Jr. Redmen Squirt AAA Hockey Team skates to 2-2 tie

The Jr. Redmen Squirt AAA Hockey Team hit the road on Saturday February 15th for a battle against the Dorchester Elite Squirts at Devine Rink in Dorchester and left the rink with a well-deserved 2-2 tie.

The Jr. Redmen came out flying, setting the tone early by controlling the puck in Dorchester’s zone for the 1st 2 minutes of the game.  The line of Conor Cremin, Alex Pescatore, and Brady Chapman had the early chances as they were buzzing around the Dorchester zone, peppering the goalie with shots.  Dorchester battled back, using their size and speed to gain some offensive zone pressure but the Jr. Redmen defensive pairing of Sean Murphy and Timmy Sweeney did a great job of keeping pucks away from the net.  The Jr. Redmen took a 1-0 lead with 7:38 left in the 1st period when Jason Cooke fired a wrist shot into the top corner of the net, assists to Alex Pescatore and Brady Chapman.  Dorchester was able to finally get pucks on net but Jr. Redmen goalie Ben O’Keefe made a number of highlight reel saves to keep the 1-0 lead for his team after the 1st period.

The 2nd period started with Dorchester on a powerplay but they were unable to get pucks through to the net because of great defensive work from Andrew Grieco and Jason Cooke.  After the successful penalty kill, the Jr. Redmen nearly took a 2-0 lead when Billy Doherty (whose Mom’s Tewksbury High School Cheerleading squad is in the middle of a championship run) intercepted a pass at center ice, skated around a Dorchester defender and fired a wrister off the far post.  The Jr. Redmen kept attacking and took a 2-0 lead with just over 7 minutes to play in the 2nd period when Sean Murphy beat the Dorchester goalie with a nasty wrister, assists to Jake McDonough and Maci Chapman.  Dorchester kept attacking and was able to cut into the Jr. Redmen lead with just over 2 minutes to play in the period.

The Jr. Redmen opened the 3rd period with back-to-back great scoring chances by Conor Cremin and Andrew Grieco, but both shots were saved.  Dorchester tied the game with 6 minutes to play in the game when son of former NHL’er Chris Sullivan used his speed to break in alone and slide the puck through the 5-hole.  The Jr. Redmen controlled play for the final 6 minutes of the game, getting great scoring chances from Timmy Sweeney, Maci Chapman, Jake McDonough, and Billy Doherty but the talented Dorchester goalie made all the saves to end the game in a 2-2 tie.