Jr. Redmen Squirt AAA Hockey continues their strong play, beats Andover 7-3, and improves to 5-1 on.

The Jr. Redmen Squirt AAA Hockey continues their strong play, beats Andover 7-3, and improves to 5-1 on the season.

The Jr. Redmen hit the road on Sunday September 29th for a battle with Andover before a packed house at Lawrence Valley Forum.  The Jr. Redmen knew they would have their hands full with the speedy & talented Andover team.  The 1st period started at a furious pace with both teams creating early scoring chances.  Andover had the early offensive zone pressure but they were unable to break through the rock-solid defense of Sean Murphy and Jack Griffin.  The Jr. Redmen battled right back and had back-to-back chances but shots by Timmy Sweeney (whose sister Tory scored her 1st goal for the RedCats U12 team earlier in the day) and Jake McDonough were stopped by the Andover goalie.  Andover got on the board first, taking a 1-0 lead with 7:35 to play in the 1st period.  The Jr. Redmen nearly tied the game on the next faceoff as Andrew Grieco sent a great cross-ice pass to Billy Doherty who fired a low, hard wrist shot that just slid wide of the net.  The Jr. Redmen tied the game 1-1 with 1:29 left in the 1st period when defenseman Jason Cooke picked up a loose puck behind his own net, weaved in-and-out of 3 Andover defenders and fired a wrister top-shelf that the goalie only heard flying by his ear.

Andover came out chippy in the 2nd period, trying to intimidate the Jr. Redmen but the hometown team used their team speed and quickness to create offensive zone pressure.  The Jr. Redmen took a 2-1 lead just 2 minutes into the 2nd period when Jason Cooke scored his 2nd goal of the game on a low, hard wrister.  Andover battled right back and tied the game just 1:34 later.  Both teams continued to create offensive zone pressure.  Andover had a great chance to take the lead but Jr. Redmen defenseman Justin Rooney made a great defensive play at his own blue line breaking up a 3-on-1.   The Jr. Redmen nearly took the lead when Alex Pescatore fired a hard wrist shot but the southpaw Andover goalie made the save.  With just over 2 minutes to play in the 2nd period Andover was awarded a penalty shot.  The packed Jr. Redmen crowd all came to their feet, chanting OKIE OKIE and he did not disappoint them as he shut the door on the speedy Andover forward. 

The amazing save by O’Keefe turned out to be the key play in the game as the Jr. Redmen used this momentum to score 5 unanswered goals in a 5-minute span to open the 3rd period.  Andrew Della Piana got it started for the Jr. Redmen as he scored just 38 seconds into the period, assist to Brady Chapman.  Conor Cremin gave the Jr. Redmen a 4-2 lead just 1:01 later when he fired a backhander under the sliding Andover goalie, assists to Maci Chapman and Alex Pescatore.  The scoring barrage continued just 1:34 later when defenseman turned forward Andrew Grieco used his quickness to get to a loose puck at the side of the net, firing a one-time into the back of the net, assist to Jake McDonough.  Jason Cooke completed his hat trick with 6:26 left in the game when he once again went end-to-end, firing a great wrister just under the crossbar.  The Jr. Redmen took a 7-2 lead just 14 seconds later when Maci Chapman jumped on a rebound and fired it over the goalie’s blocker, assists to Alex Pescatore and Conor Cremin.  Andover was finally able to slow down the Jr. Redmen train and create a few chances of their own but once again goalie Ben O’Keefe was there to make all the big saves.  The Jr. Redmen closed out the game playing excellent team defense, securing the 7-3 win, and sending the Jr. Redmen crowd home happy.