Jr. Redmen Squirt AAA Hockey Team skates to a 4-1 win over the Twin City Hawks.

The Jr. Redmen Squirt AAA Hockey Team skated to a dominating 4-1 win over the Twin City Hawks on Sunday March 9th at Breakaway Ice Center in Tewksbury.

The Jr. Redmen started strong, impressing the large hometown crowd with their speed, physical play, and puck movement.  The Jr. Redmen had an early chance to take the lead when Billy Doherty and Jake McDonough worked a nice give-and-go out of the left corner resulting in a nice wrist shot from Doherty.  The Hawks, one of the top teams in the Valley AAA division, battled back and had a handful of chances but Jr. Redmen goalie made save after save to keep the game scoreless through the first 5 minutes of the game.  The Jr. Redmen went on the powerplay with just over 2 minutes to play in the period and took a 1-0 when Jason Cooke banged home a rebound, assist to Sean Murphy.  The Hawks had some late period offensive zone pressure but were unable to get through the rock-solid defense played by Conor Cremin and Andrew Della Piana.

The Jr. Redmen took a 2-0 lead just 1:33 into the 2nd period when Jason Cooke scored his 2nd goal of the game on a breakaway, assist to Maci Chapman.  Both teams used their speed to create offensive zone pressure and scoring chances.  Jack Griffin worked hard on the forecheck, stripping the puck from a Hawk defender and sending a pass to Andrew Grieco in the slot.  Grieco wasted no time, firing a hard wrister that rang off the left post.  The Hawks had chances of their own but were unable to get pucks to the Jr. Redmen net because of great defensive work from Timmy Sweeney and Maci Chapman.  The Jr. Redmen took a 3-0 lead late in the 2nd period when Sean Murphy scored a powerplay goal with 46 seconds left, assists to Jason Cooke and Brady Chapman. 

The 3rd period opened with the Jr. Redmen looking to continue to carry the play.  Justin Rooney used his speed to blow past two Hawk defenders but his backhander was saved by the Hawk goalie.  Jason Cooke made the score 4-0 with 10:02 left in the game, scoring his 3rd goal of the game for the hat trick, assists to Conor Cremin and Brady Chapman.  The Hawks kept battling but great work by Jake McDonough, Justin Rooney, Andrew Grieco, and Timmy Sweeney kept the Hawks away from the Jr. Redmen net.  The Hawks were able to break the shutout with 1.7 seconds left in the game but the Jr. Redmen players and fans left the rink with an impressive 4-1 win.