By Michael James LeClair
The Nashoba hockey team continued its red-hot start to the 2015-2016 winter season on Saturday afternoon.
The Chieftains remained perfect on the campaign, improving to 5-0 with an 8-0 victory over host Lunenburg/Ayer-Shirley Regional at the Wallace Civic Center on the campus of Fitchburg State University.
Nashoba, the defending Massachusetts Division 3A champions, is picking up right where it left off last winter. The Chieftains allowed just two goals throughout their four-game playoff championship run. Nashoba has outscored the opposition a combined 37-5 through five games.
“We came ready to play,” said Nashoba head coach Trevor Short. “Our top lines played really well, and the other guys are working hard. We play a system, and we play it pretty well.”
On the other side, Lunenburg/Ayer-Shirley’s struggles continue as the squad drops to 1-4 on the infant season.
“We just got beat by a better team, that’s all,” said Blue Knights head coach Eric Short. “We’ve got five freshmen on the top two lines, we’re a young team and got beat by a better team. We were undisciplined, didn’t play a perfect game and they are a better team. Bottom line.”
Saturday’s tilt between the Chieftains and Blue Knights marked the third time Blue Knights head coach Eric Short and his younger brother, Trevor Short have squared off as head coaches. Trevor Short was named Nashoba head coach prior to the start of the 2014-2015 season after serving as the Chieftains assistant coach since joining the program in 2006.
With Saturday’s Nashoba win Trevor has triumphed in all three meetings after taking both head to head matchup last year.
As for the action on the ice in Saturday’s contest the Chieftains went on the attack early, jumping out to a 4-0 lead after the first 15 minutes.
Nashoba’s offense was paced by sophomore Bryce Chaput’s two goals and two assists. Chaput currently leads the league in scoring with 11 goals and 10 assists. Dan Kerble and Devyn Barrett are currently sixth and ninth, respectively, with 13 total points each.
Barrett and Mike Magliozzi were also pretty busy on Saturday evening as the two of them registered three-point performances with a goal and two assists each. Dan Kerble and Trevor Sicard each potted a goal and an assist to help the Nashoba cause.
In all, seven different Chieftains found the back of the cage on Saturday as Nashoba peppered Lunenburg/Ayer-Shirley starting net minder Nate Boudelais (27 saves) and backup Anthony Firmani (four saves) with 39 shots on net.
“We’ve got good balance. We have three pretty balanced lines,” said Trevor Short. “In order to make a big run in the playoffs, you have to have three or four lines. That’s my personal opinion, and I think we have that.”
Meanwhile, at the other end of the ice, Nashoba goalie Charlie Lamplough, who wasn’t quite as busy as the Blue Knights pair of goalkeepers, made 13 saves to preserve the shutout victory.
After seizing control in the opening 15 minutes with four straight tallies and outshooting the hosts 15-2 Nashoba picked up right where it left off in the middle period, striking three more times on the young Blue Knights squad to grab a 7-0 lead entering the second intermission.
Nashoba tacked on to its lead early in the third period with its final goal of the night 2:56 in to make it 8-0. The Chieftains eighth goal activated the running clock rule. According to M.I.A.A rules, if a team is leading by eight goals or more the game clock shall remain running and not stop until the lead is reduced to less than eight goals.
The Chieftains followed up this win with another 8-0 victory on Monday night over Fitchburg, bringing their season to a decisive 6-0. The Chieftains have now won nine straight games dating back to last year’s playoff run.