The Tewksbury Redmen Squirt ‘A’ Hockey continued their winning ways with a dominating 5-1 win over Natick on Saturday 1/5 at the Burlington Ice Palace.

The Redmen came out a bit sluggish and Natick was able to get a couple of quality scoring chances but Redmen goalie Caulin Martel made 2 outstanding saves to keep the game scoreless.  The Redmen got their legs going thanks to the hard work by the line of Kaylen Taddia/Julia Stanizzi/Maci Chapman.  The girls worked the forecheck to perfection resulting in a Taddia shot that hit the post. The Redmen scored first with 6:03 left in the 1^st period when Jake McDonough scored on a nice wrist shot over the goalie’s blocker, assist to Aidan Silvia.  Natick battled back but was unable to break through the steel curtain defense of Austin Tingtella and Jared LeGrand.  The Redmen nearly increased their lead to 2-0 with just under a minute to play in the 1^st period when Timmy Sweeney used his speed to get to a loose puck, skated in alone on a breakaway, deked around the goalie but his shot rang off the right post.

The 2^nd period was a fast-paced battle as both teams had outstanding chances to score but both teams’ goalies and defense played great.  Natick had the early chances in the 2^nd period but aggressive plays by Chance Fitzgerald and Cam Whealan disrupted any ideas Natick had of tying the game.  Maci Chapman and Kaylen Taddia combined on a 2-on-1 but Chapman’s shot was saved by the goalie.  Natick was able to tie the game 1-1 with 6:12 left in the period but the Redmen quickly regained the lead just 1:20 later when Chance Fitzgerald quickly moved the puck out of his zone, making a great cross-ice pass to Jake McDonough. McDonough broke in alone and beat the goalie through the 5-hole for the 2-1 Redmen lead.  Redmen goalie Caulin Martel then made 2 great glove saves to close out the period.

The Redmen completely dominated the 3^rd period, getting shot after shot, and outscoring Natick 3-0 in the period.  Justin Rooney got it started just 16 seconds
into the period when he scored on a great backhander, assists to Evan Zonderman and Shayne MacDonald.  The Redmen increased their lead to 4-1 just 2 minutes later when Timmy Sweeney used his baseball expertise to knock a puck out of mid air into the back of the net, assist to Jake McDonough.  Natick was unable to gain any offensive zone pressure in the 3^rd period thanks to the outstanding defensive work of Trevor Lindsey and Jade Owirka.  Justin Rooney, who was a force all game long, scored his 2^nd goal of the game with 2:32 left in the game on a breakaway, resulting in the 5-1 win for the Redmen.