~ SHS Sports Round-Up ~

Peabody-Saugus hockey team opens up with loss

The Peabody-Saugus boys hockey team had a super-fast start in its opening-season game on the road against Everett’s cooperative team. The Tanners scored two goals in the first three minutes of the game to overcome a quick Everett goal 17 seconds into the game. Unfortunately, it was all Everett from there. The Crimson Tide netted five total goals in the first period and went on to a 9-6 win in the season-opener for each team at Allied Veterans Memorial Rink in Everett.

Captain Michael Ryan of Peabody led the Tanners with two goals, the team’s first goals of the first and third periods. His second, on assists from Peabody’s Tyson Higgins and Saugus’ Jake Ferraro, made it a 7-3 game and broke a near 30-minute scoring draught. Peabody-Saugus outscored Everett, 4-2, in the final period but it wasn’t enough to overcome the 7-2 deficit after two periods.

Saugus’ Artie O’Leary (assist), Saugus’ Brayden Varone (assist), Saugus’ Larry Barrows (assist) and Saugus’ Ryan Jones (two assists) had Peabody-Saugus’ other goals. Peabody’s Zach Harnett, Higgins (two), Peabody’s Trevor Pacheco and Ferraro added assists.

Jason Marshall, Peabody-Saugus coach, said freshman O’Leary had a strong game in his first varsity action, and Evan Tybinkowski, sophomore goalie out of Peabody, played the entire game in net and saw 42 shots.

Peabody-Saugus is off until a home game against North Reading on Saturday, Dec. 23, at McVann/O’Keefe Rink in Peabody (4 p.m.).

Saugus track team looks strong at season-opening affair

Saugus boys and girls track had some notable performances at the Northeastern Conference Winter Invitational at the Track at New Balance in Boston on Saturday, Dec. 9. Sophomore Kaeleb Mathieu finished sixth overall with a time of 6.95 and qualified for states in the 55-meter dash. Freshman Destiny Okoye finished fifth overall with a time of 8.02 in the 55-meter dash as well as jumping a personal best in the high jump with a jump of 5 feet, winning the meet and qualifying her for states. Senior captain Shane Bourque finished in the top six with his personal best jump of 5-4 in high jump. Eighth-grader Cam Marchand shaved 20 seconds off his mile time, finishing at 5:27 and second in his heat. In the shot put, sophomore Koby Jette threw a personal best of 33-11, and the three Saugus girls throwers all PR’d with throws of 23-75 (Aly Mabee), 23-50 (Sara Rovcanin) and 23 (Angie Lopez). The boys 4×200 meter relay (Kaeleb Mathieu, Alex Modini, Shane Bourque, Cam Marchand) had an impressive first showing with a time of 1:44, their best in a few years, very promising for the season ahead, according to Saugus coach Amy O’Neill.

Saugus girls’ basketball team wins opener on the road

The Saugus High School girls’ basketball team topped Swampscott, 32-25, in season-opening Northeastern Conference action this week on the road. Saugus coach Joe Lowe said Devant Millerick had a monster game on the boards and chipped in with three points. Sophomore Peyton Dibiasio led the way for Saugus with 17 points.