SLC HOCKEY TEAM BEATS MASSENA 3-0 @ TRI-TOWN

12/22/2016 BRASHER FALLS - The St. Lawrence Central boys hockey team continue its early-season turnaround at Massena Central’s expense in the lone NAC matchup on Thursday. Playing in front of a packed crowd at Tri-Town Arena, the host Larries built a 1-0 goal midway through the first period then added a pair of opportunistic goals late in the third to earn a 3-0 decision over the Raiders. “We had a poor start to the season with the tie then the loss to OFA but we’re definitely playing much better since then,” said coach Mickey Locke after the Larries netted their third straight victory against an NAC rival while posting only the fifth win in program history against their Route 420 rivals. “I thought we played a great first period then we had a rough stretch in the second but Rico DiMatteo was stellar in goal for us. We settled down and got back to our game in the third and were able to pull out the win,” he added. “Massena is the biggest rivalry we have so this win means a lot.” Junior Andrew Lantry scored the only goal for the Larries would need when he skated in from the left boards to control of the puck inside the left circle after classmate Trent Dow had won a face-off then quickly slid a low shot into the back of the net with 6:54 lift in the opening frame. After a scoreless second period where DiMatteo, a sophomore, recorded the majority of his 32 saves, the Larries put the game out of reach with back-to-back unassisted breakaway goals from sophomore Payton Felix with 2:58 left and by junior Ian Bresett with just 1:19 remaining. “The key for us was getting that first goal,” noted Locke. “As the game wore on, Massena had to take more chances. We were able to take advantage of their defensemen pinching in a couple of times late and both Payton and Ian did a real nice job of beating Massena players to pucks then going in to score some nice goals.” Junior Merrick Taraska made 18 saves in the losing cause. The Larries head to Alexandria Bay next Tuesday to compete at the Islanders Holiday Tournament. They take on the host team in an NAC Division II matchup starting at 1 p.m. before Norwood-Norfolk faces off against nonleague rival Plattsburgh High at 3 p.m. The teams then switch opponents for Wednesday with SLC facing Plattsburgh at 1 p.m. and N-N going up against the Islanders at 3 p.m. The Raiders (1-4, 1-1) have nearly two weeks off from their game schedule before traveling to Ogdensburg on Wednesday, January 4, to take on the unbeaten Division II leading Blue Devils starting at 6:30 p.m.