~ The Old Sachem ~ Saugus Sports Memories of My Three Sons

By Bill Stewart

Before I get to this week’s paper, I want to congratulate both Jessica Bromberg for being named to the All-Conference team for Field Hockey and Grace Fiore for the All-Star team.

This week I will recall the seven years that my three oldest sons accomplished for Saugus High in sports. Starting with my oldest Bill, he, like me, was too small for most sports activities. He was a good pitcher for Little League and Babe Ruth, but deemed too small for Saugus High. He played Junior Varsity hockey, but never made the varsity. But he did find two sports as a senior. He competed in the state tournament wrestling. He also was on the first SHS soccer team to play in the league, which they won. The team included his three friends: Jimmy Scannell and the Couterier boys, Scott and Dave. They made the state tournament in 1976, but were beaten by a team that had played the game for years, Newton.

Bob played as a sophomore on this soccer club, continued as a junior and was the captain as a senior. Bob played for each of his three seasons, for soccer, hockey and baseball. He played on the team that came second to Winthrop, and in hockey in the Northeastern Conference, the team made it to the Boston Garden in the quarterfinals. In soccer he was twice a league All-Star as a high scoring forward, and captain as a senior. In spring he played for three seasons in baseball as a center fielder, and was an All-Star. Bob went on to play college soccer at Salem State.

My third son, Mike, ran cross-country to get in shape for hockey. But he excelled as a left forward in hockey. Scott Brazis, Paul Nigro and Mike were the second line behind Bob, a scoring trio as sophomores. As seniors in 1979, Paul led the league in scoring with 21 goals and 21 assists for 42 points. Mike was fourth in scoring with 18 and 16 for 34 points. The team had 12 wins, 4 losses and 2 ties to come in second to Winthrop. In the state tourney, they made it to the semifinals, the furthest that a Sachem team had risen to up to at that time. They lost to Bobby Carpenter and St. John’s Prep. All three of the first line – Brazis, Nigro and Stewart – were All-Stars. Mike appears in the MIAA record book for his three goals in consecutive games in a row. Mike was later selected to go with a Massachusetts All-Star team to compete in Finland, and they won the title. Mike played on a line with the sophomore Carpenter, who excelled for the Mass. team.

Within the family, Bob played into the hockey quarter finals, Mike into the semifinals, and years later my granddaughter, Kerrie McKinnon, won a state championship with St. Mary’s in Lynn.

During this period, 1975 to 1979, I spent a lot of time at the hockey rinks watching my sons compete and usually win.

  (Editor’s Note: Bill Stewart, who is better known to Saugus Advocate readers as “The Old Sachem,” writes a weekly column about sports – and sometimes he opines on current or historical events or famous people.)