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Health & Fitness

Jr. Redmen Squirt AAA Hockey Team skates to a 3-2 win over the Methuen Rangers.

The Jr. Redmen Squirt AAA Hockey Team continued their winning ways on Saturday 1/25, skating to a 3-2 win over the Methuen Rangers.

The Jr. Redmen knew they would have to be playing at a high level to beat the very fast and physical Rangers.  The 1st period was a fast-paced, high-energy battle of two quality teams.  The Jr. Redmen had the early pressure as the line of Conor Cremin and the Chapman siblings, Maci and Brady, put pucks at the Ranger goalie on the opening shift.  The Rangers had some early offensive pressure of their own but were unable to get anything close to the Jr. Redmen net because of great defensive work from the pairing of Andrew Grieco and Justin Rooney.  With just over 3 minutes left in the opening period Jr. Redmen defenseman Jason Cooke retrieved the puck behind his own net, skated around 2 Ranger defenders, and fired a beautiful cross-ice pass to right wing Billy Doherty.  Doherty cut in around a Ranger defenseman and fired a hard wrist shot that hit the goalie square in the mask.

The 2nd period opened with the Rangers getting back-to-back quality scoring chances but a breakaway by speedy #81 and a point blank shot by big #10 were turned away by Jr. Redmen goalie Ben O’Keefe.  The Jr. Redmen took a 1-0 lead with 8:04 left in the 2nd period on a hard-working rebound goal from Jake McDonough, assists to Jack Griffin and Timmy Sweeney.  The Jr. Redmen nearly took a 2-0 lead with just under 3 minutes in the period as they had great puck movement on the powerplay resulting in great scoring chances from Justin Rooney and Alex Pescatore.  The Rangers were able to tie the game 1-1 with 1:27 left in the 2nd period.

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The Jr. Redmen came out flying in the 3rd period, determined to get the win.  Hard work on the forecheck by Brady Chapman, Conor Cremin, and Maci Chapman led to a Jr. Redmen powerplay and Alex Pescatore gave the Jr. Redmen a 2-1 lead.  Pescatore used his speed to shake off a Ranger defender, he then made a pretty toe-drag move around another Ranger defenseman and fired a quick wrister into the back of the net, assists to Brady Chapman and Jason Cooke.  The Rangers had a great opportunity to tie the game on a 3-on-1 but Jr. Redmen defenseman Andrew Della Piana made a great diving play to break up the play before the Rangers could get a shot off.  The Jr. Redmen increased their lead to 3-1 with 3:25 left in the game when Sean Murphy fired a wrist shot just under the crossbar, assist to Timmy Sweeney.  The Rangers went on the powerplay and cut the lead to 3-2 with just over 2 minutes to play in the game.  The Rangers pulled their goalie for the final 1:20 of the game but great goaltending from Ben O’Keefe and solid defensive work from Sean Murphy, Billy Doherty, Jason Cooke, Andrew Grieco, and Justin Rooney secured the 3-2 win for the Jr. Redmen.

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