O’Keefe hat trick nets Patriots win over Raiders
O’Keefe nets hat trick in tight victory
FITCHBURG » Playing in just its second game of the season, the North Middlesex Regional ice hockey team took some time to find its footing on Monday evening.
But once the Patriots found their strides, they looked like a well-oiled machine.
North Middlesex broke out in the second half of its contest against Fitchburg/Monty Tech and held on late to top the Red Raiders, 4-3, at the Wallace Civic Center.
Jimmy O’Keefe had a natural hat trick for the guests, Matthew Lynch netted the eventual game-winner and netminder Aaron Scarelli turned aside 26 shots to give head coach Steve Trundle his first victory at the helm of the North Middlesex program.
“I’m pretty happy with the effort we had today,” Trundle said. “We’ve only had one game before this, but the kids responded tonight and did what we asked them to do. We want to get pucks in, get rebounds, get it down low.”
Lynch corralled a shot that went wide of the Fitchburg (51-1) cage with 10 minutes to go to put the Patriots up 4-2, but it was the performance of O’Keefe that gave North Middlesex all the momentum early in the second half of the game.
The forward potted a pair of goals in the first 1:49 of the second half after netting the Patriots’ opening goal in the first stanza.
“Jimmy’s a pretty talented kid and he’s only a sophomore, so he’s only going to get better,” Trundle said. “He can play the game.”
O’Keefe gave North Middlesex a 2-1 edge 1:34 into the second, taking control of a rebound and poking it past Fitchburg goalie Deavin McGivern (17 saves). Off the ensuing faceoff, O’Keefe took the puck down the right side, streaking past a defender
and sneaking a shot through McGivern.
“In that second half, we go in 1-1 and that number 11 toasts us a little. It was like a two-minute breakdown in play and he made us pay.” Fitchburg head coach Steve Lowney said. “From there, we were chasing it and I liked the performance of the team. The guys didn’t stop. They kept going and we could have had several (goals), but it just didn’t happen for us.”
The Red Raiders cut the lead to one on a shot from the point by Robert Brogan that appeared to bounce off a defenseman and past Scarelli (26 saves). But 36 seconds later, Lynch put his shot past McGivern to restore the two-goal edge.
“That was a great game. It was an evenly-matched game, probably right down to a man,” Lowney said. “Both teams just battled.”
After Riley Leblanc netted a power-play marker with just over five minutes left, Scarelli closed the door for the Patriots, turning aside four point-blank chances in the final two minutes and benefitting from a Max Beaulac blast ringing
off the post with 90 seconds remaining.
“He came up with some huge saves,” Trundle said of his goalie. “We don’t win that game without him, obviously. Out of all the saves he had, he had to have had 15 exceptional saves tonight.”
Rowan Archibald dished out three assists in the victory, while Tyler Dunbar had a pair of helpers.
Beaulac opened the scoring for the Red Raiders, potting a goal 4:03 in before O’Keefe netted his first midway through the first half.