Needham, MA: The St. Sebastian’s Arrows hosted the Rivers School Red Wings for a 4:00 early season game. Tommy Saulnier got this start in goal for the Arrows, and Derrick Huang for the Wings.
The first saw Rivers outshoot the Arrows 14-7, but St. Sebastain’s struck first to make it 1-0. Carter Meyer dragged and fired a 4-3 power-play goal to even the score at 1-1. Rivers had some momentum heading to the second.
Rivers scored three goals in the second period to take a commanding lead. Just 1:04 in, Finn Sears took a pass on a poorer change by St. Sebastian’s to go in alone. He went forehand to backhand and under the crossbar for the score. The Wings would get another as Jonathan Rivard redirected a William Pratt shot home. The Arrows pushed back in the middle of the period with chances by Brendan Keaveney and Jared Hughes. However, Rivers would regain momentum after a series of penalties by both teams to score another power-play goal by Meyer with under 30 seconds left. It was 4-1 going into the third as both goalies made some key stops.
Each team scored two goals in a wild third period. Sears added to the Rivers lead on a rebound score to make it 5-1 on the first shift of the third period. The Arrow’s Austin Wu made a slick move in space and ripped a missed shot, but he hustled for the rebound to cut the Red Wings’ lead. A few minutes later, Merrimack commit Justin Graf tallied his first on a breakaway that went off both posts and in the net to regain a four-goal lead. It was 6-2 Rivers. St. Sebastian’s did not quit. Big Brendan Matthews buried a rebound for his first Prep goal to make it 6-3. That was how it ended, as Rivers picked up a big road win to start the season.
Three Stars
First: Carter Meyer (Rivers)
Second: Finn Sears (Rivers)
Third: Evan Handler (Rivers)
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images