Murphy makes All-League; Scanlon, Maxwell, Ramirez, Zelikman are All-Stars

Published in the March 15, 2018 edition

By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI

NORTH READING — Five members of the North Reading High boys’ hockey team received postseason honors by the Cape Ann League coaches. Senior Kevin Murphy made the CAL All-Conference team. The defenseman finished the year with 15 points as he had seven goals and eight assists. It is the second year in a row he made the all-conference team.

Four other Hornets made the CAL All-Star team: Patrick Scanlon, Owen Maxwell, Josh Ramirez and Josh Zelikman. Scanlon, Maxwell and Ramirez are all seniors while Zelikman is a junior. Scanlon made the All-Star team for the second year in a row while it was the first time for the other three players.

KEVIN MURPHY was named to the CAL All-League team for the second straight season. (Dan Pawlowski File Photo)

“It goes to show that we were a team with a lot of balance,” said North Reading head coach John Giuliotti, who also broke the 100-win barrier this season. “We had a lot of leadership from our seniors and captains.”

Scanlon led the team in points with 21 as he had 10 goals and 11 assists. Zelikman was right behind him with 20 as he had 15 goals and five assists.

Maxwell had 10 goals and six assists for 16 points while Ramirez had five goals and 7 assists for 13 points.

North Reading won its final three games of the regular season to qualify for the Division 2 state tournament as they needed at least five points in those three games in order to get in. They then edged Essex Tech, 4-3, in overtime in the preliminary round before losing, 5-2, to top-seeded Danvers in the first round.

The Hornets ended the year at 10-9-3 overall.

“I was very proud of this team the way they fought back at the end of the year,” said Giuliotti, who just completed his ninth-year at the helm.

North Reading went 4-5-3 in the CAL this year coming in fifth place.

Along with Murphy, Scanlon, Maxwell and Ramirez, the team will lose four other seniors including Jack Fitzgerald (forward), Justin Danis (defenseman), Justin DiPlatzi (goalie) and Jacob Ancri (goalie).

“They were a great group of kids,” said Giuliotti, about the seniors.

Next winter, the team is slated to return 17 veterans back.

“I hoped they learned a lot from this season,” said Giuliotti, about the underclassmen. “I know that they play other sports during the year and hope that they come in shape ready to play next year.”