Boy skaters break out with three goals in shootout against Stoneham

Warriors rally in third period, drop 5-3 contest

By DAN BYRNE

STONEHAM — The good news for the Wakefield Memorial High boys’ hockey team was that it broke out offensively with three goals. The bad news is that the Warriors didn’t win the game as they dropped a 5-3 contest against Stoneham in the Middlesex League Freedom division opener on Saturday at the Stoneham Area.

It was head coach John Pellerin and Wakefield’s first action of the New Year and first time out since playing in the Kasabuski Christmas Tournament four days earlier.

Pellerin’s side looked to continue to improve against Stoneham after its last league game saw the Warrior skate to an impressive 0-0 draw against Reading. However they were unable to duplicate the stalwart defense they displayed against Reading and dropped the game.

“We’ve got to become better in our offensive and our defensive end,” Pellerin said after the game. “We’re still adapting to a new system. We did things out there today better than we did three weeks ago and there were things that we didn’t do as well.”

Saturday’s game had a bit of a different feel to it from the Reading game, as both teams came out looking to set the tone physically in the first period.

Stoneham’s strategy to play rough with Wakefield seemed to get the defense off its game from the organized and disciplined style it displayed against Reading. Stoneham was able to entice the young Warriors into a few avoidable penalties that were the result of inexperienced players unable to keep their emotions in check on the ice.

All this led to Stoneham taking aim at Wakefield goalie Ben Yandell, who was peppered with many shots once again on Saturday as he allowed five goals but saved 15 other shots.

Wakefield found itself battling from behind from the beginning of the game. In the first period, Stoneham’s Mike Halpin was the beneficiary of a fortunate hop that Yandell made the initial save on his shot. But the lively puck skipped up and over Yandell’s back and into the net.

Less than a minute later, Jake Paonessa doubled Stoneham’s lead. With just under seven minutes to play in the first Wakefield trailed 2-0.

Stoneham was called for a cross-checking penalty in the first period but successfully killed off the man advantage to maintain its 2-0 lead.

It remained that way until Wakefield’s Dylan Melanson made a skilled play in neutral ice to turn Stoneham over and then he had the vision to blast a shot by Stoneham goalie Andrew Scarpa to cut the lead to 2-1. Bryan Noyes and Jack Brown were credited with the assists on the goal.

Stoneham led by that margin heading into the second period but a late interference call on Joe Stackhouse meant the Warriors would be killing off a two-man advantage to open the second period.

The second period was the difference in the game between these two teams. Wakefield killed the penalties and the two-man advantage for Stoneham at the very start of the period. But five minutes into the second frame and Stoneham had reclaimed its two goal edge as William Burridge found the back of the net for the Spartans.

Eric Roberts scored the fourth Stoneham goal at 9:08 in the second period and Nathan Cox made it 5-1 with just less than three minutes remaining in the second period.

The outlook heading into the third period was grim for coach Pellerin’s side but there was 15 minutes of hockey still to play.

Wakefield came out in the third period and made a game of it, stopping Stoneham’s push for a sixth goal by reorganizing on the defensive end. Yandell made five saves in the third period and didn’t allow any goals, making the third his best period of the game.

With time running down, Wakefield was given a surge of hope as James McAuliffe was able to grab a goal back for Wakefield with under four minutes remaining.

With the Warriors now trailing 5-2 with under three minutes to play, Wakefield put a bit of excitement back into the arena as its went on the power play. With the man advantage, Dylan Melanson rang one off the post and a favorable bounce resulted in the puck caroming into the net to make the game 5-3 with just over two minutes left.

“Give the kids credit, they didn’t quit,” Pellerin said. “We didn’t quit until the end, we still had an opportunity. We felt at 5-3 with two and a half, three minutes to go anything can happen. We rung a post with a 1:22 to go and that would have brought it within one.”

For the final 1:33, Yandell retreated back to his bench as coach Pellerin sent on the extra skater. Stoneham was unable to score the empty netter to seal the deal but it kept Wakefield from coming closer, thwarting the

Warriors’ comeback attempt. The final minutes played out with Stoneham earning the 5-3 victory.

This coming week is a busy one for the Warriors  as they are scheduled to play three games. The first of which comes Monday as they Warriors play host St. Peter-Marian High School at the LaConte Rink in Medford. Game time is at 7 p.m.

“For the next three or four weeks we have three games each week so there’s not a lot of time in there to fix some of the issues that we’ve got, we’ll have to deal with them on the ice.”

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At Stoneham Arena

WAKEFIELD……1  0  2 — 3

Stoneham……….2  3  0 — 5

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First Period — Sto, Halpin (Paonessa, Cann) 7:03. Paonessa (Horgan, Cappuccio) 8:10. Wak, Dy.Melanson (Brown, Noyes) 12:30. Penalties — Sto, Beauclair (cross-checking) 5:28; Wak, Dunn (charging) 14:58; Stackhouse (interference) 15:00.

Second Period — Sto, Burridge (Cann) 4:36. Sto, Roberts (Tufts) 9:08. Sto, Cox (Paonessa, Cann) 12:18. Penalties Wak — Marino (tripping) 5:36.

Third Period — Wak, McAuliffe (Stackhouse) 12:26. Wak, Dy.Melanson (Dunn) 13:13. Penalties — Sto, Richmond (tripping) 3:48; Wak, Dunn (tripping) 6:56; Wak, Brown (high-sticking) 7:02; Sto, Panonessa (charging) 7:38; Sto, Burrdige (interference) 13:27.

Shots on Goal — Wakefield 5-7-10 —22. Stoneham 5-9-6 — 20.

Power Plays — Wakefield 0 for 4. Stoneham 0 for 5.

Goalies — Wak, Yandell (20 shots-15 saves). Sto, Scarpa (22-19).