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North Andover cruises to third win

Monday, December, 28 By Jeff Hamrick

HAVERHILL — With a slew of underclassmen and a first-year head coach, North Andover would have been forgiven if it had gotten off to a slow start to the hockey season. But despite an eighth grader and a freshman among the six starters, the Scarlet Knights instead might arrive far ahead of schedule.
The youngsters helped garner the school’s third victory in four outings with an easy 6-1 victory over Haverhill last night. After scoring one goal in its first two matches, North Andover has now scored 14 goals in the past two.
“That’s the best game we’ve played so far this season,” said North Andover center Jack Hyman, who scored two goals and added a pair of assists. “There have been periods we haven’t played our best, and there have been periods where we’ve played really well. So, sometimes we just play too inconsistent. That’s what we need to work on.”
After a scoreless first 21 minutes, North Andover took control with four goals the final 8:39 of the second. The Scarlet Knights ripped the Hillies (1-3) for three goals during a 2 minute, 42 second stretch.
“I thought we played three strong periods,” said North Andover coach Brian Keenan, in his first season as head coach after serving as an assistant the previous three years. “We had a game plan, and I thought the boys executed the game plan we put in front of them.”
Brien O’Connor got the Scarlet Knights on the board with a power-play goal on a one-timer from just inside the blue line. After Christian Kalil increased the advantage to two goals, freshmen Daniel Rivet and David Silk took over. Rivet scored the next two goals with assists from Silk, the second of which was a slick give-and-go between the two ninth graders.
“We graduated 13 seniors, so we’re really young,” said O’Connor, one of six seniors on the North Andover roster. “There’s not much experience on the team, so we have to play with a lot of confidence. We’ve got a lot of chemistry, and we work really well as a team.”
Haverhill averted a shutout when Bradley McGovern scored on a back-hander from a tough angle off an assist by Alex Emery. But the Scarlet Knights, who got a strong 34-save effort from goalie Tyler Morandi, quashed any possible Hillie comeback with two goals by Hyman down the stretch.
“The boys seem to be responding to a new coach,” Keenan said. “They’re playing their hearts out. It’s really good to see. We put a new system in front of them, and they’re sticking to it. Our goal from day one is to be at the top of our league. We won’t accept anything else.”