Arlington Beats Stoneham
Arlington, MA- In a matchup between Middlesex League opponents, Arlington beat Stoneham 4-1 on Wednesday night. Arlington forward, Will Jennings, scored twice in the win for the Spy Ponders. Jennings, a senior forward, got his first of the game after receiving a pass on the back door from Senior defenseman Jack Simon (two assists on the night). With 3:46 left in the first period, Jennings picked up a rebound in front of the net going from his fore hand to back hand beating Stoneham goalie Colin Campbell to give Arlington a 2-0 lead after one period.
Stoneham had quite a bit of push back to the Arlington attack. Freshman forward, Joseph Kranefuss, scored on the power play with 8:52 left in the second to period to cut the Spy Ponders lead in half. Thirty- one seconds later, junior forward Andrew Malatesta gave Arlington a 3-1 lead. Anthony Messuri scored a late third period goal for Arlington to seal the victory for the Spy Ponders after snapping home a puck that popped off a Stoneham defenseman on a three on one attack. This was the only meeting of the season between Arlington and Stoneham who are both back in action on Saturday.
Three Stars of the Game:
1st Star: Will Jennings, Arlington
2nd Star: Andrew Malatesta, Arlington
3rd Star: Colin Campbell, Stoneham
NZ NOTES: Arlington was very impressive tonight from team structure, compete level, and skill. On the back end, senior defenseman Jack Simon was excellent tonight. He has gotten bigger from last season and makes confident poised plays with the puck. Prep schools should be all over him as a PG. Antonio Laiosa was also very good tonight. He has excellent feet, good gaps, and makes a good first pass. Laiosa is a prototypical power play defenseman at the next level. Yes, he is undersized, but he certainly does not play like an undersized defenseman. Dara Conneely is one of the most rounded out forwards in the MIAA. The left shot winger has a good skill set, and also brings intangibles that you do not get from many players at this level. The intangibles: finishes checks, willing to put his body on the line, mean, and has a good hockey IQ. Will Jennings had a pair of goals tonight in front of the net. When Jennings gets to the front of the net he has poise to make plays and battles for the puck. In transition, Jennings became more assertive when attacking defenseman and showed a willingness to play in between the dots. Arlington split goalies tonight. Is this a question mark for the Spy Ponders?
Stoneham goalie Colin Campbell was excellent this evening. Campbell made thirty saves for the Spartans and will be a big reason if the Spartans make a tournament run. Senior forward, Nicholas Feliciano plays a ton of minutes for the Spartans. He has very good North/South speed with an above average skill set. Stoneham matched Arlington’s physical play and certainly did not back down from the Middlesex league favorite Spy Ponders. Look for the Spartans to be a handful in D2 North play.