Pope, Ponders play to draw
Messuri salvages a point with late tally
In danger of dropping both ends of a home-andhome with perennial power Pope Francis, Anthony Messuri rescued a point for Arlington in Monday’s boys hockey holiday matinee at Ed Burns Arena.
The senior captain and Northeastern-commit took a feed in the left circle and whistled a shot off the far right post and in with 3:39 to play to deliver the Spy Ponders a 2-2 tie, moving Arlington to 8-1-1 on the season.
“He definitely ripped that one,” said Arlington coach John Messuri of his son. “(Ryan Davies) made a really good play to find him. It was a good team play and it was good to see him bury one.”
Pope Francis (5-3-2) had taken a 2-1 lead early in the third period when freshman Ryan Leonard snapped a shot through traffic from in close on the right side. The Cardinals, who posted a 4-2 win in the first meeting out in Springfield, could not secure the sweep, however.
“I look at it as getting three out of four points against a very good Arlington team. I think we are happy with that result,” said
Pope Francis coach Brian Foley, whose team has been to the Super 8 final the last two years. “We have played them twice now and they are as good as anyone we have seen. Their record at the end of the year, I expect them to be a really high seed (in the Super 8).”
The teams traded goals the first two periods on similar plays, redirects on shots from the right point. Brendan Pigott gave Arlington a 1-0 lead after one, getting a stick on a Declan Dolan bid. Brandon Spaulding evened it at 1-1 in the second, from Matthew Pelletier.
Arlington had 26-23 edge in shots, with both goalies making key stops throughout the contest. Pope Francis’ Ben Zaranek denied Messuri a couple times on sparkling chances, including one that squirted through his pads but trickled meekly off the post, and turned away a 2-on-1 in the third, while Nathan Brennan was solid for the Spy Ponders as well.
“I think it was a wellplayed game between two teams that are pretty evenly matched,” said coach Messuri. “At this time of the year, I think of shots on net as an indicator whether you can skate with these top Catholic teams and I think that’s important that we were able to keep up with them.”
“Our first goal is always to win our side in the Middlesex League and then you play whatever tournament they put you in. I think Pope is one of the best teams in the state and we might be. We’ll see.”