Last Second 3 Gives Woburn The ‘W’ Over Belmont Girls’ Hoops, 58-55; Boys’ Wallop Tanners

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Photo: Belmont’s Meghan Tan scoring and being fouled in the game vs. Woburn. 

Woburn High senior forward Kelsey Qualey hit an uncontested three-point shot with eight seconds remaining to negate a final minute 10-0 run by Belmont High to beat the Marauders, 58-55, in a barnburner on Friday, Feb. 2 in Woburn.

Qualey’s trey, her only three of the game, came after Belmont rallied from a 55-45 deficit with 1:29 remaining in the fourth, as the Marauders’ senior co-captains Greta Propp and Jenny Call hit consecutive three-point baskets to knot the game at 55 with 36 seconds left in the half.

But when Woburn came down the court, Belmont’s defense “lost” Qualey as she drifted to the left of the basket and had a wide-open shot at the hoop that she calmly sank. A final second attempt by senior co-captain Carly Christofori – an underhanded left-hand prayer that hit nothing but net – was negated by a traveling violation.

“That was a huge shot because we wanted to get into overtime,” said Belmont’s Head Coach Melissa Hart after the game. 

“[Woburn]’s defense was fantastic and we didn’t move the ball like we should have. And they had a couple of players that had big games, they just hit more shots,” said Hart.

Belmont now sits at 11-2 with Woburn vaulting to 11-1, and into the lead for the top seed in the coming Divison 1 North sectional post season.

It’s appropriate the game was played in Woburn on Groundhog Day because as in the movie, Belmont relived the same heartbreaking outcome playing in “Wu-town” during the regular season or in the sectional playoffs.

“What are we now in Woburn? Like 0-8,” lamented Hart.

Friday’s game was filled with points streaks. Belmont opened the game on a 9-0 run – Christofori would score all 7 of her first-quarter points in the first 1:15 of the game to go along with a turnaround scoop shot from junior center Jess Giorgio – only to see Woburn storm back with its own 12-0 streak to eventually lead 15-13 at the end of the first eight minutes.

The second quarter was a tight affair when Christofori hit her second three in the half to cut the Tanner lead to two, 24-22, with 1:47 left. That’s when Woburn’s defense and three-point shooting hit its peak, creating four consecutive turnovers as senior Andrea Schiavone (12 points on four threes) and sophomore Ashlyn Pacheco – who played a tight man defense on Christofori – hit from long distance, outscoring Belmont 11-2 in the final 90 seconds to leave the court at the half up 35-24.

“We didn’t stop them when we needed to. If we would have gotten it under five with a few minutes left then it’s not a big mountain to climb. But we were down around 10 the entire second half,” said Hart. 

The third quarter saw Belmont only able to cut the lead to 7 points once (38-31) with Woburn playing a collapsing man-to-man defense, clogging the lane and using a phalanx of players to stifle Christofori’s playmaking as the Tanners kept its 11 point margin entering the final quarter.

The last eight minutes started smartly for Belmont as Giorgio – the Marauders’ player of the match working both boards and taking a leadership role on and off the court – and Jane Mahon hit baskets to cut the lead to six points (49-42) after a minute. But Pacheco would hit a basket falling to the court after being fouled to restore the lead to nine. While the Marauders were having trouble finding open shots, the Tanners were now finding themselves under pressure from Belmont’s press.

Belmont’s final run started with a Giorgio basket, followed by Christofori’s only two points in the half from a pair of free throws. On the subsequent Woburn inbounds, Giorgio forced a five-second violation that followed by Propps second three of the quarter, followed by a turnover which allowed Call – the Marauders’ career three-point leader – to make her second trey which silenced the Tanners’ cheering section as Belmont outscored Woburn 17-6 in the quarter. 

But a lack of defensive discipline with Woburn driving to the basket ended Belmont’s thrilling comeback and instead it was a return to Groundhog Day.

Boys’ Basketball Rein on Woburn

Belmont High Boys’ Hoops has found a way to beat playoff-bound Woburn: drain threes onto the Tanners.

On Friday, Feb. 2, the Marauders threw down a torrential downpour that swept aside Woburn High in a flash flood of treys as Belmont handed the 11-win Tanners a comprehensive drubbing, 85-57, in a game held at the Wenner Fieldhouse that was over at halftime.

