RallyNorth.net

Proud Saugus tradition up against streaking Clippers

Thursday, February, 28 By Dan Guttenplan
Sports editor

February has been quite the month for the Newburyport hockey team.

Sitting at 6-6-1 after a Jan. 30 loss at Wilmington, the Clippers needed a strong finish to inspire any hope of making a run in the EMass. Division 2 North state tournament.

Fast forward one month, and the Clippers are possibly the most feared team in the bracket.

Newburyport closed its season with seven consecutive victories | four of which came against teams playing in the state tournament. Now with the Division 2 North slate set to begin tonight, Newburyport is sitting pretty with a No. 6 seed and will play what is technically a home game against No. 11 Saugus at Stoneham Rink (5 p.m.).

"It's tough to pinpoint the reason for our winning streak," Newburyport coach Paul Yameen said. "We haven't changed much. We tried a few different combinations of players, and I think we're all set."

Whatever the reason for the midseason turnaround, the Clippers have established themselves as one of the hardest hitting teams in the state. They have shown they can win low-scoring games, shootouts, physical contests and finesse games alike.

Saugus coach Chris Connors feels his group may have drawn the most difficult first-round matchup of any of the 15 Division 2 North tournament teams.

"Newburyport's a tough, tough team," Connors said. "I have the utmost respect for Coach Yameen. He has such a big, physical team. And they're one of the hottest teams in our area. Our goal is to be competitive in the game, and anything can happen in the tournament."

Newburyport will oppose a Saugus hockey program as decorated as any in Division 2 North. The Sachems won state titles in 1999, 2003 and 2004. They also lost to Boston Latin in the 2005 title game.

Connors served as an assistant at Saugus from 1996 to 2001 before assisting St. Mary's coach Mark Lee from 2001 to 2006. He returned to Saugus in the winter of 2006. The team missed the tournament the past two seasons before returning this winter.

"It took time, and I knew I was accepting a rebuilding project," Connors said. "My first year we had a lineup littered with freshmen and sophomores. I had faith in them, and overall, I'm pleased with the program."

Saugus encountered a devastating blow three weeks ago when the team's leading scorer Ryan Scuzzarella suffered a season-ending injury. His 29 points are still tops on the team, and he was voted co-MVP of the Northeastern Conference South despite missing five games.

"He had been our leader all year," Connors said. "When he went down, we needed some of our younger guys to mature early. They stepped up their games, and now we're in the tournament."

Yameen's team experienced the bulk of its adversity at the start of the season. The Clippers won only two of their first six games and had a large question mark in goal after the loss of two-time Cape Ann League all-star Matt O'Connor to graduation.

But freshman Anthony Federico has served as an immediate solution in net in front of a group that included CAL all-stars Dave Freeman, Derek McCoy and Kyle McElroy.

"They have a core of talented players," Connors said. "I watched them a couple times this year. McCoy is a power forward; he's quite the player. Dave Freeman is a rugged defenseman who hits like a truck. They have some other speedy forwards | (Derek) Freeman and (Collin) Cusack. It's going to be a tough task."

In the five seasons under Yameen, Newburyport's longest tourney run was a trip to the Division 2 North semifinals in 2005. That squad won six of its last seven games before entering tournament play.

"We hope to duplicate that and maybe even go further," Yameen said. "We're fit and healthy at the right time. We're ready to go. It should be fun."