Stoneham storms past Pentucket in quarters

The Stoneham boys hockey squad is proving it’s a force to be reckoned with in this year’s tournament.

The second-ranked Spartans (16-4-2) scored early and often last night in a 5-0 victory over No. 10 Pentucket (11-8-2) in the Division 2 North quarterfinals at Woburn’s O’Brien Rink.

“We’ve got to understand the pressure that goes along with it,” said Stoneham coach Paul Sacco. “We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, take it one period at a time, and hopefully that’s how we get where we want to go.”

Stoneham got on the board 1:37 into the game when A.J. Sousa skated across the blue line and unloaded a slap shot inside the far post for the first of his two goals on the night.

At 6:12 of the first period, Nick Feliciano tacked on an insurance goal, fighting for a rebound in the crease to make it 2-0.

Still in the first, the Spartans extended their lead to three on the power play, when Jake Burridge (goal, assist) powered home a wrister.

Stoneham added to the lead with its second powerplay goal, another cannon off the stick of Sousa, making it 4-0 in the second period.

Early in the third, Joe Carroll laced a one-timer to make it 5-0.

Stoneham moves on to a semifinal clash against No. 14 Wilmington (13-90), which got a hat trick from Danny Woods in a gutsy 4-1 victory over sixth-seeded Winthrop (137-2) at O’Brien Rink.

Late in the second, after Wilmington had surrendered the tying goal on a five-minute penalty kill, Woods broke away shorthanded, shifted to his backhand and roofed it for his second goal of the night, making it 2-1 with 28 seconds remaining.

“That was the backbreaker,” Wilmington coach Steve Scanlon said. “He’s dangerous on the man-down, he made a really heads-up play . ... He’s quick, he’s got good hands and is really disruptive, and they had trouble slowing him down tonight.”

Woods completed the hat trick with 5:08 to go in the game, making it 3-1.

A Ryan Barrett emptynetter, which Woods assisted on, sealed it for the Wildcats.

Elsewhere in Division 2 North, Sam Hutchinson scored a pair of goals and No. 13 Boston Latin (12-73) held off a comeback by No. 12 Methuen for a 4-3 victory . . . . Zach Keating scored twice and No.8 North Andover (14-7-2) upset top-seeded Danvers, 5-2.