NEEDHAM, Mass. — St. Sebastian's freshman center Jameson Needham has been scorching lately. There is no better evidence of that than Saturday's first period.
The Woburn, Mass., native, who tallied a hat trick in a win over Phillips Andover earlier this week and two goals and an assist in a win over Belmont Hill before that, found the back of the net twice in the first frame against Governor's Academy on Saturday, leading St. Sebastian's to a 3-1 win.
Both goals were off rebounds; both came within 2:22 of each other.
Down 1-0 after Governor's Academy senior forward Tripp Schuhwerk (Hingham, Mass.) scored 1:01 into the game, freshman defenseman Sam Fishbone's (Needham, Mass.) shot from the point was stopped by Gov's goalie Timmy Heaslip (Lynnfield, Mass.), but Needham pounced on the rebound and scored.
Needham followed that up with another goal, finishing a rebound off a shot from senior defenseman Oliver Manning (Franklin, Mass.).
Despite the high-scoring start, it turned into a defensive battle. Governor's Academy pushed hard in the end, but sophomore forward Jack Queally (Milton, Mass.) potted an empty-net goal with 35.8 seconds left, ensuring the win.
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St. Sebastian's improved to 10-5-0, bouncing back from a 3-1 loss to Middlesex on Friday night. Governor's, however, fell to 7-7-3, losing its fifth in a row.
Let's dive into some standouts and takeaways.
Jameson Needham
St. Sebastian's, 1/6/2010, F, right shot, 5-11/150
Hometown: Woburn, Mass.Â
Needham's two goals helped St. Sebastian's win the game, but it was his play along with the two tallies that made him so impactful. He showed himself as a powerful skater who drove play with assertiveness. Off the rush, he had a quick release on shots, and in the cycle, he used his compete to create chances. Off one offensive zone face-off, he was rounding the net and threw a heads-up pass behind to eighth-grade forward Chris Welby (Westwood, Mass.) for a scoring chance. In the defensive zone, Needham got low to support his defensemen.
Brendan Martin
St. Sebastian's, 1/20/2010, D, left shot, 5-9/161
Hometown: Dedham, Mass.Â
Martin was highly impactful in his own zone. In the first period, he laid out and broke up a 2-on-1 with his stick. Late in the third period, with Gov's pushing, there was a rebound sitting in the net front, and Martin quickly disengaged with who he was covering and cleared it. Martin was incredibly calm with the puck on his stick. Whether it was in the offensive zone, in the neutral zone or when breaking the puck out, he made smart, calculated decisions. On Queally's goal, it was Martin who stepped up at his own blue line and broke up Gov's rush, sending play the other way.
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Tommy Saulnier
St. Sebastian's, 2/15/2008, G, catches left, 6-0/165
Hometown: Medfield, Mass.Â
Outside of robbing Governor's senior forward Ford Sullivan (Newburyport, Mass.) on a wide-open look midway through the second period, Saulnier wasn't too busy in the first two frames. The third, however, was a different story. He made multiple, big-time stops to keep the Arrows up a goal. Most notably, he made a great save on an odd-man rush early in the period and then made a plethora of stops on a sequence later in the period that were right in front. He finished with 28 stops.
Gavin Wainwright
St. Sebastian's, 12/13/2007, D, left shot, 6-0/170
Hometown: West Roxbury, Mass.Â
Wainwright's poise with the puck really stood out. He was calm on his puck retrievals, and when he got it, he had his head up looking for outlets. Early in the first period, he got the puck at the point and, rather than throw it on net or send it back down the boards, he picked his head up to see that a forward was wide open in front, so he faked the shot and sent it low to him. He came up big defensively, too, registering a huge blocked shot on a chance from the slot and then a few shifts later, breaking up a Gov's rush with a great stick.
Jamie Calla
Governor's Academy, 7/12/2010, F, right shot, 5-10/150
Hometown: Lynnfield, Mass.Â
Calla's skill and hands are elite, and despite not being super physical, he made it work. Late in the first period, he took a St. Sebastian's defender wide, dangled to create separation and cut middle for a prime chance that Saulnier stopped. He had a give-and-go on a power play early in the third period that led to him getting the puck in the low slot and firing a wrister off the post. Moments later, he got another prime chance off an offensive zone face-off by dangling to the middle. Calla has 15 points in 16 games.
Nolan Nassar
Governor's Academy, 4/18/2008, D, right shot, 6-2/190
Hometown: North Andover, Mass.Â
This was a defensive showdown and Nassar played a big part in keeping Gov's within a goal for the majority of the game. Head coach Brian McGuirk always seemed to be sending him over the boards, and rightfully so. He had a great stick in his own zone, cutting off passing lanes to the front of the net. He was physical with opposing forwards and was key on penalty kills. In one sequence in the second period, he rushed the puck and got deep into the offensive zone. He's mobile and moves pucks well for a big, right-shot defender.
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Takeaways...
- St. Sebastian's gets a lot of attention up front, and it's justified. But what doesn't get talked about enough is its defensemen. Their ability to break pucks out and create offense from the back end won them the game on Saturday and will be huge going forward. Fishbone is a phenomenal skater and puck-mover. Manning, who has points in three of his last four games, created Needham's first goal. Martin and Wainwright are fantastic puck movers. Those guys, along with the rest of the D core, help the Arrows play a fast, up-tempo game.
- Fishbone, at 5-foot-8, is really good at protecting himself on puck retrievals and board battles. That's a great skill to have as a freshman.
- Heaslip had the save of the game when he stretched out to rob Welby of what looked like a sure goal. Heaslip got across and got all of Welby's shot.
- Welby is an intriguing prospect. An '11, he plays on Seb's second line and is a scoring threat. He has a quick release, and on Saturday, did a nice job of finding soft spots in the offensive zone.
- Gov's is in a tough stretch. It has lost five in a row and fallen out of the Elite 8 race (for now). That said, I'm still confident in McGuirk's team rerouting itself. There is a plethora of upperclassmen who are impact players, which usually translates to being a hard team to play against. They were physical and structured on Saturday. That will eventually translate to getting back in the win column.
- As of Saturday at 6:15 p.m., St. Sebastian's has the No. 8 spot in the JSPR. The season is far from over, but head coach Sean McCann has led an impressive turnaround from being a six-win team last winter.
