The Gloucester Fishermen came out fast and strong, but the Concord-Carlisle High School Patriots boys’ hockey squad came back with grit, capturing victory in Saturday’s season opener.
Playing at home, Gloucester got on the board first in front of a lively crowd, only to have C-C sophomore Theo Price bury his first career goal off a pass from freshman Will Manchuso and senior Jay Carter to end the first period in a 1-1 tie.
The Patriots came out flying to start the second frame and kept it up all period, breaking up odd man rushes, beating their opponents to loose pucks, racking up five goals and only allowing one past junior goalie Jason Swaim.
As Swaim turned away shot after shot, keeping the momentum going for his team, junior Jack Pesce netted his first career goal, capitalizing on a juicy rebound from Carter who got the puck from junior Chris Sim.
A minute later, Price claimed his second of the game, collecting a pass from Manchuso and Carter again. A short time later, sophomore Cam Doull got a pass from senior Cam Daley and fired a blistering shot into the Gloucester net, making it a 4-2 game.
At the six-minute mark in the second, Carter roofed one off a pass from Manchuso. A minute later, junior Stoddard Healey beat two Gloucester skaters to the puck and outmuscled them both before making a pass to junior Trevor Bailey, who knocked it in for his first career goal and a 6-2 lead. Patriots D-men and Swaim had to fight off a penalty before the horn sounded to end the period.
Fans were on the edge of their seats as Gloucester came out strong and tried for a comeback, scoring early in the third. Not to be discouraged, freshman Joe Grasso earned his own keepsake puck as he scored his first career goal off a pass from linemates Carter and Manchuso, making it 7-3.
But Gloucester wouldn’t go down easy and closed the deficit by scoring back-to-back goals, bringing it to 7-5.
With under three minutes to play, Grasso dished to Manchuso, who made a beautiful stretch pass to Carter who scored his second goal of the night for a final tally of 8-5. Swaim faced 37 shots against Gloucester’s relentless offense.
Next up: C-C hockey action Saturday, December 16 at NESC in Marlboro at the annual Warriors 4 Warriors / Patriots 4 Patriots (W4W/P4P) games. In its 12th year, W4W/P4P honors Lincoln-Sudbury grad First Lieutenant Scott Milley, who died in battle in Afghanistan in 2010. The event has raised over $120,000 for the 1LT Scott Milley Fund and other military support organizations. Learn more at lswarriors4warriors.com.
JV plays at 1:30 p.m., girls face off at 3 p.m., and the varsity puck drops at 5 p.m.
