Belmont Boys Hoops On Winning Track Beating Reading; Girls’ 11s Upend Rockets

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Photo: Belmont’s Danny Yardemian driving to the basket.

Coming off an away loss to Winchester, Belmont High Boys’ Basketball got back on the winning side of the ledger defeating a tenacious Reading Memorial High Rockets team, 68-58, on a warm and rainy Friday night, Jan. 12, at the Wenner Field House.

Led by all-star junior shooting guard Danny Yardemian with 26 points, The Marauders’ faced an early seven-point deficit, 13-6, with time running out in the first quarter when Yardemian hit a pair of critical jumpers to spark a 6-0 run to cut the Rocket lead to 1, 13-12, at the end of eight minutes. 

With Yardemain forced off the court to have a bloody knee repaired, two Belmont underclassmen came off the bench to spark the offense with freshman Tim Minicozzi (8 points) scoring three buckets on a drive and a pair of jumpers while point guard sophomore Mac Annus (7 points) buried a Steph Curry-esque trey from long distance to up the lead to 26-18.

Senior Will Ellet (14 points including 6-8 from the free-throw line) hit one of his favorite “three” from the left side followed by a great heads-up assist by junior Ben Sseruwagi to a wide open Minicozzi with a second left in the half gave Belmont an eight-point lead, 34-26, at the end of two quarters.

Yardemian’s 11 points in the third upped the lead to 11, 55 to 44, at the end of the quarter, and when Ellet hit his second 3 of the night, the Marauders took its largest lead at 60-44 with 6:40 remaining. But Reading, which nearly beat a Winchester team that defeated Belmont three nights before, used a tight man-to-man defense led by junior Matt Sannella’s dogged covering of Yardemian (no points in the fourth) to cool down the hosts. And behind sophomore guard Matt Mulvey (14 points) and senior guard Matt Panacopoulos (10 points) with identical score lines in the quarter – a three, a hoop and two free throws – the Rockets went on a 12-0 run to cut the lead to four, 60-56, with two and half minutes to play.

But missing its chance to get closer with a missed three, the Rockets left Annus free to find an open shot that fell in for a big two points that gave the Marauders a cushion they kept to the end.

Belmont sits at 5-3 as they await its non-conference game with Bishop Stage on Sunday, Jan. 13 before travelling to Lexington on Wednesday, Jan. 16 during exam week. 

Five Marauders in double-digit scoring, down hosts Reading

Belmont saw four players scoring 11 points with a freshman lead the team in scoring for the fourth time this season as the Marauders pulled away from hosts Reading to win going away, 69-55, on Friday, Jan. 12. 

Belmont freshman Maiya Bergdorf came off the bench and score 18 points, while senior captains Greta Propp and Jenny Call along with junior guard Megan Tan all hit for 11 points. Junior center Jess Giorgio had a double/double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. 

Leading scorer for Reading and the game was junior Haley Lightbody with 20 points. Senior Kate Nestor chipped in, you guessed it, 11 points.

Belmont will take its 7-1 record into its Wednesday game with Lexington at the Wenner.

With Wins, Belmont Girls Hoopsters Receive Media Attention, For Better Or Worse

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Photo: Another day, another reporter – Boston Globe correspondent Tyler Blint-Welsh – wanting to talk to Belmont High senior captain Carly Christofori and freshman Maiya Bergdorf.

It was another victory for the Belmont High Girls’ Basketball team on Tuesday, Jan. 9, against an overpowered Winchester squad. 

And for the second consecutive game, a reporter from one of Boston’s daily newspapers was lurking after the game, wanting to speak to members of the “hot” new team on the scene.

Tuesday it was Boston Globe correspondent Tyler Blint-Welsh who asked to talk to senior captain Carly Christofori and leading scorer freshman Maiya Bergdorf, two of the standouts in the 69-21 victory over the Sachems. Last week, it was Boston Herald who came with a photographer and reporter, picking out players and coaches to speak. 

For Belmont Head Coach Melissa Hart, the attention her team is receiving – and especially the recognition of the hard work put in by the upperclassmen – is well earned, having stepped up in the team’s first year playing in the top-level Division 1. At 6-1 (its lone loss to D1 powerhouse Newton South and its superstar Veronica Burton), the Marauders find themselves in the Top 10 in both daily papers girls’ basketball polls.

