NEEDHAM, Mass. — The better team won on Wednesday night.
In a non-conference game, St. Sebastian’s took down Portsmouth Abbey, 6-1, in both squads' third game of the season.
St. Sebastian’s tallied three goals in the first period, two in the second and one in the third. Portsmouth Abbey’s lone goal came in the third period when sophomore forward Hunter McCarthy dangled a St. Sebastian’s defender and roofed a shot over goalie Pelle Russo (West Newton, Mass.).
The Arrows dominated play for most of the night. They pushed the pace and spent the game on the attack. They had no trouble entering the offensive zone against Portsmouth Abbey, which entered Wednesday having won its first two games against BB&N and Kents Hill.
That doesn’t mean Portsmouth Abbey was without scoring chances. It didn’t happen often, but the Ravens forced Russo to make a few solid saves.
St. Sebastian’s entered Wednesday night having beaten Rivers, 1-0, and lost to Milton, 4-2. It looked like the Arrows really needed a game like this.
Here are the standouts from the matchup.
Isaac Mitchell
St. Sebastian’s, 2/28/2005, FWD, left-shot
Mitchell was outstanding Wednesday night, notching a hat trick. His first goal came on a rebound in the first period. Later in the frame, the Harvard, Mass., native sniped one over Portsmouth Abbey goalie Patrick McDevitt. His third of the night came when he dangled through the Portsmouth Abbey defense off the rush and then deked out McDevitt to extend the lead to 6-1 in the third period. His lone assist came when, next to the Portsmouth Abbey net, he waited out the opposing defense and laid a perfect pass to Matt Cataldo (Norfolk, Mass.), who scored.
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Teddy Mutryn
St. Sebastian’s, 2/16/2007, FWD, right-shot
A big reason why Mitchell posted a hat trick was because of Mutryn’s terrific play on his line. The standout sophomore posted four assists. His first came when the Norwell, Mass., native dangled a Portsmouth Abbey defender and dinged the iron behind McDevitt, which was when Mitchell came in and stuffed in a rebound. His second was also notable, when he sent a no-look, backhand pass to linemate Cataldo, who finished the play by scoring a goal.
Matt Cataldo
St. Sebastian’s, 5/19/2005, FWD, left-shot
The line of Mitchell, Mutryn and Cataldo was a machine Wednesday, as, like Mitchell, Cataldo also had a hat trick. All three of his goals were nice shots and his first two came off finishing plays his linemates created. His lone assist came when he fed Mitchell at the end of the first period. It’s going to be really interesting to see how this trio evolves this season. Coming into Wednesday’s game, the line had only factored into one of the team’s three goals over two games.
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Nolan Flynn
St. Sebastian’s, 2/25/2005, FWD, left-shot
Flynn didn’t appear on the scoresheet Wednesday, but the Natick, Mass., native was all over the ice making his impact felt. His hands were terrific, as he constantly stick-handled through opponents and led the charge when entering the offensive zone. He was also great at coming off the half-wall in the offensive zone, creating space for himself and protecting the puck. He doesn’t have a point in his first three games but if he keeps playing like that, the points are sure to come on an effective line with junior Brian Hall (Sudbury, Mass.) and sophomore Brendan Keaveney (Westwood, Mass.).
Josh Bonrouhi
Portsmouth Abbey, 7/9/2004, FWD, left-shot
Portsmouth Abbey didn’t have much going for it Wednesday. One bright spot, however, was Bonrouhi. The senior forward had a terrific scoring chance in the first period but was robbed by Russo’s glove. Even more notable was his play on the penalty kill, as he constantly caused chaos at the top of the zone for St. Sebastian’s and often skated the puck the other way, using his quickness and shiftiness to interrupt the Arrows’ man advantage.
Along with Bonrouhi, McDevitt was as solid as a goalie can be for allowing six goals in a game. McDevitt faced numerous high-danger chances and stopped a bunch of them.