With nine wins, Belmont is a victory away from making the Division 2 North. Woburn has dropped consecutive games (losing to Watertown on Tuesday) and stands at 11-4 as it heads to undefeated Arlington.

Belmont’s league MVP candidate Danny Yardemian led all scorers with 26 points as the Marauders completed the double against the Tanners beating Woburn last month 69-67.

Woburn guard Ryan Ludwig’s 10 points kept his team close at the end of the first, 23-17, the burgage began in earnest as Belmont put up 27 points in the second eight minutes. By the half, the led was 19, 50-31, with 30 points coming from distance with sophomore guard Mac Annus accounting for four threes from downtown. In the third, Belmont defense played its part holding the Tanners under 10 points to extend the lead to nearly 30, 70-39, entering the fourth quarter.

Krafian Named ‘Outstanding Performer’ At State Invitational Track Meet

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Photo: Belmont’s Anoush Krafian.

When Anoush Krafian runs or jumps, you can bet that most athletes are trying in vain to catch her. 

At the annual Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Boys and Girls Invitational for Big Schools held Sunday, Jan. 28 at Boston’s Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center, Krafian stole the show by winning one event and was knocking on the door for another, which earned the Belmont High senior the coveted “Outstanding Performer” of the meet award.

The multi-event talent won her speciality, the 60-meter hurdles, with a dominating performance winning in 8.45 seconds, nearly two-tenths of a second in front of senior Christina Speliakos of Milford High (8.71). 

Krafian wasn’t done on the afternoon as she had a go in the high jump placing second with a leap of 5 feet, 4 inches, defeating three competitors with the same height but she had fewer attempts. Only a monster jump of 5 feet, 8 inches by Zoe Dainton from Hingham High School beat her out for the win.

And just for good measure, Krafian took part in the long jump, coming in a respectable 9th with a leap of 16 feet, 11 and 1/2 inches and ran the third leg in the 4×200 meter relay which finished 13th. 

Krafian wasn’t the only Belmont athlete to reach the podium as sophomore Soleil Tseng took an outstanding third in the 600 meters in 1:38.55, the fastest time by a 9th or 10th grader in the event.

Belmont Girls’ Basketball Playoff Bound As It Heads Into Tough Away Games

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Photo: Belmont freshman point guard “Kiki” Christofori driving vs. Watertown.

The Belmont High Girls’ Basketball team is playoff bound after defeating its arch rivals, Watertown High, 67-24, on Friday, Jan. 26 at the Wenner Field House.

Belmont (11-1) reached the 10-win postseason benchmark in its 11th game, the quickest the program has clinched a spot in the North Sectionals.

After a hard-fought, 69-49, victory over hosts Lexington in a rare Sunday afternoon matinee on Jan. 28, Belmont will play its toughest stretch this season as it meets a pair of one-loss teams in two critical away contests.

The Marauders meet 11-1 Wakefield on Tuesday, Jan. 30. The Warriors lost its first game of the season on Friday to Woburn by two points, 59-57. On Friday, Feb. 2, the Marauders travel to Woburn to take on the 9-1 Tanners, which Belmont came back from eight points down in the third quarter to defeat back on Jan. 2. 

“It’s a big week,” said Belmont Head Coach Melissa Hart. “Playing really good teams will  help us prepare for the playoffs.”

In the three games previous, Hart’s team cruised by a two-loss Melrose, 57-43, as  junior guard Megan Tan led the Marauders with 12 points, 4 steals and 5 rebounds.

The warm-up to this week’s games was against teams which have been the true nemesis of the Marauders up until 2016. Watertown dumped Belmont from the playoffs in consecutive years, first in the semifinals (2015) and then the finals (2016) of the Division 2 North Sectionals. And over four years from 2013 to 2016, Belmont was 2-6 against a Lexington team with star guard Anna Kelly (who is currently enrolled at the University of Central Florida) who once scored 52 points against the Marauders.

But this year, Watertown is in a rebuilding period and Lexington can’t mesh together its good players for a complete game. Against the Raiders, a season-high 11 Marauders scored and 15 had time on the court as Belmont’s defense blanked Watertown in the third quarter. Freshmen Maiya Bergdorf led all scorers with 19 points while junior center Jess Giorgio scored her 10 points in the first six minutes of the game while pulling down 6 rebounds. Senior Ally Shapazian threw up a three and hit two from the charity stripe, juniors Breath Healey and Alex Keefe each drained threes while junior Audrey Christo knocked in a two. Watertown senior Callie McMahon’s 14 points accounted for more than half of her team’s total.

