SENIOR CHRISTIAN JESSOP (in white) put the Hornets up, 1–0, with this goal over Manchester–Essex. (John Friberg Photo)
By DAN NUNN
Tamed by Tigers, 9-2
The Hornets suffered their first road defeat of the season 9-2 at the hands of the Ipswich Tigers on April 13. Junior Nate Distasio scored both Hornet goals with senior captain Sean McGreal picking up the assists.
North Reading struggled to score the entire game. They were shutout in the first half and found themselves down 5-0 at the half. The Hornets only scored twice in the second half and couldn’t battle back into the game and fell 9-2.
Bury Haverhill, 12-3
In his first varsity start, senior Christian Jessop potted a game-high four goals as the Hornets crushed the Haverhill Hillies 12–3 on April 14. Juniors Jack Schille, Nate Distasio and Brian Cotter scored 2 goals each. Sean McGreal chipped in five assists.
It was a defensive battle in the first quarter with both teams scoring just one goal. But things changed dramatically in the second quarter. The Hornets exploded for five goals and took a 6-1 halftime lead.
North Reading put the game away with three goals in the third quarter and entered the fourth with a commanding 9–2 lead. They coasted in the fourth to the convincing 12–3 victory.
Crush Manchester–Essex 14–1
On Thursday, the Hornets closed their week with a 14–1 home destruction of the Manchester–Essex Hornets. Junior Nick Day and Sean McGreal both had four point afternoons. Day had four goals and McGreal picked up one goal and three assists. Christian Jessop and Nate Distasio added three goals each.
North Reading was sloppy for the first half of the first quarter and couldn’t get their offense in gear. But at the 6:13 mark Jessop finally got the scoring started. Senior Tom Lewis forced a turnover, streaked downfield and found Jessop in front of the net for the easy goal. At 4:06 Distasio extended the lead. McGreal and Distasio combined for a nice give and go to make it 2–0.
The Hornets improved their offensive output in the second quarter. The lead expanded to 4–0 with Distasio’s two goals at 8:32 and 6:18. Day added a late goal to give North Reading a comfortable 5–0 halftime lead.
North Reading opened the floodgates with six goals in the third. Day took over the quarter with three goals and one assist. Manchester–Essex scored in the quarter but the Hornets still held an 11–1 lead after three. The Hornets scored three times in the fourth and ran away with the game.
