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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
After a tough 3-1 loss to Medfield before the holiday break, the Dover-Sherborn High School varsity boys hockey team earned two consecutive wins this past week with a 6-0 victory over Newton South before downing East Longmeadow 3-1 to improve to 4-2 (1-2) on the young season.
Early goals by junior defenseman Johnny Goudreault, junior forward Nick Marken, and junior forward Nishan Avedikian allowed DS to head into the first intermission against Newton South with a commanding 3-0 lead.
The Raiders continued to pour it on offensively in the second period, as sophomore forward Henry Kenney added some insurance to put DS up by four at the end of two periods of play.
Sophomore forward Matt Paolatto gave DS a 5-0 lead with just under 10 minutes to play in the third period, with Marken adding his second tally of the night with just under four minutes to play to push the DS lead to six.
The Raiders carried their momentum from the 6-0 victory over Newton South into their December 29 matchup with East Longmeadow, and it took a complete team effort for DS to get the W.
Junior forward Cole Condon got the Raiders off to a hot start with a goal just six minutes into the contest to put DS up one.
Senior defenseman Johnny Schroeder added a tally late in the second period to extend the Raider lead to two, but East Longmeadow fought back and cut the deficit back to 2-1 after a shot caromed off of a Raider in front into the DS net, and the Raider lead was back to one goal at the end of two periods.
Senior goaltender Owen Webb (21 saves) and the DS penalty kill were the real MVP’s of this game, as the unit was able to hold off a full minute and 30-second long five-on-three advantage for East Longmeadow to begin the third, blocking shot after shot while Webb stuffed anything that got through to him with the pad.
After killing off the five-on-three and thwarting the tying goal by East Longmeadow for the remainder of the third period, senior forward Joe Paolatto added an empty netter in the final minute to give DS a 3-1 advantage and seal the win for the Raiders.
DS will look to continue their recent success when they get back into conference play on January 7 when they travel to face Ashland before hosting Bellingham on January 9.