While Lexington came into the game at 3-8, its outside three-point shooting kept the game close. Down 21-13 in the second quarter, the Minutemen went on an 11-4 run before senior all-star guard Carly Christofori last-second driving bucket gave Belmont a 27-24 lead entering the second half.

In the third quarter, the Marauders relied on its veteran backcourt pairing of co-captain Christofori and junior Meghan Tan both on offense (both scoring 7 points in the frame with senior co-captains Greta Propp and Jenny Call contributing) and defense as Belmont held Lexington to 10 points to stretch its lead to 49-34 at the end of the eight minutes.

“That is a team who played better than their record,” said Hart of the Minutemen. “They scored on the shots we gave them in the first half. Can’t do that against better opponents.”

League Champs! Belmont Boys’ Swimming Takes Middlesex Season Title, First In Two Decades

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Photo: The 2017-18 Belmont High Boys’ Swim team, Middlesex League champions.

“How about those Marauders!” shouted senior captain Will Findlay as his teammates cheered in response, as the team celebrated winning the Middlesex League regular season championship for the first time since 1998 after defeating the coop team of Watertown/Arlington high schools, 87-78, in the final dual meet of the season held in the Higginbottom Pool on Friday, Jan. 26.

The Marauders finished the season undefeated, 6-0, in the Middlesex League, losing only once in 2017-2018 by one point to Division 1 Needham to complete the year at 7-1.

“What a season,” said Findlay, one of the team’s five captains and its charismatic leader. “All the work that we put in for the past two years culminated in today. That’s a testament to our freshman class but also all the hard work by all my teammates and the coaching staff.”

For first-year Belmont Head Coach James Saidnawey, the trip to the regular season championship was more than met his expectations. “I knew we had a good team and when the freshmen stepped up early, I thought we could compete with anyone in the league.”

The 9th grader came through against Watertown/Arlington (which saw the coop team end its season a more than respectable 3-3) as three Belmont freshmen records fall by the wayside in a season where underclassmen produced better than expected results. Frosh standout Tor Metelmann is fast becoming Belmont High’s most versatile swimmer since Jessie Blake-West, setting a new 50-yard freestyle standard at 23,19 seconds and being a member of the two relays – 4×200 medley and 4×400 free. 

“Tor is just a star, and he’s going to continue to perform like that for us, not just this year but for years to come,” said Findlay.

Belmont dominated Friday’s meet, winning eight of the eleven events, with big performances by Luc Durand in his speciality the 100 fly (55.85), Sam Thompson in the 100 free (53.73) with Metelmann adding the 100 backstroke (in a swift 57.53) to his arsenal of talents.

For Findlay, his final race as a Marauder – anchoring in the 4×400 to victory – was special “since I have been swimming in this pool for years. It’s great, not just for the team and me, but it hopefully starts a winning tradition for the program.” 

The new championship banner that will go up in the Wenner Field House was in no less part won two days earlier on Wednesday, Jan. 24 when Belmont defeated league standout Lexington, as the meet came down to the final relay before the Marauders pulling out a 92-84 win.

“Let my heart get back to normal,” said Saidnawey when the score was announced to the standing room crowd at the Higginbottom. “[The meet] was won by our guys battling for [places] behind the winners that gave us the margin we needed at the end.”

Case in point: with the score tied at 50, Belmont went 1,2 and 5 in the 500 free with Damien Autissier winning with open water at 5 minutes 24 seconds followed by a gutsy swim by Jason Iler-Kenistan who stormed back in the final 200 to finish in 5:51.53, taking second by half a second while Norman Fu earned an essential point in fifth. 

“Jason is an absolute animal as a freshman, and he is going to be a great swimmer for years to come,” said Findlay. 

Belmont followed up the 500 by winning the 4×200 free relay as Metelmann, Rickey Ye, Findlay and anchor Thompson out-touched Lexington’s outstanding free swimmers by half a second (1:35.97 to 1:36.50). Despite a significant win by Durand in the 100 back, Lexington cut the deficit to six points, 76-70, leading into the penultimate race, the 100 breaststroke, which is longtime Belmont speciality (for both the girls and boys).

