HAVERHILL – When Windham opened the season with a four-goal loss to Concord, head coach Shawn Dunn knew that the Jaguars had to get back to the basics.
That approach has been paying off in a big way, as the Jaguars have since reeled off three straight impressive wins, the latest blanking Wilmington 5-0 in the first round of the Guptil Division of the annual Haverhill Christmas Tournament played at Veterans Arena.
The win pushes Windham into Friday’s championship game (7 p.m.) against Nashoba Regional, which defeated Winnacunnet, 4-3 in a shoot-out.
“(Our inability to break the puck out of our zone) was really bad at the start of the season. It’s something that we have really pushed over the last few weeks in practice,” said Dunn.
The ability for the strong, quick break-outs led the Windham forwards into a number of odd-man rushes, and scoring opportunities throughout the three periods of play.
The first goal came on a tic-tac-toe 3-on-1 break with Seamus Ross putting home a rebound at the right side of the net after an initial shot from Aiden Quaglietta, taken from the top of the left circle.
That goal was the first time that Windham was able to get something past Tyler Marinho, who was outstanding with 39 total saves. He stopped 21-of-23 shots in the first period.
“We were facing a goalie that was playing really well and our kids were able to compartmentalize it very well. They knew they were facing a good goalie and kept going, making more opportunities. If the score was 0-0 after the first period, it probably would have gotten into their heads a little bit more, but we had the lead,” said Dunn.
Windham’s size, speed, physical play, and depth and simply wore down the Wildcats. The first line trio of Seamus Ross, Aiden Quaglietta and Nate Crowley combined for three goals and six assists. Quaglietta finished with two goals and two assists, Crowley had three assists and Ross had a goal and an assist.
“(Quaglietta) and (Crowley) have played together a lot, and they do play well together. (Quaglietta) has been fighting it lately but tonight things started dropping for him. He finally got rewarded for his hard work,” said Dunn.
Besides that trio, senior defenseman Casey Kramer had a very strong game. He scored two goals, including a rocket wrist shot from the top of the blue line coming on the power play with just under six minutes left in the second period, and was also rock solid on the blue line.
“(Kramer) was an All-State Honorable Mention selection last year and things are really starting to come together for him. I feel like he’s going to get a lot of notoriety this season. He (has size, a strong shot) and he skates really well,” said Dunn.
Windham goalie Ben Breen earned the shutout after he turned away all 24 shots that he saw. He came up big with a minute left in the first period stopping Matt O’Brien’s rebound shot at the right side of the net.
“(Windham’s) very good,” said Wilmington head coach Steve Scanlon. “They are big, physical and have a bunch of older kids, who just attack (the net). (Kramer) was very good on defense and then when you do get to (Breen), he is also very good. We had some real decent chances and he made some big saves. We faced Winchester and Arlington (earlier this season) and I think Windham can skate right with them. They are an impressive team.”
Twitter:@Jamie Pote
WINDHAM 5, WILMINGTON 0
Wilmington (1-3) 0 0 0 -0
Windham (3-1) 2 1 2 -5
First: Win, Seamus Ross (Aiden Quaglietta and Nate Crowley), 10:13; Win, Quaglietta (Austin Mulrenan and Ross), 11:17.
Second: Win, Casey Kramer (Crowley and Quaglietta) PP, 5:48.
Third: Win, Quaglietta (Crowley and Greyson Quaglietta), 1:00; Win, Kramer (Rocco Mancini and Ethan Peluso), 14:09.
Saves: Wilmington, Tyler Marinho 39; Windham, Ben Breen 24.