“I’m really proud that they are getting this attention,” said Belmont Head Coach Melissa Hart after the game.

“This is such a wonderful group; they put the time in the offseason and during the season. They have focused whether it’s in the games or at practices.”  

There indeed wasn’t this much attention towards the team since … well, probably ever. Despite an excellent run last season with one of the best shut down defenses in the state, the team earned a few throwaway articles even after going 16-4 and won the number one seed in the North Division 2 playoffs.

“It took us a while to be looked at, and when we did get the articles, we lost to Arlington Catholic [in the semifinals of the Division 2 North sectionals],” said Hart after Tuesday game. 

But with the newfound press coverage comes the expected blowback; teams and coaches now know who you are and will be itching to take down the upstart. 

“It’s nice to have the underdog mentality and not have a target on your back. But this is the way it goes when you have a string of successful seasons,” said Hart.

Hart said while the team has earned respect with all the hard work over the years, “now everyone’s looking for you, trying to topple one of the top 10 teams. No one is coming into a game with us and thinking that they are not up for the game,” she said.

“It is what it is, I can’t make them longshots. I can only tell the kids that we have to always work for everything and fight for everything because now people are gunning for us. And that will make having a successful season tougher to achieve,” Hart pointed out.

“We have a lot of good teams in the league: we were lucky to get out of our game with Woburn with a win, Lexington and Reading will be hard to break down, Melrose and Wakefield are strong and even Arlington on the nights they are on will be difficult to beat,” said Hart. 

Still, Hart likes the challenge before her as the team will soon reach the midpoint of the season. 

“I don’t underestimate what we can do in the league. We are a tough team for our opponents because they can’t focus on one player. We don’t pound it to our center every time we come down the court or try to isolate one shooter. We have so many good players; if we are egalitarian in our play, we will be successful.”

“We have our work cut out for us to live up to our reputation,” she said.

Not that Hart sees her team failing to meet the team’s goals.

“They’re kind as a group and great teammates, and that’s why their chemistry is so good. And now the whole program is built on their unselfishness and hard work.”

Krafian Takes Hurdle Title at Dartmouth Relays, Breaks School Records

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Photo: Belmont High’s Anoush Krafian doing what she does best; breaking records and winning races.

Most high school students who visit the college they were accepted to will spend a few days to scout out the dorms, visit the town and get a lay of the land.

For Anoush Krafian, visiting Dartmouth College this past weekend was all about the business of being fast. 

The Belmont High senior who will be attending the Ivy League school in the fall arrived at the historic 48th Dartmouth Relays to take part in a trio of events and took way silverware from two.

Krafian won the girls 55-meter hurdles in 8.41 seconds to beat second-place Scarborough, Maine sophomore Emily Labbe by 0.10 seconds. 

Her winning time broke the Belmont High indoor record which Krafian already held. In fact, the state’s defending outdoors’ 100-meter hurdles champion has lowered her best time four times in the past three weeks, from 8.63. 

In addition to the hurdles record, Krafian also broke the school’s indoor long jump record with a leap of 17-feet, 5-inches at the Sprint Classic at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center during the holiday recess. 

In addition to the hurdles at Dartmouth, Krafian tied for third in the girls high jump with a leap of 5-feet, 2-inches and settled for 15th in the girls long jump with a 15-foot jump.  

Sports: Rizzuto’s Scoring Tear Lifts Boys’ Hockey In 2018

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Photo: Steve Ruzzuto vs. 

First, the good news: Steve Rizzuto is running hotter than your heating system during the latest artic snap. The Belmont High senior forward scored consecutive hat-tricks, the second coming in Belmont’s 6-1 away shellacking of Woburn High on Wednesday, Jan. 3.

And when the Marauders were down 1-0 deep in the third period against a pesky Lexington team Saturday, Jan. 6, it was Rizzuto who bailed out the team with a wonder strike to allow Belmont to limp out of the Skip with a 1-1 tie that even the coaching tweeted was admittingly “undeserved.”

Belmont Boys’ came back from its annual holiday break trip to Maine with a 2-0-1 record, having stopped Pinkerton 2-1 with Rizzuto scoring along with Alec Moran, tied defending Maine state champs Lewiston 2-2 and steamrolled Exeter, NH, 10-1, with Rizzuto hitting the hat trick along with fellow forward Conor Dacey. 

