Warrior boys’ hockey shuts out Bedford for fifth straight W

WAKEFIELD CAPTAINS Matt Elwell (5) and Bobby DeFeo (9) celebrate Elwell’s 2^nd period goal in a 3-0 win over Bedford at the Stoneham Arena on Monday. (Courtesy Photo)

By MARC GAGNE

STONEHAM — Coming off a four-game winning streak, the Wakefield High boys’ hockey team worked hard to increase it to five on Monday afternoon at the Stoneham Ice Arena. Their efforts paid off, resulting in a 3-0 shutout of the Bedford Buccaneers. The Warriors moved to 6-4 with the win.

There were chances right out of the gate for the home team, with Sean Hogan intercepting a pass from a Bedford player and Brian Purcell making moves toward the Bedford goal on one occasion and stealing the puck on another.

Goalie Dom D’Angelis also stopped a number of Bedford chances. Wakefield shots on goal came from Daegan Pothier, Jack Curran, Frankie Leone, John Regan, Trevor Veilleux and Bobby DeFeo, but they were all deflected, blocked, or saved by the Bedford goalie.

D’Angelis stopped three Bedford chances in the first period.

The second period began with some excitement when Jack Curran slung a leading pass to Cam DePrizio, who passed from the right side to Andrew Martin. Standing in front of the Buccaneer goal, Martin shot and scored.

Bedford tried hard to tie the game with a flurry of shots, but they were all saved by D’Angelis. More Wakefield shots from Joe Colliton, Liam McNeil, DeFeo and Hogan followed, along with more saves from D’Angelis. A notable Wakefield stop occurred when a Buccaneer passed from behind the net to his teammate in front of the goal, and a nice save was made by D’Angelis.

JACK CURRAN takes a faceoff while line mates Andrew Martin (10) and Cam DePrizio (3) look on. Martin opened the scoring in a 3-0 win over Bedford on Monday with a second period goal assisted by DePrizio and Curran. (Courtesy Photo)

With five minutes left in the second period, Wakefield gained a two-goal lead when two of the team captains connected as Matt Elwell tipped a pass from DeFeo into the net. The second period ended with more shots from Hogan, Colliton, Purcell, Veilleux and McNeil and more saves by D’Angelis.

The third period passed without too much action except for some shots on goal by Tylor Roycroft, Colliton, and DeFeo. A nice shot from Martin went into the Buccaneer goal, but the net had moved, so the goal did not count.

Bedford pulled their goalie with a minute and a half left in the game and Elwell scored his second goal of the night unassisted when he shot from the left side of the ice into an open net.

When asked about the impact the five-game winning streak has had on the team, Elwell said, “The win streak just brings confidence to everyone on the team which is a huge part of the game, so hopefully that confidence can help us keep the win streak going.”

With regard to the rest of the season, Elwell commented that he hopes the team can “keep winning and go on a playoff run like last season.”

The Warriors, ranked 21^st in the first Div. 2 power rankings, will host Burlington (2-4-2) on Saturday night, 8 p.m. at the Stoneham Arena.