BOSTON--Unseasonably warm temperatures made for a banner day of hockey at Fenway Park on Wednesday, with four games taking place at "America's Most Beloved Ballpark (turned hockey rink)."
Thanks to outstanding production via Pat Serio, My Hockey Live was able to bring you the four contests over an 8 1/2 hour window. Here's how it all went down in case you couldn't tune in:
Game 1: Malden Catholic Lancers 4, Xaverian Hawks 3
Playing for the second time in 15 days, Malden Catholic again edged out their Catholic Conference rivals to sweep the season series from Xaverian.
Cam Delvalle gave the Lancers (3-1-2) an early lead in the first period, which was the game's only goal until each team erupted for three goals in the final period.
Delvalle's early tally proved to be a difference maker, as MC withstood a late charge from the Hawks (3-3-1) to win their third straight game.
"Kids shot the puck," Lancers head coach John McLean said after the game. "The conditions the way they were today, you shoot the puck…good things happen."
The win was No. 100 for McLean as head coach in Malden.
Egor Borschev knotted things up for the Hawks with about 12 minutes to go in the third period before Brendan Maloney, Ryan Noonan and Tim Matthews jolted the Lancers back in front by three.
Freshman Matty Ryan had two goals late to make things interesting for Xaverian, but it wasn't enough, as the Hawks suffered their second-straight one-goal loss to MC.
"Our game plan going in was to not pass up a shot," Xaverian head coach Dave Spinale said. "We have a pretty resilient group in there, a lot of seniors, guys with a lot of pride. I was glad to see that. There’s no silver lining in losing our second conference game, and we’re trying to reinforce that, but to be able to keep scrapping and keep fighting and try to get a point out of it, I was glad to see we had the energy and the attitude."
CM senior captain Matt Yianacopolus said he'll cherish the memory of playing at Fenway.
"It’s something we’ll never forget," he said. "We all grew up around here coming to Red Sox games. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Three Stars
1. Tim Matthews (Malden Catholic)
2. Ryan Maloney (Malden Catholic)
3. Matty Ryan (Xaverian)
Game 2: Latin Academy Dragons 7, East Boston Jets 4
They're the third and fourth-highest scoring teams in Division 3. Of course the cross-city rivals were going to put on a show at Fenway Park yesterday.
In an NBA-style scoring duel, Latin Academy's Ryan Lonergan and East Boston's John Lockhead each tried to one-up each other, the prolific scorers each recording hat tricks.
But it was Lonergan and the Dragons who left Fenway victorious, remaining unbeaten on the season (6-0-3).
"We’re on a hot streak right now but we’ve got to keep it up," Lonergan, who recently recorded the 100th point of his career, said following the win. "The boys are buzzing, everyone’s helping me out, and that’s why I got it (the hat trick). Fun time out here."
The game was tied at 1-1 after the first period and 4-4 after the second. Lonergan helped build a 4-2 lead for Latin Academy before John Lockhead and Ryan Tosto made it all square again.
Longeran scored what amounted as the game-winner at 8:29 of the third period, followed by an insurance goal from John Connolly and an empty netter from Nolan Rooney to seal it.
"Obviously it’s a huge win over our rivals in the [Boston City League]," Connolly said. The senior captain also scored the game's first goal at 7:42 of the first period. "It makes it even better that it was at Fenway with everyone watching. I think we proved we’re a top team in Division 3 and in the city. Hopefully we can build off this throughout the rest of the season."
Kenny Lockhead assisted on all four East Boston goals; both he and brother John had 100 career points coming into this season.
"It was the best time of my life out there,” John Lockhead said, even after the Jets fell to 7-2. "Everything coach did for us the people that organized to get us on the ice…we couldn’t have asked for a better time. Even though we lost, we still had fun."
Three Stars
1. Ryan Longeran (Latin Academy)
2. John Lockhead (East Boston)
3. John Connolly (Latin Academy)
Game 3: Arlington Spy Ponders 6, Burlington Red Devils 3
In an MIAA Endowment game, meaning there was no impact on the standings, the Middlesex League rivals took to the sheet for the love of the game and put on another offensive clinic.
Every player who dressed from each team saw ice time, including seven goalies between them.
Dara Conneely opened scoring with a power play blast at 10:10 of the first period.
Burlington (2-3) held a 2-1 lead before Arlington (5-1) made its run, ultimately sealing the deal on a Mic Curran empty netter at 13:55 of the third.
The teams will play for real on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Burlington Ice Palace.
Three Stars
1. Mic Curran (Arlington)
2. Brendan Jones (Arlington)
3. Sean Casey (Burlington)
Game 4: Belmont Hill 4, Tabor Academy 1
The night cap at Fenway proved to be the lowest-scoring game, but that didn't mean the caliber of hockey tailed off.
The lone prep school action of the slate saw Belmont Hill explode for four unanswered goals vs. Tabor, which drew first blood on a Pat Daly tally from Jeremy Cote.
Zach Shpilner evened things up at 7:04 of the first period for Belmont, and Jonathan Folsom put his team ahead for good at 11:12 of the first. Christian O'Neill would also score before the period was out.
The second period appeared to be on its way out without any more offense before Folsom's second of the night effectively put the game out of reach for Tabor at 16:34.
Peter O'Connell, who didn't score in the game, blocked three shots on a single Tabor power play in the third period to leave his mark -- as well as receive several on his body, which took the brunt of the pucks.
Pat Hopkins was sharp in net for Belmont Hill to pick up the win.
Three Stars
1. Jonathan Folsom (Belmont Hill)
2. Pat Hopkins (Belmont Hill)
3. Peter O'Connell (Belmont Hill)