Page 10 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, January 17, 2020 Young Hockey Sachems show progress in tie at Peabody By Greg Phipps C oming off a tough 7-0 shutout loss at Beverly three days earlier, the Saugus High School hockey team played perhaps its most complete game of the season thus far last Saturday afternoon at the McVann-O’Keefe Rink in Peabody. In fact, the Sachems actually pulled ahead of the Peabody Tanners in the waning minutes but had to settle for a 3-3 tie. The deadlock left Saugus with a 1-6-1 mark entering this week. The Sachems earned their first win with a lofty 10-goal effort against Lynn two weeks ago. Lorenzo Keegan tallied four times in that game, including three goals during a seven-goal Saugus outburst in the third period. Against Peabody, the Sachems were as aggressive as they’ve been all season. They had the territorial edge and pressured the Peabody net for significant portions of the contest. Still, Peabody notched a short-handed goal to grab a 1-0 lead after one period. Saugus evened it in the second frame when Richie Mauro scored unassisted. After Call for Classified Advertising Rates 781-233-4446 Saugus’s Cam Anderson streaks to the net last Saturday at Peabody. the Tanners regained the advantage at 2-1, Jason Caron responded with a goal for Saugus less than a minute into the final period. Caron then assisted on Mauro’s second tally with just over five minutes to play to give Saugus a 3-2 lead. The Sachems couldn’t hold off the Tanners, who mustered the tying tally in the final minutes, leaving both teams with one point for their efforts. Saugus lost to this same Peabody team by four goals at the Kasabuski Christmas Tournament a few weeks ago – so definite improvement is apparent. “We’re a young team and we’re getting better,” Saugus head coach Jeff Natalucci told the press after the game. “I thought we carried the play for long stretches in the Saugus forward Lorenzo Keegan gets off a pass with a Peabody defender closing in on him in last Saturday’s 3-3 tie at the McVann-O’Keefe Rink. first period, some in the second period and long stretches in the third period. Overall, I liked how we played,” he said. “But we made mistakes – giving up two shorthanded goals – and that really hurt us in the end.” Natalucci pointed out that a missed coverage on Peabody’s game-tying score was costly as well. But he’s noticing progress and that’s something to build on moving forward. “We’re getting better, so that’s good to see,” he said. The Sachems resumed action when they hosted Swampscott on Wednesday. They then entertain Gloucester on Saturday (scheduled 5:40 p.m. faceoff at Kasabuski Arena). Center Jason Caron scored one of Saugus’s three goals in last Saturday’s tie.
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