On Saturday afternoon at Asiaf Arena, Brockton defeated Durfee, 6-0, to improve to 3-2-1 and climb over the .500 mark for the first time in two years.
Over the summer, New Bedford informed Big Three foes Brockton and Durfee that they would not be fielding a varsity hockey team this winter, meaning the Boxers and Hilltoppers would only have two league games.
On Saturday afternoon at Asiaf Arena, Brockton won the first of two games with Durfee, 6-0, to improve to 3-2-1 and climb over the .500 mark for the first time in two years.
“We set a goal at the beginning of the season to win 10 games,’’ Brockton coach Chris Cunningham said. “This is our third win, which moves us a little closer to our goal and it also gets us over .500 for the first time in two years. This is a big win for us.’’
Senior Zach Sylvia got the Boxers on the board 3:40 into the game when his wrist shot from the top of the circle beat Durfee goalie Xavier Arpa inside the right post.
Frank Aten (two assists) gave Brockton a 2-0 lead at 12:11 of the first period when he collected a loose puck in the slot and fired a wrist shot under the crossbar. Aten scored his second goal with 17 seconds left in the period when be buried the rebound of a Peyton Sylvia (two assists) shot.
Brockton opened the second period by taking control of the game with two goals in the first 1:02 of the period.
Aten completed his hat trick by redirecting a pass from Jaylen Bridges between Arpa’s legs 23 seconds into the period. Ben Martin finished off a 2-on-1 for Brockton 49 seconds later when he fired a wrist shot under the crossbar for a 5-0 lead.
“Frank has been our scoring leader this year,’’ Cunningham said. “He gets the scoring going for us like he did tonight.’’
Bridges scored the final goal for the Boxers at 6:20 of the third period when he tipped home a Sylvia shot for a 6-0 lead.
“We challenged our guys to move their feet and play hard,’’ said Cunningham. “We didn’t expect to get a lot of shots on net and needed to be self-disciplined, but the balance was good. We haven’t had much scoring from our second and third lines, which was good to see today.’
Brockton goalies Nathan Petti, Ryan Spano and Dominic Massave combined to make 16 saves.
“I mentioned this to someone recently that when you look on the Massachusetts high school hockey website the last few years we have been on the lower end,’’ said Cunningham. “To see us climb is a confidence boost for us. For all the hard work these kids have put in, it’s nice to see them get rewarded. We play Mansfield, Waltham and Newton North all on the road. We have a tough nine days of games coming up.’’