St. Mary’s Shaun Gezotis blazes past the Taconic defense en route to scoring one of three first-period goals Monday morning at Amelia Park Ice Arena. (Photo by Bill Deren)
WESTFIELD – Despite missing four key players, the St. Mary High School boys’ ice hockey team pounded out a season high 13 goals en route to a 13-5 win and season sweep of Taconic High on Monday morning at Amelia Park Ice Arena.
St. Mary senior Tanner Hart had 7 points overall, including his second hat trick of the season to pace the Saints, while Shaun Gezotis added three first-period goals to help ensure the victory.
:It was great to see some of the players step up right when the team needed them to,” St. Mary coach Don Goodreau said of his team’s effort, despite only suiting 11 players for the early morning start. “We expected them to get tired, but they powered through and really played a complete game from start to finish.”
After Taconic scored late in the first period to cut St. Mary’s lead to 4-2, Saints’ Kenny Bonney scored the first of his two goals to close out the period.
Aaron Blanchard added a goal to start the second period before Gezotis and Hart got back at it. Gezotis pumped in a fourth goal, while Hart added his second and third to close out the second period with a 9-4 advantage.
In the third, Bonney added his second, while Jack Labbe, Reid Hannan, and Matt King added goals to finish the game.
Matt Brady turned away 29 Indian shots to record his fourth victory of the season in net for St. Mary. The Saints evened their record at 6-6.
St. Mary returns to action Thursday night at Amelia Park as they face off against the Belchertown Orioles. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7 p.m.
BOYS’ HOOPS
HCSS races past Saints
Hampden Charter School of Science 67, St. Mary 47
HCSS raced out to a 32-5 first-quarter lead, and St. Mary faced an uphill battle the rest of the game.
“They sort of like just steamrolled right over us,” St. Mary coach Joe Molta said. “Obviously we weren’t quite ready to play. We were a little intimidated by them.”
St. Mary rallied. The Saints outscored HCSS in each of the next three quarters, 42-35.
“Once we got into the situation, we sort of made a good adjustment and we played very well for three quarters,” coach Molta said. “That first quarter was a killer for us.”
