Crusaders Overwhelm Devils
Third ranked Groton-Dunstable (12-3) had little trouble skating past Leominster 9-1, winning their 10th in a row in a Roy Conference game at Fitchburg's Kenneth W. Gaetz Arena (Wallace Civic Center). With the win, the Crusaders, who qualified for the state tournament with their recent victory over Fitchburg, moved into first place in the conference.
GD lost to the Blue Devils (8-6-2) earlier in the season and the fans at the arena were expecting quite a tilt. "The place is electric tonight," shared a parent.
Leominster's Cameron Cordio (assists: Jon Duffy, Ryan Leger) scored at 9:25 of the first on a low wrist shot that just eluded GD keeper Jason Robes. Just nine seconds later, Justin Cole (assist: Josh Rabbitt) evened the score, beating Devils goalie Nick Kearney.
Not sure what was conveyed between the first and second periods, but GD exploded for three goals in a span of just under four minutes in the middle stanza. At 3:06, freshman Chris Lattini let a shot go from just inside the blue line. Kearney made the initial stop but Matt Ovenden banged home the rebound for a 2-1 lead.
At 3:23, senior Connor Maguire hit a laser from the left point to make it 3-1 and moments later, Derek March got his stick on a Maguire drive from the left circle. After two periods, Leominster trailed GD 4-1 and were outshot 23-12.
"I didn't say a whole lot," said Groton-Dunstable coach Phil Rowley. "At the end of the first period, we started to get a little momentum going, and it carried over into the next period and the rest of the game. Go out, skate and put the puck on net."
Must have been like a bad dream for the Blue Devils in the third when Cole scored his second of the game on a power-play and six seconds later, Eric Niemoller scored unassisted. At 4:31, James Tardif scored short-handed to push the advantage to 7-1.
Sophomores Jon Langan and Kam Strong (assist: Pat Keating) rounded out the scoring for GD.
Jason Robes, after allowing the first period goal, shut out the Blue Devils the rest of the night. Robes has played all 15 games, and has a miniscule 1.28 goals against average and 0.893 save percentage. Once again, Rowley was able to get back up keeper Ben McEvoy some action, playing the final eight minutes. Robes and McEvoy combined to make 13 saves.
