Trailing 2-1 to start the third period, North Attleboro right wing Anthony Zammiello scored three unanswered goals to complete a hat trick en route to a 4-2 win over Oliver Ames in Hockomock League action at Asiaf Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Close, but no cigar.
Trailing 2-1 to start the third period, North Attleboro right wing Anthony Zammiello scored three unanswered goals to complete a hat trick to lead his team to a 4-2 win over Oliver Ames in Hockomock League boys hockey action at Asiaf Arena on Saturday afternoon.
“To be honest, our best game of the year was the first time we played them (2-1 win),” Oliver Ames head coach Sean Bertoni said. “Even tonight, I thought we played three full periods. Again, we’re down a couple of guys, we’re missing our first-line center, but it didn’t really show tonight. Generated I think 31 shots against a good opponent. Effort was definitely there.”
Bertoni recognized the momentum change early in the third period.
“In the third, I thought they came out (determined). Obviously they score a quick goal right off 30 seconds into the period,” Bertoni said. “Other than that, we really played a good solid game, defensive zone.
North Attleboro (6-4, 2-2) tied the score at 2-2 only 32 seconds into the third stanza as Zammiello flicked a loose puck into the net after goalie Owen Connor tried to cover up a rebound.
Five minutes later, Zammiello struck again as he skated from the left side and placed the puck in the bottom right off a wrist shot to give his team the 3-2 lead.
“The third goal I think we got caught out of position in the half wall,” Bertoni said. “Our (defense) and center got caught and gave the kid a free shot. Other than that they really played hard.”
The Tigers (3-4, 1-2) blocked numerous shots by North Attleboro from the blue line in the first two periods, but were caught out of position on a few occasions in the final period. Ultimately, it ended up costing them.
“We only have five (defensemen), we rotate,” Bertoni said. “A couple times I think our wingers get out of position. They’re not in the shooting lanes and our ‘D’ gets caught whether they should front the puck or the man. ... I think we had (12-13) blocks, which is a good amount of blocks for a high school.”
Trying to tie things up, Oliver Ames pulled Connor to get an extra skater on the ice, which allowed Zamiello to light up the lamp yet again with one second remaining to put the icing on the cake for the Red Rocketeers.
The visitors scored the first goal of the game as Brendan McHugh’s shot from the blue line trickled in to give them a 1-0 advantage at 6:59.
Oliver Ames wasted little time responding as Matt McCormack scored from the blue line after hitting the post (assists by Jake Gottwald and Jordan Bello) to tie it 1-1 at 3:15.
The Tigers took a 2-1 lead in the second period as Colin Bourne one-timed a pass from Eric LeBlanc at 10:27.
The Tigers almost had another tally a few minutes earlier as Brett Williams hit one off the post at 14:13 in the second period. The close call did not seem to affect the hosts’ outlook.
“I think the kids responded well to (the close encounter). We didn’t talk about it in between periods,” Bertoni said. “You can’t blame the refs, it was a quick shot, it happened so quickly, in-and-out type deal. ... I thought they moved on from it right away.”
Oliver Ames looks to rebound against Walpole at Rodman Arena on Monday at 2:45 p.m.
John O’Callaghan may be reached at jocallaghan@enterprisenews.com.