THE SENIORS were honored before Wakefield’s 1-0 win over Melrose on Saturday at the Stoneham Arena. It was Wakefield’s third consecutive victory. Pictured from left to right is Jon Guida, Joey O’Brien, Gabe Brissette, Dan Mailhoit, Mike Pellegrino, Evan Simoneau, Mike Parent, Ryan Rossini and Matt Burns. (Beth Boudreau Photography)

By RYAN MARSH

STONEHAM — The Stoneham Arena was loud on Saturday night as the Wakefield Warriors battled the Melrose Red Raiders in a Saturday night hockey showdown. Both teams had their senior nights planned for the night, but only one group of seniors would leave victorious. As the away team, the Warriors looked to extend their winning streak and inch closer towards a tournament berth.

Wakefield celebrated nine seniors: Ryan Rossini, Mike Pellegrino, Dan Mailhoit, Matt Burns, Mike Parent, Jonathan Guida, Gabe Brissette, captain Evan Simoneau and captain Joe O’Brien. The Warriors honored their nine seniors not only with a pre-game ceremony but followed it up with a 1-0 victory over Melrose.

Having defeated the Red Raiders previously in the season, the Warriors knew that they could handle the team.

“I thought both teams played very hard. I was happy for all the seniors,” said head coach Mike Geary. The Warriors 1-0 victory was helped with a goal by freshman Nate Brissette in the 2nd period assisted by junior Bobby Defeo.

With the puck dropping, Gabe Brisette stood in goal for the Warriors. With four shutouts in his last eight starts, the team played confidently in front of him. Brissette’s shutout streak continued with his third straight and his fifth of the season as he saved 18 shots with the Warriors outshooting the Raiders, 27-18.

Wakefield started strong, going immediately into the Raider zone and getting some pressure, but nothing substantial. The Warriors’ pressure ended when Melrose iced the puck with 10:41 remaining in the period.

Following a scrap in front of the Melrose goal, Rossini smashed a Raider skater at center ice with a big hit. The game continued as Mailhoit shot from just through the blue line and drilled the top left corner of the net, which ricocheted to the right post and bounced out of the net.

Later on in the period, Pellegrino hit the post with a shot, followed by O’Brien laying another big hit at center ice. As the period wound down towards the end, Brissette made more saves. With five seconds left, junior Joe Colliton was sent to the box for a two-minute minor for roughing. The period ended with a scoreless tie, Wakefield outshooting Melrose, 12-3.

The Warriors started the period on the penalty kill. The penalty kill unit did their job, allowing only one shot on the net which Brissette saved. As soon as the penalty was killed, Nate Brissette was sent to the box for crosschecking. Again the Warriors killed off the penalty, allowing only two shots on the net.

Having killed almost four minutes of penalty time in the first minutes of the period, the Warriors got their powerplay opportunity. After many shots and opportunities, Wakefield came up empty as both teams went back to even.

With 6:25 left on the clock, Burns laid his body into a Melrose skater, energizing the Warriors bench and their supporting crowd. The clock ticked down past four minutes as Brissette made a lunging save to shut down a Raiders’ attempt. On the other side of the ice, Nate Brisette skated past two Melrose defenders and buried a goal with the help of Defeo.

The amped Warriors headed back into the locker room holding a slim 1-0 lead, with the third period looming. Wakefield outshot Melrose 12-10 in the second period, fighting to hold onto their lead in the third.

The Warriors started the third hot, with Nate Brisette missing a wraparound goal and Simoneau picking off a Melrose pass afterward and laying his body into a Melrose skater. Sophomore Mike Arria got some pressure on the Melrose goalie, taking a corner shot onto the net.

With O’Brien drilling a Raiders’ skater into the boards, the Warriors continued to play aggressively. The Wakefield penalty kill unit went back onto the ice as Defeo headed to the box for a two-minute minor. The Warriors killed it off, with Brissette making multiple saves to keep the lead.

As the clock ticked down past three minutes, sophomore Frankie Leone made a big hit to keep the pressure on Melrose. The period came to a close as the Melrose goaltender took on heavy fire from the Warriors, making six saves before the final buzzer rang. The Warriors won 1-0 with another shutout from Gabe Brissette.

With a big win over their rivals, the Warriors (7-8) inched even closer to the tournament.

“The team is buying into a defense-first approach,” coach Geary explained. “We are hoping that this will help us as we get closer to the tournament.”

The team will look to build on a three-game winning streak as they face Stoneham at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in a crucial game to their postseason run.