Woburn, MA – On this Beanpot Monday, the #2 Arlington Spy Ponders made the short trip to Woburn for a Middlesex League matchup with the Woburn Tanners. Both teams had players out with illness and injury as it’s that time of year.
The first period was mostly uneventful as Arlington held the edge in puck possession but could not generate any Grade-A chances. Woburn had two early power plays but couldn’t score on the first and took an offensive zone penalty on the second. Senior Justin Sensales got the start in net for Arlington and Kevin Burkett took his spot between the pipes for the Tanners. Both made fairly ordinary saves and the frame ended tied at 0-0.
For the second period, things loosened up as five goals were scored. Arlington struck just 15 seconds in when senior Brendan Pigott fired a one-timer home high assisted by classmates Tyler Callahan and John Hourican. The Tanners responded immediately as junior Jonathan Surrette redirected a shot home just 12 seconds later. With 7:39 left, Ryan Davies one-timed a pass from Jake Murphy to make it 2-1 Ponders. Northeastern commit Anthony Messuri picked up an assist as well. Back came Woburn however and Surrette won a puck race with the Arlington goalie, went around him and fired a backhand into the open net. The game was all tied up again. Then with 1:21 left, senior Brendan Jones ripped a shot upstairs to give the Spy Ponders another lead. Murphy picked up the assist on another nice pass. The teams went to the room with Arlington up 3-2.
Just as the period started Arlington padded it’s lead as Brendan Jones notched his second of the evening off a rebound of a shot by Messuri and a secondary assist going to Jake Murphy: 4-2 Spy Ponders. Then with 6:42 remaining, senior James Santagati put the game away with an unassisted marker. To round out the scoring, Woburn freshman defender Connor Welch shot one through traffic to make it 5-3 and that was our final score.
Three Stars:
- F Jake Murphy, Arlington
- F Brendan Jones, Arlington
- F Anthony Messuri, Arlington
TTPA: D Connor Welch, Woburn
NZ Notes: This was another grind it out effort between two tough Middlesex League foes. Both teams were missing players due to injury and illness but they both left everything they had on the ice. Woburn played hard all game long, but ultimately Arlington controlled the puck possession for long stretches which allowed them to own the pace and that was the main reason they were victorious today.
For Arlington, we like sophomore Reid Malatesta who was flying around all game long, especially on the forecheck He’s a nice low-risk high reward player. We thought Dom Laiosa had a nice game as well: he has good feet and he’s nimble: smaller frame but shifty and can really pass it. There was also senior defender Ryan Davies who hits to defend and does a nice job of keeping it in the zone offensively at the blue line. Plus, he has the vision up ice to move the puck out of his own zone. Forward Brendan Pigott had a nice game as well, he protects the puck well, plays with an edge and really gets after it in puck pursuit. Then there is sophomore forward Jake Murphy – a 2004 birthyear, who is long and lean and he has improved his skating since we last saw him by stretching out his stride. He protects pucks well and tallied three nice assists tonight. The game looks to be slowing down for him right now. Hard not to mention Brendan Jones as well: he is a junkyard dog with a nice mix of skill, wiggle on the rush and ardent tenacity. Interesting that forward Tyler Callahan was playing D tonight due to the lineup changes. Either way, he showed good speed, especially on the line rush. As for loose pucks: Sensales played well in goal and as he always does Messuri won a lot of puck races with his effort and came away with a couple of assists to boot.
For Woburn, Jonathan Surrette did more of what he has always been capable of at this level. He has a real nose for the net, a quality shot and the patience to wait out goaltenders. He scored two tonight against a good Arlington team, which says all it needs to say about how good a player he is at this level. Hard not to like the game of defender Joey Guarino who saw a lot of minutes on the power play and ate up even more minutes 5-on-5. He is a workhorse and steady on the backend for Woburn. New on our radar was freshman defender Connor Welch who already has a big frame at a young age (looks close to 6’2). He is big and strong and hammered people down low. He was standing up opposing forwards at the blue line as well: he refused to let anything go quietly. He made himself tough to play against and that is going to get him a lot more looks moving forward.
