Nobles Skates Past Belmont Hill 5-0 at Home
Nobles had yet to give up a goal during the 2018-2019 season and that streak continued today as they thoroughly outplayed Belmont Hill, winning 5-0.
The first period started slow with much of the play in the neutral zone. Both teams play a physical style and like to create offense from below the goal line. Before the end of the frame, however, Casey Severo (Penfield, NY – Merrimack) cut down the right wing and threaded a pass to Ryan Stevens (Duxbury, MA – Yale) who finished back-door.
Both teams traded quality chances to start the second frame. Nobles was able to double the lead before the end of the period as Severo made a stretch pass out of his zone to Jack Cronin (Hamilton, MA) to create a 2-1. Cronin cut to his back hand and flipped the puck to the net. Michael Hauswirth (Lincoln, RI) made the initial save, but Cronin finished his own rebound. Nobles headed to the second break leading 2-0.
Nobles put the game away in the third by scoring three goals and limiting the offensive chances for Belmont Hill. Stevens scored his second of the day on the Power Play. Severo made a slick feed out of the corner to John Murray (Dorchester, MA) who fired the puck through a screen. The puck popped out to Stevens who buried the rebound. He then completed the hattrick a few minutes later and added a fourth goal off a nice deep-in feed from Severo to push the lead to 5-0.
NZ Take
Marc Smith (Hanover, MA) was up to the task and recorded his second shut-out of the young season. He is an athletic goalie that moves well and challenges shooters. Nobles has some talented forwards who can create off the rush and below the dots in the offensive zone. Severo is a skilled playmaking center that plays with pace. He sees the ice well and made several nice passes that lead to chances. Stevens played a strong game up-and-down the wing and drives the net well. Cronin is a skilled right-shot forward that works well in transition and pushes the pace on zone entries. On the back-end, Murray logs a good amount of minutes and is used in all situations. He has a low base and is tough to knock off the puck.
For the visitors, they were never really able to get going. They have some young talent up-front and may struggled to generate consistent offense in the ISL. Ryan McGuire (New Canaan, CT) is slick with the puck in space and made some nice reads through the neutral zone. Drew Blackwell (Haverhill, MA) is a smaller winger that made good decisions with the puck and finds soft ice. On the back-end James Perullo (Revere, MA) is a smooth puck-mover that runs the point on the Power Play. He retrieves pucks well and gets the breakout started seamlessly. Robert Radochia (Woburn, MA) is a bigger body that plays physical and does a good job cutting down time and space.
Three Stars
1) Ryan Stevens, (4-1-5), Nobles
2) Marc Smith (SO), Nobles
3) Casey Severo (0-5-5), Nobles
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images
