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WALTHAM — The game was only about 20 minutes old and it felt like Andover High was headed to the Div. 1 North semifinals.

The Golden Warriors led 7-zip. And team ace Cedric Gillette, who hadn't lost to a team this spring not named Central Catholic, had mowed through the first inning like he had so many times before.

Freshman Sam Murray scored his first career goal and Andover earned a huge 2-0 win over Waltham, the No, 9-ranked team in the state. Fellow freshman Steve Ingram scored the other goal and Cole Chingris made 21 saves to blank a Hawks team that beat Central Catholic on Feb. 8.

Previously-unbeaten Central Catholic was stunned by Waltham, 1-0. The Hawks' Connor Blanchard scored on a breakaway with 8:01 left in the game. Raiders couldn't convert on a late power play. Central is now 16-1 while Waltham improved to 12-3-2. Terrific effort in net by Central's Matt Pasquale and Waltham's Kyle Penton.

Waltham (9-2-2) boys hockey had allowed only 19 goals all season, but North Andover (8-3-2) punched in four goals and added an empty-netter to earn a 5-2 victory. Matt Lucy and Tyler Bounopane each scored twice for the Knights.

NORTH ANDOVER - Their first trip to the Division 2 North playoffs in two years began on a sour note, but it didn't take long for the Scarlet Knights to show why they're the No. 2 seed.
After watching visiting Waltham grab an early lead two minutes into the game, North Andover responded with scores on three of its first four possessions en route to a 34-20 quarterfinal victory over the No. 7 seeded Hawks.
Waltham (3-5) opened the game by recovering its squib kick and grabbing a 7-point lead in just four plays. But the Scarlet Knights (7-1) answered in three plays on a 22-yard run by JD Allen that was set up with by a 37-yard pass from Jake McElroy to Darren Watson on the first play of the possession.
"We told them we were in the playoffs, and they were going to be playing good teams," Knights coach John Dubzinski said. "You're going to have situations where they make good plays and we have to respond. The same thing happened last week (against Chelmsford). They had an onside kick against us they recovered. But nobody pushed the panic button, and we settled in."
McElroy and Watson hooked up for a 27-yard completion on the next possession which led to a 9-yard touchdown toss to Gabe DeSouza, who also had one of North Andover's two interceptions.
After needing only a combined six plays and 76 seconds on its first two drives, North Andover went 10 plays to take a 20-7 lead on a 1-yard run by Watson early in the second.
"We have good playmakers," Dubzinski said. "We have Jake who makes it go. We have Gabe. We have Darren and JD, so, honestly, we just find ways to distribute the ball to all those guys because they can all make some big plays."
McElroy closed out the first-half scoring with a 5-yard run for a 27-14 advantage at intermission.
"The plan was to open them up," said McElroy, who threw for 195 yards on nine-of-14 passing and ran for a team-high 71 yards. "They like to jam things inside and stop the run. Our athletes were better, and we had to open them up before we could run the ball."
North Andover all but secured the victory midway through the third when McElroy capped the Knights' scoring on a 1-yard plunge, finishing off another 10-play drive for a 34-14 lead.
The victory sends North Andover into the semifinals against the winner of today's game between No. 3 seed Newton South and Chelmsford.
"We just have to be more disciplined I think," McElroy said. "We haven't played our best game yet, but I think we're ready to go."

Devon Beasley scored 25 points to lead Andover to a 69-49 win over Waltham in the first round of the Roche Brothers Tournament. The Warriors will play host Acton-Boxboro tonight at 7 p.m.

Zach Laramie recorded his fifth straight shutout over Waltham in his career as the Warriors won 2-0 on goals by Andrew King and Caeden Dillman.

Kelly Golini scored the 100th goal of her tremendous career as Methuen-Tewksbury skated past Waltham 4-1. The junior also had an assist as the Red Rangers moved to 7-1-2.

Both Sarah Bagley and Dana Swartz each had a goal and an assist as North Andover scored two goals in each half to beat Waltham 4-0. Katie Hartford and Dana Swartz had the other two goals for the Knights.