READING, Mass. — Woburn further cemented its status as the team to beat in the Middlesex League with Thursday night’s 5-1 victory over Reading at Burbank Arena.
The Tanners are now 3-0 on the young season while the Rockets fell to 0-1. Again, Woburn was led by its big guns of senior left wing Jonathan Surrette, junior center Mike Santullo and sophomore center Jackson Powers.
As is customary in Massachusetts high school hockey this winter, the game was played in two 22:30 halves. Woburn jumped out to a 3-0 lead at the halfway point on a quick strike from Surrette followed by two goals from Santullo later in the stanza.
Santullo completed the hat trick to give the Tanners a 4-0 lead in the second half. Freshman Cullen Emery got the Rockets on the board, but Woburn finished the scoring with an empty-net tally from Lance Anderson.
Woburn was without a question the better team, but Reading has been strapped with the disadvantage of its school committee playing hard ball in terms of allowing winter sports. Mark Doherty’s team wasn’t able to practice until the past week. The Rockets have some good young players who didn’t show as well Thursday as they are capable. Expect better nights ahead for a few of Reading’s underclassmen.
Scoring summary
1-0 Woburn: It didn’t take long for Woburn to jump on top in this game. Surrette forced a turnover near his own blue line, came buzzing down the left-wing side and ripped a low wrist shot past Reading goaltender Franklin Zessis for an unassisted tally.
2-0 Woburn: Later in the first half, Santullo gave the Tanners a two-goal edge. He buried a shot from the slot off a nice feed from Surrette below the goal line. The play was able to happen because Powers beat out the icing and got the secondary assist.
3-0 Woburn: From the goal mouth, Santullo banged home a pass from Surrette, who was at the left-wing circle. Arsenault had the secondary assist. The goal came on an extended four-on-three power play for the Tanners. The third goal concluded the scoring for the first half.
4-0 Woburn: Santullo completed the hat trick with a wrist shot from right inside the blue line that snuck in the net below the crossbar. He picked up the puck just inside his own blue line and darted through the middle of the ice before firing it home.
1-4 Reading: Emery scored the lone goal of the game for the Rockets on a nice individual effort. He took a pass from Landyn Greatorex in his own zone and skated up the left wing. Once he gained the attacking zone, he cut into the middle, held off a few defenders and fired a wrist shot past Woburn goaltender Ryan Moriarty.
5-1 Woburn: Anderson finished off the scoring with an empty-net tally assisted by Surrette with less than a minute to play.
Prospect standouts
Jonathan Surrette
Woburn, 8/6/03, RW, right shot, 5-11/175
Surrette is having a monster start to his senior season. He had a goal and three primary assists on Thursday night. He’s a big bodied winger who is strong down low. He shoots it hard, as evidenced by that early goal, and he is heavy on pucks, forcing several turnovers. His willingness to block shots and get in shooting and passing lanes got him a shorthanded breakaway chance that he missed just wide. Surrette is really good down low, sets up shop below dots, and is hard to knock off pucks. He’d be a terrific pickup as a postgraduate student for any prep school team.
Jackson Powers
Woburn, 4/30/05, C, left shot, 5-9/140
Powers had a really good night, despite picking up just one assist. He was on the ice for three of Woburn’s five goals. The sophomore skates well, has good skill, and was all over the ice. He used his speed down the right wing to create offense on the rush. He hit the post once from the slot in the second half. Powers has some jam to his game, which was on display a few times tonight. He played the body in the neutral zone early in the game, breaking a Reading player away from the puck. Throughout the game, he forced turnovers and agitated opposing players. I love the little stickwork and gritty stuff he does. I just wish he’d bring that every shift. Still, he’s one of my favorite `05s in New England. There’s absolutely a place for him on a Hockey East roster in three or four years.
Cullen Emery
Reading, 8/2/05, C, right shot, 5-10/175
Emery is certainly one of the top 10 players in his birth year in this region. He didn’t have the best game, but he still showed why he’s so highly regarded. His goal was really pretty, but he did some other things earlier in the game that caught my eye. He’s an above average skater, hunts and recovers pucks, finds soft spots, moves without puck, and is on the ice in all situations as a freshman. Similarly to Powers, I would expect Emery to be on a Hockey East roster in four or five years.
Landyn Greatorex
Reading, 7/26/03, LW, left shot, 5-11/165
Greatorex picked up an assist on the lone Reading goal of the night. His skating is always worth noting, but he needs to play with more purpose and be willing to go to those tough areas in order to take the next step in his development.
Mikey Santullo
Woburn, 1/1/03, C, left shot, 5-11/170
Santullo is a player who I didn’t know much about until I first saw Woburn last week against Arlington. He’s a strong center who is hard to knock off pucks. He does a good job fighting for position in the dirty areas, camping out front, and finishing. Prep schools, such as Tilton, Holderness, Winchendon, and Pomfret should keep their eyes on Santullo as either a repeat junior in 2021-22 or as a postgraduate student in 2022-23.
Woburn lines
Surrette - Powers - Anderson
Baccari - Santullo - Robinson
Scalesse - Fishlin - Stone
Arsenault - Clark
Laprade - Leuizzi
Welch - Parece
Moriarty
Reading lines
Greatorex - Emery - Pennucci
Donovan - Mulvey - Goodwin
Dufton - Granara - T. Owens
Boyle - Fogarty - Picano
Vedder
Miele - Micciche
Sumner - Palermo
Lawhorne - Owens
Zessis