Metelmann continued his dominance in the race, going first in 1:04.76 followed by Bulat in 1:08.15 taking the second spot by nearly a second. And it was Ye who powered the final lap to grab fourth place in 1:10.44, outreaching Lexington’s swimmer by .13 seconds. The 12-4 point advantage gave the Marauders a 14 point lead entering the 4×400 free relay.

Only a sweep by the Minuteman of the three scoring places would result in the meet-ending up in a tie. But safe entries off the blocks saw Belmont’s #1 squad of Durand, Justin Dong, Michael Pizzuto and Autissier came home in second and secured the most prominent team victory in many years.  

This week, Belmont will attempt to add the Middlesex League Meet title to the regular season title before heading to the Division 2 North Sectionals and then a visit to the State Championships in mid-February.

Sports: Girls’ Hoops Readies For Long Road Trip With Win Over SpyPonders

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Photo: Meghan Tan (with ball) driving to the basket against Arlington as Jane Mahon looks on. (Credit: Pete Giorgio)

In its last home game before an extended stretch away from the Wenner Field House against some of the most competitive teams it’ll face before the playoffs, Belmont High Girls’ Basketball took care of an undermanned but scrappy Arlington High SpyPonders squad, 73-55, on Friday night, Jan. 19. 

Led by junior center Jess Giorgio whose 13 points was her second game in double digit, Belmont spread the scoring around as seven of the eight player who tallied scored eight or more points in the game.

“What’s great about their unselfish play is that we don’t always go to the same girl to score. Everyone contributes which makes it hard of  the other teams to focus on just a few players,” said Belmont’s Head Coach Melissa Hart, whose team is currently 8-1 and 7-0 against Middlesex League opposition. 

Belmont took the lead early through senior co-captain Greta Propp who hit her first three shots to give the Marauders a 6-3 lead and when senior co-captain Jenny Call launched a three, the lead was four, 10-6, midway through the first. The Marauders steadily upped the lead to 28-16 with 3:30 remaining in the second on a Jane Mahon bucket off the give and go from Giorgio. The Marauders finished the quarter with threes from Meghan Tan and Call to end the half leading the SpyPonders, 39-23.

Arlington did claw back through game scoring leader freshman guard Eva Connolly who led all scorers with 19 points (going 8-8 from the free-throw line), and senior guard Ellie Demaree who tallied 18 points. Arlington did reduce the lead to 11, 54-43, just before the end of the third quarter.

But Belmont’s height advantage and good shot selection saw the lead near 20 with eight minutes left in the game.

Senior captains Carly Christofori and Jenny Call each scored 11 points – with Call adding three more three-pointers to her already team career record scoring from beyond the arc. Junior guard Meghan Tan and the Marauders’ third captain Greta Propp threw in nine points while bench players junior Jane Mahon and frosh Maiya Bergdorf knocked in eight apiece. 

Belmont’s stretch of success – recognized with top 10 rankings in both Boston daily newspapers polls – will be tested beginning this week as the team plays four of its next five games on the road against tough league competition.

First up will be 6-2 Melrose on Tuesday, Jan 23 before Belmont makes a brief stop home on Friday, Jan. 26 against a rebuilding Watertown club before playing three games in five days; a Sunday afternoon matinee, Jan. 28, against Lexington then up against the currently undefeated Wakefield (9-0) squad on Tuesday, Jan. 30 then a visit on Friday, Feb. 2 to Woburn (8-1) which took the Marauders to the brink at the Wenner before the team pulled it out late. 

Track Record Holders Named Boosters Athletes For December

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Photo: Anoush Krafian.

The Belmont Boosters named its December Athletes of the Month.

The Female athlete for December is Anoush Krafian of the Girls’ Indoor Track Team. This season, senior Krafian has set the school’s record in the 55-meter hurdles in 8.41 seconds and the indoor long jump with a leap of 17-feet, 5-inches.

The Male athlete for December is Calvin Perkins of the Boys’ Indoor Track Team. Also a senior, Perkins established a pair of new records: 35.67 seconds in the 300 meters and a 1 minute 21.42 second 600 meters which was the fastest High School time in the US last month.

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.