Redmen Squirt ‘A’ Hockey Team continues their strong play, sweeps weekend action.

The Tewksbury Redmen Squirt ‘A’ Hockey Team continued their strong play, sweeping weekend action by beating Lynnfield-Saugus 7-2 and Stoneham 4-3.

On Saturday December 1st the Redmen hit the road for a game at Merrimack College against Lynnfield-Saugus and skated away with a convincing 7-2 win.  The Redmen came out flat and Lynnfield-Saugus capitalized as they scored on the
first shift of the game.  The Redmen got their skating legs and started to dominate play.  Justin Rooney scored his 1st of 4 goals in the game with 8:30 left in the 1st period to tie the game 1-1.  The Redmen continued to carry play getting great scoring chances from Evan Zonderman, Shayne MacDonald, and Aidan Silvia.  Lynnfield-Saugus battled back but the Redmen got great defensive efforts from Trevor Lindsey and Austin Tingtella to keep the score tied.  With just under 2 minutes to play in the 1st period Justin Rooney scored his 2nd goal of the game, using his speed to create a breakaway andbeating the goalie through the 5-hole with a nice backhander.  The Redmen increased the lead to 3-1 as Timmy Sweeney scored on a hard wrist shot with 11 seconds left in the 1st period.  Jake McDonough scored just 25 seconds into the 2nd period on a great individual effort to increase the lead to 4-1.  Lynnfield-Saugus put pucks deep in the Redmen zone but 3 great saves by Redmen goalie Caulin Martel and strong defensive efforts from Jared LeGrand and Jade Owirka kept the 3 goal lead for the Redmen.  With 6 minutes to play in the 2nd period Justin Rooney scored his 3rd goal of the game for the hat trick.  Chance Fitzgerald and Cam Whealan combined to break up a Lynnfield-Saugus 3-on-2 that resulted in Fitzgerald skating the length of the ice and firing a wrist shot off the left post.  The Redmen opened the 3rd period quickly as the “girl power”: line of Julia Stanizzi, Kaylen Taddia, and Maci Chapman gained control of the puck deep in the Lynnfield-Saugus zone where Chapman deked around 2 defenders and slid a pass across the crease to Taddia who buried a one-timer over the goalie’s shoulder for the 6-2 lead.  Justin Rooney closed
out the scoring with 9 minutes to play in the game, netting his 4th goal of the game to secure the 7-2 win for the Redmen.

On Sunday morning December 2nd the Redmen played before a loud hometown crowd at Breakaway Ice Center against a strong Stoneham team.  Stoneham came out flying and scored 2 early goals to take a 2-0 lead but the Redmen were
determined to battle back.  Julia Stanizzi, Maci Chapman, and Kaylen Taddia worked the cycle down low behind the Stoneham net resulting in a hard wrist shot by Stanizzi that was saved.  Trevor Lindsey and Austin Tingtella combined back on the blue line to break up a Stoneham scoring chance to keep the score at 2-0.  The Redmen were able to cut into that lead with just under 3 minutes to play in the 1st period when Evan Zonderman and Aidan Silvia forced a turnover by the Stoneham defense.  Zonderman fired a quick pass to Jake McDonough in the high slot and McDonough fired a quick wrist shot into the back of the net. Stoneham scored early in the 2nd period to take a 3-1 lead but the Redmen turned up the defense and shut down Stoneham for the remainder of the game getting outstanding effort from the ‘D-Crew” made up of Jared LeGrand, Chance Fitzgerald, Jade Owirka, and Cam Whealan.  Timmy Sweeney and Shayne MacDonald worked hard in the neutral zone to gain control of the puck and skated in on a 2-on-1 resulting in a good scoring chance for Sweeney that was turned away by the Stoneham goalie.  The Redmen scored a powerplay goal with 3 seconds left in the 2nd period to cut the Stoneham lead to 3-2.  Justin Rooney gained control of the puck along the right boards and fired a cross-ice pass to Jake McDonough who beat the goalie with a hard wrist shot just before the buzzer sounded for his 2nd goal of the game.  The 3rd period was a back-n-forth battle with both teams getting great scoring chances.  Redmen goalie Caulin Martle made outstanding save after outstanding save to keep the score close.  With 7:31 left in the game Justin Rooney used his speed to beat both Stoneham defensemen to a loose puck at center ice, skated in alone on a breakaway, and fired a great wrist shot over the goalie’s blocker to tie that game 3-3.  Stoneham had a chance to regain the lead but Redmen defenseman Chance Fitzgerald made a great diving play to break up a breakaway. The Redmen’s determination and hard work was rewarded with 1:40 to play in the game when Justin Rooney scored the winning goal, his 2nd of the game, assists going to Trevor Lindsey and Chance Fitzgerald.