WOBURN – In search of his first varsity goal, junior Liam Hansen felt he missed out on some good scoring opportunities over the Reading boys hockey team’s first few games of the year.
But on Friday night, he cashed in on just about all of them.
Behind a four-goal explosion from Hansen and an 18-save outing from senior goalie Chris Hanifan, No. 4 Reading (4-0) overpowered a slow start to come away with a signature, 6-1 win over No. 17 Winchester at O’Brien Ice Rink.
Both groups were unbeaten in Middlesex League action, but that was until Hansen put in a career-day – including a pair of goals in the first that built a two-goal lead the Red and Black (3-2) couldn’t rally past.
“(Hanifan) was good early, he made big saves when he had to,” said Reading head coach Mark Doherty. “Whenever we come into this rink and come away with a victory, we like it. … The end result was 6-1, but it’s never easy. Our league always is nip and tuck, it’s going to be close at the end of the year.”
Winchester was firing on all cylinders right from the opening puck-drop, so much that Doherty admitted the Red and Black could’ve instead been the team to get off to a 2-0 start. They were getting pucks deep and sending a wealth of passes into dangerous territory in front, but Hanifan continued to shine by stopping them all.
It wasn’t until an impressive glove save for Hanifan’s fifth stop of the first that Reading finally pieced together its own dangerous opportunity, and that seemed to start a barrage of clutch plays in the dirty area for the Rockets.
Cam Fahey’s (two assists) shot off Max Lowenberg’s (25 saves) pads landed right in front, and Hansen scooped the rebound for a 1-0 lead midway through the first period. Three minutes later, James Gigante (two assists) got a shot on net from the point that Hansen again capitalized on off the rebound.
A Winchester penalty halfway through its first power play flipped an advantage past the midway mark in the second, and Ryan MacCurtain (two assists) crashed another rebound for the 3-0 lead. Exactly one minute later, Hansen rushed up the middle and cashed in his own rebound for the hat trick.
“It feels great,” said Hansen. “Been working for this all summer, now it finally came. It feels really good. … I had a couple chances first couple games but couldn’t score.”
“We knew after tryouts – he got a lot bigger, a lot stronger, he just matured physically, he worked real hard at the game,” added Doherty. “We knew he was going to have an impact this year, we didn’t know how much. But I’m thrilled for him because it shows hard work, with some ability, pays off. Four goals is four goals, right? … He deserves it.”
Winchester didn’t take long to answer with Luke Sardone scoring on a rebound, but the game was already blown open by that point. Matt Fishera scored with under a minute left in the second on another rebound for a 5-1 lead, and Hansen’s fourth goal off a blocked shot at the left circle just about sealed it in the third period.
A win like this only further makes Hansen believe the Rockets can again make a run at the Div. 1 state title after reaching the Final Four last year.
“I feel like we can go back and do the same thing, go to the Garden and win it this year,” he said. “Everybody worked hard tonight. Didn’t play the best last game, felt really good to come out, work hard and get a good win over a good team.”