After dispatching the usually tough Tanners, Belmont was looking for a good result Saturday, from the resurgent Minuteman – 6-3-0 coming into the match – led by the multi-talented (and the scourge of Belmont teams) senior forward Sal Frelick and fellow senior attack Devin Jenness. In a fast pace, up and down the ice affair, the two teams traded the rare good chances with Lexington looking slightly better in the offensive zone.

After nearly two periods of futility, Lexington caught the long-awaited break it was looking for as Jenness broke the Belmont defense for a breakaway in on goalie Kevin Dacey. The senior netminder stopped the initial shot but Jenness banged in the rebound to put the Minutemen up with 2:20 left in the middle stanza.

Nor did it appear Belmont was generating the effort to put one by Lexington’s freshman goalie Donald McCarthy. In stepped Rizzuto who took a pass from senior linemate Will Domeniconi just to the right of the net and roofed a stunner passed a well-positioned McCarthy at 8:45 in the third. 

For the remaining 7:15, it was the goalies that took center stage but for different reasons. Dacey stood tall against sustain Minutemen pressure while at the other end, McCarthy’s moment of indiscretion with a minute remaining (bad language, pitching a puck at an official and throwing a stick) saw the rare instance of a goalie in the penalty box but only for a moment as he was waved off the ice. It nearly cost Lexington as Belmont put a pair of testers on Lexington’s backup 9th grader but at the buzzer, the battle ended in an unsatisfying tie.

The Boys will wait for Wednesday, Jan. 10 to take on a tough Winchester squad away before returning home to the Skip to meet Reading on Saturday, Jan. 13.

Sports: Girls’, Boys’ Hoops Take Measure of Tanners, Home and Away

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Photo: Jenny Call (21) and Carly Christofori (12) turn on the ball during Belmont’s game with Woburn.

They weren’t games you’d write home about but two wins are two wins as both Belmont basketball teams took the measure of Woburn in a pair of important early-season contests.

Bench Comes Up Big In Belmont Girls’ Come-From-Behind Win

Jane Mahon wasn’t sure she’d be playing in Tuesday’s game against Middlesex League rival Woburn. The junior forward and the Marauders’ “sixth man” was ill with the stomach flu on Monday and didn’t practice.

“I’m not sure if I’m playing. I was really sick,” Mahon told the Belmontonian before the game.

It’s a good thing for Belmont that Mahon, junior center Ella Gagnon and freshman Maiya Bergdorf all came off the bench as the trio of non-starters sparked a second-half surge resulting in the Marauders taking the measure of the unbeaten Tanners, 43-38, at Belmont’s Wenner Fieldhouse.

“It wasn’t pretty but it was a win that showed a lot of grit from the team,” said Belmont’s Head Coach Melissa Hart who saw her team go to 5-1. Woburn is now 4-1.

After an even first quarter, 12-11 in Belmont’s favor, Woburn took advantage of Belmont’s team foul deficit – at one point the Marauders had been whistled for 7 fouls against a single infraction for the Tanners – to go perfect (6 for 6, four from junior Julia Taylor) from the charity stripe while Woburn’s leader Andrea Schiavone (11 points) hit a 3 and a layup to propel the visitors to a 24-19 lead into the half. 

Trailing midway through the third quarter, Belmont’s comeback began with a Bergdorf three-pointer – the first of two 3s on the night – followed by a pair of mid-range jumpers from Mahon which cut an eight-point deficit to one, 28-27, with a minute and a half remaining.

“Woburn was very aggressive and always on us very tight. So when a teammate was driving to the basket I was always there to take a pass and that allowed me to have open shots,” said Mahon, who finished with 7 points, a block and a steal.

Mahon has been contributing on both ends of the court, said Hart, “with the intensity and work ethic she brings.”                                                                             

Early in the fourth quarter, Bergdorf hit her second 3 with 6 minutes remaining in the fourth to give the Marauders the lead for good at 31-30, followed by a drive to the basket to increase the lead to 35-32. Belmont was up by five points as junior 2-guard Meghan Tan (5 points who played the entire 32 minutes for the second consecutive game) hit a layup with one second on the shot clock to make the score 37-33 with 1:50 left in the game.

Bergdorf finished the night hitting two clutch free throws – Belmont was a less than stellar, 8-17, from the line – in the final minute to seal the victory and give her a game-high 12 points. 

“I just wanted to go out there, just give it my all and prove that I can play with [my teammates],” said Bergdorf.

