6^th goal of the game found the back of the net prior to the buzzer going off.