Massena Boys Hockey Takes Three Straight at Home

The Massena Red Raiders boy's hockey squad took their last three home games, defeating Ogdensburg, Malone and St. Lawrence Central.

Friday, Jan. 3 saw the Raiders finish with a 4 – 2 victory over the Larries in front of a highly-energized crowd.

Massena opened with a bang, scoring two goals in the opening stanza. The first came from forward Ryan Thomas, who took a pass from Tyler Young and tapped a low shot between Nate Burnett's legs from a few feet away. Low shots seemed to be Burnett's weak spot – the next goal came 30 seconds later at a similar elevation on the glove side from Josh Blair, unassisted.

With 6:43 to go in the middle period, J.P. Reagan brought home the game-winning goal on a power play when he fired a low slapshot between Burnett's legs, bringing the scoreboard to 3 – 0. Reagan was assisted by Maddox Merry and Ryan Thomas.

St. Lawrence would soon begin to give Massena a run for their money. About six minutes later Lukas Arquiett put the Larries on the board, besting Massena's Connor Paquin on the glove side. Arquiett received an assist from Mark Crump.

At 10:33 into the closing marker, Luke Peets would take advantage of a power play and bring St. Lawrence to a one-goal deficit, with assists from Arquiett and Kody Kocsis. The intensity was stepped up for the next few minutes. On multiple occasions, skaters would pile up in front of the St. Lawrence net with players lunging and diving in all directions with several close calls where it seemed like sheer luck is all that stopped the puck from bouncing in. Frantic fans screamed for their respective teams to either knock the puck in or keep it at bay. Some were warned by the announcer to keep back from the glass on pain of ejection from the game.

Out of the chaos, Massena would prevail. After several minutes, Ben Sprague would garner a short-handed insurance goal for Massena with 10 seconds on the clock on a play set up by Jordan Robert.

Paquin garnered 20 saves in the Massena net and added a win to his record, Burnett blocked 31 shots for the loss.

Four days prior on Monday, Dec. 30 the Raiders took a blowout victory against the Franklin Academy Huskies, the final scoreboard reading 10 – 0.

The only goal the Raiders would need came 8:15 into the game from Dylan Stone on a play set up by Tyler Young and Ben Sprague. Young would go on to bring in five points – three goals and two assists.

The second period saw two insurance goals come from Sprague and Young with respective assists from Cameron Marsh and Sprague.

The Raiders secured their overkill victory in the closing stanza, scoring seven goals. Patrick Manning scored a hat trick during the last 15 minutes, with goals at 0:32, 2:45 and 10:18. Assists came from Young, Robert and Jacob Vierno, respectively. Dalton Mullin scored two goals of his own at 4:41 and 9:38. The first was assisted by J.P. Reagan, the second by Reagan and Zach Kozsan. Other goals came from Young assisted by Stone and Devin Page assisted by Young.

Logan Brothers held strong in the Massena net, stopping each of the 19 shots fired at him. Joey Brown kept 38 pucks at bay for the Huskies.

On Saturday, Dec. 28 the Raiders took victory against the Ogdensburg Blue Devils.

Wyatt Wilmhurst put the Raiders to an early 1 – 0 lead on a power play, he was assisted by Ryan Thomas. The second period saw Jared Barr and Zach Barr take the lead back. Jared Barr was assisted by Jon Tayler. Zach Barr had a hand from squadmates Tayler and Andrew Roddy on a power play.

But their lead would be short-lived. Before the second period buzzer would ring, Maddox Merry took a pass from Devon Page and tied the game at 2 – all. He scored what would prove to be the game winner a short time into the closing stanza on a pass from Josh Blair and Zach Kozsan. Tyler Young and Patrick Manning scored the last two goals of the game.

Connor Paquin kept 14 shots out of the Raiders' net, Dave Prudhomme blocked 42 pucks for OFA.