Hart said Bergdorf has been able to feel comfortable on the team due to the support of the juniors and seniors such as captains Jenny Call (3 points), Greta Propp (6 points) and captain Carly Christofori (8 points).  

“She brings a skill set that is pretty special,” said Hart.

While not in the scorebook, Hart praised Gagnon’s overall physicality in relief of junior center Jess Giorgio (2 points), clogging the passing lanes and being a presence under the basket. 

“[Gagnon] was awesome tonight. She was a real difference maker tonight on defense,” said Hart, noting the team held a good attack offense to six points in the third and eight in the fourth quarters.

Six games into the season, Hart said she “likes where we are going, heartened by the fact that we haven’t played our best yet. Woburn will be tough when we go there (in February) but I expect us to be sharper by then.”

Boys’ edge Woburn 

Just how poorly was Belmont High’s Boys’ basketball team was playing defense in the first half against host Woburn on Tuesday, Jan. 2? Head Coach Adam Pritchard gave up yelling at his squad. 

“I ended the game with my voice intact,” said Pritchard, who said in the first quarter, the team “couldn’t guard a tree” giving up 24 points and trailing by 9. 

In the second, the Marauders “were slightly better shooting” scoring 21 points while holding the suddenly cooled down Tanners to 15 to creep back into the game by the half, trailing 39-36. All-star shooting guard Danny Yardemian (a team-high 22 points) led the Marauders with 7 in each of the opening two stanzas. 

After intermission, Belmont seemingly abandoned anything within the three-point arc and like Steph Curry, shot lights out from distance, knocking down six treys and nothing else, propelling them into the lead after three, 54-48, with sophomore point guard Mac Annus (15 points) and senior forward Will Ellet (16 points) each burying a pair. 

Woburn attempted to steal the lead back but senior forward Jake Pollock (6 points) stepped up defensively by taking a pair of charges that gave Belmont possession during critical times in the quarter to give Belmont the win, 69-67, with the Marauders ending the game with 11 3s. Belmont and Woburn are 4-2, second in the Middlesex Liberty Division trailing only Arlington.

“We beat a very good team and these are the type of games that we just battle back to win,” said Pritchard. 

Another One Bites The Dust: Perkins Breaks 300 Record; Fastest 600 HS Runner in US

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Photo: Calvin Perkins at the 2017 Massachusetts All-State outdoor meet.

Don’t tell Calvin Perkins to slow down; he’s got more records to break.

The Belmont High senior all-star has taken down his second school indoor track record, turning in a stellar 35.67 second in the 300 meters last Thursday, Dec. 28 at Boston University in the team’s dual meet vs. Winchester.

And the New Year brought even better news for the talented Perkins – he is a multi-year all-district musician playing the trumpet – as his 600-meter record of 1 minute 21.42 set on Dec. 22 was ranked the fastest time in the US for High School 600 meter runners so far this indoor season.

Belmont Girls Hoops Fall To Top-Ranked Newton South, 44-35, For First Loss

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Photo: Belmont High School Girls Basketball.

A slow start coupled with free throw shooting as cold as all outdoors resulted in the Belmont High Girls Basketball falling from the undefeated as the Marauders lost to Newton South, the top-ranked team in eastern Massachusetts, 44-35, in the title game of the Garden City Basketball Holiday Invitational held at Newton North High School Thursday, Dec. 28.

“The team struggled offensively in the first half so you’re forced to battle back against a very good team for the rest of the game,” said Belmont Head Coach Melissa Hart. 

In what was essentially a home game for the Warriors at Newton North , Belmont failed to find the rhythm in the offensive side of the ball until midway through the third quarter when the Marauders cut a 15 point deficit to five, 38-33, with just under three minutes to play.

With Belmont knocking on the door, the Lions turned to its leader senior guard Veronica Burton who put the game on ice with a bucket, two free-throws off a steal and a pass that led to a free-throw on consecutive times up the court. 

“[Burton’s] quite a player, scoring half of their points but also involved one way or another in most of them,” Hart said about the Northwestern-bound all-star who tallied 21 points to go along with 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 3 steals against the Marauders. 

Not that the game didn’t start on the upswing with Belmont scoring baskets on its first drives of the game to lead 4-1. It was then Newton South – a Division 1 South powerhouse coming off a 16-4 record last year – took off on a 14-1 run to end the first quarter, 15-5.

