WELLESLEY – Wellesley showed up big in the second period scoring three different times to defeat North Attleboro 5-2, opening its season with a win.
“We were telling the guys, it’s going to start on the (defensive) zone, now lead the offensive chances, and that’s kind of what happened tonight,” Wellesley coach Paul Donato said. “We defended really hard, and we transitioned and got some goal scoring opportunities to capitalize on them.”
North Attleboro won the puck to start the game and at the 11:49-mark, sophomore forward Nolan Lamonica took a shot that was saved between the legs of Wellesley junior goalie Conor Foley.
North Attleboro struck first with senior forward Caiden Alberigo at the 10:59 mark when he was on the right side of the net skating towards the crease. The puck went in with senior forward Evan Tetreault credited with the assist. The Red Rocketeers, having a 1-0 lead, continued to attack the zone, however Raider goaltender Conor Foley did not allow that to happen.
The first power play came late into the first period with 4:30 left when junior forward Anthony Malakidis went to the box for the Red Rocketeers, creating a five on four power play for Wellesley.
The Raiders did not disappoint, scoring on the power play nine second in with captain and senior forward Evan Farley scoring on the left side of the net, beating junior goalie Evan Sawyer. Brian Pezzulich was tagged with the assist.
“We got behind there, and we’ve been working on it, but we want to get the puck to the net as quickly as we can. So that was the idea we’ve been working on,” Donato said. “If we can win that face-off, let’s get to the puck as quickly as we can and we did.”
As the clock expired to end the first period, North Attleboro senior forward Alex Kojoian went to the box for tripping and the Raiders started on power play to start the second period.
The Red Rocketeers were able to kill the second power play of the game, as Wellesley did not take advantage.
The Raiders scored three different times in a span of five minutes and 12 seconds when Captain Brian Pezzulich took a shot from the left side. He fired a shot and the puck went in the right side of the net at the 7:42 mark with junior forward Brady Anderson with the assist.
“It’s tied 1-1, is a battle, we’re going back and forth and I was able to put one in, but I had a good screen in front,” Pezzulich said abut his goal.
The Raiders quickly scored and doubled their lead as sophomore forward Owen Keating scored on the rebound top shelf to make it a 3-1 game at the 4:27 mark.
The goal was unassisted and a few minutes later a delayed penalty was called against North Attleboro however it did not matter as captain and senior forward Cam Lynch saw an open spot on the right side after the Raiders put sustained pressure on the goalie, he took a shot and it went in while freshman forward Bobby Baranano was credited with the assist. Time of the goal was 2:30 of the second period.
“Honestly, the camaraderie on the team this year has been huge, and we got up to a slow start … but came back out and battled and got a good pep talk in the locker room,” Pezzulich said.
Late into the second period North Attleboro got one back when sophomore forward Shaun Colonna was on the right circle as he took a shot and the shot went in to cut the lead to two heading into the final period of regulation.
During the final period of regulation North Attleboro began the period on a power play. Despite putting pressure on Foley, he kept the Red Rocketeers at bay, helping the Raiders kill the penalty.
The Red Rocketeers had chances in the third period early on to cut the deficit as they were putting substantive pressure on Foley, but time and time again, Foley was strong and the Raiders kept a two-point lead. .
The Raiders took advantage of a turnover when Farley got the puck on the left side of the net. He passed it to junior forward Aiden O’Donnell who was on the right side. He scored the fifth goal of the game, sealing the victory.
