Jr. Redmen Squirt AAA Hockey Team plays a doubleheader on January 18th.

The Jr. Redmen Squirt AAA Hockey Team had a busy Saturday January 18th, playing 2 games in a 5 hour period against 2 high-quality opponents. 

The Jr. Redmen road show traveled to Everett’s Allied Memorial Veteran’s Rink on Saturday morning to take on a highly skilled Wilmington Wildcat team in a District 10 Playdown game.  The Wildcats controlled play for much of the first 3 minutes of the game but were unable to get pucks past Jr. Redmen goalie Ben O’Keefe, who made a number of highlight reel saves.  The Jr. Redmen also got solid defensive efforts from Andrew Grieco and Justin Rooney early on, denying the speedy Wildcat forwards of getting pucks to the net.  The Jr. Redmen got their skating legs going and started to take it to the Wildcats getting great offensive zone pressure from the line of Conor Cremin, Andrew Della Piana, and Brady Chapman but back-to-back shots were turned away by the Wildcat goalie.  The Jr. Redmen went on a powerplay late in the 1st period and nearly took a 1-0 lead when Alex Pescatore and Jason Cooke worked a great give-and-go to the left of the Wildcat net but Pescatore’s wrister rang off the far post.  The 2nd period started with the Wildcats using their size and speed to maintain offensive zone pressure but the Jr. Redmen got great individual defensive efforts from Jack Griffin and Jason Cooke to keep the game scoreless.  The Jr. Redmen took a 1-0 lead with 8:41 left in the 2nd period when Jake McDonough parked himself in front of the net and fired home a rebound, assist to Sean Murphy.  The Jr. Redmen kept attacking and took a 2-0 lead on the next shift when right wing Timmy Sweeney fired a wicked wrister past the Wildcat goalie from the right circle, assist to Maci Chapman.  The Jr. Redmen kept the pressure on the Wildcat defense and nearly took a 3-0 lead with 6:52 left in the period when Billy Doherty intercepted a breakout pass on the right wall, skated around a Wildcat defender and fired a high wrist shot that the Wildcat goalie snagged with his catching glove just short of the goal line.  The Wildcats cut into the Jr. Redmen lead with 4:52 left in the 2nd period when big #66 (who is as big as Jr. Redmen Bantams Matthew Pescatore and Anthony Grieco) fired a wrister under the bar to make the score 2-1.  The Wildcats kept pushing the pace and had a handful of chances to tie the game on the next shift but Jr. Redmen goalie Ben O’Keefe made a kick save and a glove save that kept the 2-1 lead for the Jr. Redmen.  The Wildcats were able to tie the game with 32 seconds left in the 2nd period when speedy #21 broke loose and beat O’Keefe on a breakaway.  Both teams opened the 3rd period looking to take the lead.  The Jr. Redmen had the early chances when Jason Cooke carried the puck out of his own zone and sent a pretty cross-ice pass to Brady Chapman who stickhandled around a Wildcat defenseman and fired a wrist shot that just missed going in.  The Wildcats continued to attack but Andrew Griece and Justin Rooney used their quickness to disrupt the Wildcats offensive zone cycle.  The Wildcats took a 3-2 lead with 4:36 left in the game on a nice tic-tac-toe passing play down low.  The final 4 minutes of the game saw the Jr. Redmen put constant pressure on the Wildcats, looking to tie the game and force OT.  Sean Murphy fired a hard wrister from the left circle that Jake McDonough tipped but the puck just sailed over the crossbar.  Alex Pescatore nearly tied the game with 45 seconds left in the game but his backhander hit a Wildcat defender’s skate as it was headed towards the back of the net.  The Jr. Redmen had one last chance with 2 seconds left on the clock when Justin Rooney won the faceoff pushing the puck toward the Wildcat net but the buzzer sounded, ending a great game.