“While [Newton South wasn’t] shooting the lights out, they got off an awful lot of shots, more than I would have liked to see,” said Hart. “I thought early in the second quarter, ‘they’re going to score 80 on us’.”

While the Marauders defense began to stem the bleeding in the second quarter, the offense continued finding it hard to take advantage of Belmont’s frontline height difference.

“Their guard defense just made it difficult for us to get the ball into the middle,” Hart said.

Hart placed junior guard Meghan Tan – who along with backcourt partner senior captain Carly Christfori played the entire 32 minutes of the game – to play man-on-man on Burton, but did not attempt to send other defenders to assist Tan on the Newton South star.  

“We couldn’t do everything we wanted to against Burton because the other kids on Newton South were really good,” said Hart, pointing to the four 3s Burton’s teammates hit including a pair from fellow senior Paige Ollivierre. “If we would have sent more players to [Burton], we would have been killed from the outside.” 

At the half, Newton South doubled up Belmont 26-13, who were hurt by what has been an almost historic bugaboo for the Marauders; not taking advantage of chances from the charity stripe. Belmont went 2 for 6 in the first half and a woeful 4 for 11 in the second half. 

But Belmont kept the game close enough so when Tan hit a 3 pointer at the buzzer, Belmont was only down by 9, 34-25, having outscored the Lions, 12-8, in a strong third quarter on both ends of the court. During the team’s last-minute push, Christofori scored 7 of her team-high 11 points in the first five minutes of the quarter as freshman Maiya Bergdorf (5 points including a three) hit a deuce and junior sixth man Jane Mahon (5 points) went 1-2 from the line.

While the Marauders did hold Newton South to just a pair of baskets in the final quarter, it was Burton who almost singlehandedly finished off Belmont, including going 5 for 8 from the free throw line in the final stanza.

“We didn’t play a perfect game. We have further to go than they do and to me that the good news,” said Hart. “I see us getting better throughout the season. It’s an early-season loss to a good team.”

Move Over Victor: Perkins Breaks School’s 600M Indoor Record

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Photo: Calvin Perkins after his record-breaking run. (William Brotchie, photo)

According to Belmont High School Head Cross Country and Track Coach William Brotchie, there was actually a 13th Labor of Hercules that was specific to Belmont: to break one of Victor Gras‘ Belmont High School track records. Gras’ name dominates the record books in the middle distance races both indoors and outdoors for the past dozen years with only fleeting attempts to challenge his times.

But Gras’ name will be replaced in the 600 meters when last Friday, Dec 22, Belmont senior Calvin Perkins completed that Herculean feat at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury during the team’s dual meet against Lexington as Perkins took a half a second from the old record crossing the finish line in 1 minute, 21.42 seconds.

The Marauder captain continues his impressive run of form, coming off a junior season that saw him take second in the Massachusetts All-State 800 meters and an 8th in the 600 meters in March’s Indoor state meet.

Sports: Girls’ Hoops Open Season 3-0; Prepare For Tough Holiday Competition [VIDEO]

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Photo: Senior Capt. Carly Christofori preparing to hit the three against Stoneham.

It’s been an easy start of the season for Belmont High School’s Girls’ Basketball teams as the team has started the 2017-18 season at 3-0.

Maybe the kickoff has been too easy as the Marauders will need to ramp up its intensity as it faces some stiff competition heading into a holiday tournament in Newton next week.

Everyone knew the Belmont High Girls’ Hoopsters were going to be a handful for both league and tourney opponents – the Boston Herald rated the Marauders as the top team in Division 1 North despite competing with the big schools for the first time.

Belmont Head Coach Melissa Hart returns not just her starting five – guards Carly Christofori and Megan Tan, center Jess Giorgio, and Greta Propp and Jenny Call – from last year’s team that ended the season at 16-4 and the number-one seed in Division 2 North sectionals which reached the semi-finals, but also has talented reserves coming off the bench such as sixth-man Jane Mahon, point guard Kylie Rhone, reserve center Ella Gagnon and standout freshman Maiya Bergdorf who Hart can use anywhere on the court, as a shooting guard, power forward or center. 

In its first three games, the squad has returned with a suffocating defense and an offense that is looking to run the break in transition. And the team has also included another weapon in its arsenal, hitting the long ball as the team has drained 18 3s with Call adding a total of seven treys to her school career record.

