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Surging Haverhill, Methuen hockey play to stalemate

Wednesday, January, 15 By David Willis

HAVERHILL — A pair of red-hot archrivals skated onto the Veterans Memorial Rink looking to steal the edge in the standings, and the bragging rights in their rivalry.

The two teams, however, skated away once again deadlocked.

With Methuen leading by a goal late in the third period, Haverhill’s Matt Arena scored a nifty goal with 6:54 left and send the two teams to a 2-2 tie last night.

“It was really a great game,” said Methuen co-captain Dylan Yameen. “The crowd was going crazy, everyone was flying. It was a lot of back-and-forth hockey. That’s a good team. We would have liked a win, but we will take the tie.”

The tie made each team 4-3-2 on the season, extending the Hillies’ unbeaten streak to four straight and making the Rangers 4-1-1 in their last six games.

“It was definitely a fun game,” said Haverhill co-captain Rich Davis. “They were in our zone the whole second period, but we came back in the third and Arena scored that huge goal. That was the hardest hitting team we have played all season, so it wasn’t a bad tie.”

It was Dylan’s twin brother Nick Yameen who gave the Rangers the lead 4:04 into the contest when he took a pass in front of the net and scored with assists going to Mark Picirillo and Ryan Bradley.

But the Hillies struck back just 1:58 later when Sean Bellemore grabbed a pass from Mike Jojokian and scored to make it 1-1.

The Rangers went on the offensive in the second, keeping the puck in the Haverhill zone for much of the period. But a strong defensive effort and some work by goalie Mike Gleason kept the game knotted heading into the third.

Methuen was able to break the tie 43 seconds into the third, when Ryan Bradley hauled in a rebound and blasted a shot home for a 2-1 advantage. The Hillies, however, were ready to respond.

“We played a little too timid the first two periods,” said Haverhill co-captain Tom Maguire. “In the third we were finally able to match their physicality some.

“Then Arena had the huge goal. Harry (O’Donoghue) chipped the puck in. Bellemore tipped it to me, I kind of lost it and Matt got it and went top shelf.”

Arena’s goal with 6:54 tie the game at 2-2, and despite some scoring chances for the Hillies in the final moments that was the way the game ended.

“It was a very up-tempo, close game,” said Nick Yameen. “We could have hit the net a couple more times and we need to cut down on the 2-on-1s. But overall it was a great game. Our goalie (Chris Milone) played great. We’ll take the point.”

Two two squads will have to wait a while for their rematch, as they won’t meet again until Feb. 15.

“Today wasn’t the outcome we would have liked,” said Maguire. “But we got a point. We are feeling fantastic about the direction of the team right now. We are up-beat, and we want to make the state tournament.”