Each game demonstrated Belmont’s versatility with junior center Giorgio dominated inside both offensively (14 points in the paint) and on the defensive boards while 9th grader Bergdorf drained a trio of threes towards a game-high 16 points to complement Propp’s 11 and Call’s 10 points as Belmont ran away in the second half to beat visiting Burlington, 62-37, in the home opener.

Against Wilmington on the road, junior guard Tan scored a game-leading 15 points mostly on the break as she led Belmont to a 16 point second quarter to give the Marauders a 28-20 lead at the half. The second half was all defense as the Marauders shut down the Wildcats, allowing only three points in the third and a total of nine for the 51-29 win.

Thursday’s game against an undermanned Stoneham team was quickly decided as the Marauders took off to a 27-10 first quarter lead (led by Christofori who scored 14 of her game-high 15 points in the opening stanza) then clamped down on Stoneham, limiting the Spartans to four points in the second quarter while they jumped on junior Mahon’s back as she scored 12 of her 14 points (on 7 for 7 shooting) in a 23 point quarter to up the margin at the half to 36 points, 50-14. 

Hart threw everyone but the manager onto the court as 12 of 13 Marauders got into the scorer’s book. Senior Rhone hit for 7 points while running the show with fellow senior Ally Shapazian while juniors Breah Healey (1 point), Audrey Christo (4 points), and Alex Keefe (with a downtown bomb for “THREE”) scored as Belmont won 71-25. 

And the team’s X-mas “present” for its solid start will be a pair of potentially tough encounters with strong squads just after Christmas. First up will be Stoughton High on Wednesday, Dec. 27 at 5 p.m. at Newton North High School. The tourney final will be on Thursday, Dec. 28 against the winner of the Newton North/Newton South game. If Newton South is Belmont’s opponent, it will likely meet senior Veronica Burton, the 5’9″ guard and Northwestern commit who is averaging 20 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks per game this season. 

 

 

Sports: Girls’ Hockey Rockets To 3-0 Start With Home Opener Win Vs. Lincoln-Sudbury

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Photo: Belmont heading to the goal.

Everyone knew coming into the season that Belmont High Boys’ Ice Hockey would be a team to be reckoned with in the Middlesex League. But if you’re looking for the squad playing at the “Skip” with the undefeated season, look no further than the Belmont High Girls’ team who has rocketed its way to a 3-0 start which included an all-around solid 3-0 home ice opener against Lincoln-Sudbury on Monday, Dec. 18.

Led by junior goalie Amanda Hanley who pitched her first shutout of the season, the Marauders scored with some unlikely sources demonstrating that the team’s potent scoring punch – 14 goals in the first three games – comes from more than just a single offensive line.

Second line defender senior Meghan Noone scored Belmont’s second goal on a rising wrister from just to the right of the left circle on the power play at 11:34 in the second period with the assist from defensive partner junior Jordan Lettiere. The no-frills defender who contributes each shift for Head Coach Ken Murphy showed her versatility and senior leadership by immediately taking a 2-minute roughing penalty after a Lincoln-Sudbury player took one-too-many liberties at Hanley’s expense. The violation was deemed by one observer as “a good roughing penalty to take” in defense of the team’s netminder. 

After a first period stalemate against a good Warriors team – L-S came into the game 1-0 after defeating Concord-Carlisle 1-0 in its season opener – Belmont struck early in the second as freshman phenom Emma O’Donovan (coming off a hat-trick against Burlington) scored in tight with assists from fellow frosh Del Bonin and senior center Annabel Banks.

Hanley kept the advantage turning back two point-blank shots at the doorstep with five minutes to go in the period before Belmont took advantage of a call against L-S a minute later.

Belmont put the game out-of-reach early in the third as O’Donovan netted her second from a pass by Noone who came as close as one can in high school hockey to a “Gordie Howe hat trick”.

Belmont opened the season squeaking by Wakefield by one, 5-4, then coming away with a 6-2 victory over Burlington as O’Donovan and linemate Emma Brodigan scored five goals with sophomore center Katie Guden hitting the back of the net.

The Marauders will be busy this week with away match on Wednesday, Dec. 20 at Wilmington, away again on Friday, Dec. 22 at Medford before coming home to the fridged confines of the “Skip” on Saturday, Dec. 23 vs. Stoneham.