MARLBOROUGH — It wasn’t the start Saint John’s envisioned.
With a Ryan Kelley goal less than three minutes after puck drop, Shrewsbury immediately got on the board. Ten minutes later, Kelley scored one more to extend the lead to 2-0, and one minute after intermission, Jaxon Sabataso gave his Colonials an early three-goal advantage over their intra-town rivals.
But even after the less-than-ideal start to this chapter of the Battle of the ‘Bury, the Pioneers were able to regroup. Over the game’s last 27 minutes, Saint John’s scored five unanswered goals — all by different players — to defeat the Colonials at New England Sports Center, 5-3, and head into 2025 with bragging rights in the 01545.
“We’re a resilient group. We didn’t play best first period, so we wanted to come out, be aggressive, and [Shrewsbury] got that early goal in the second period. Then … we slowly built. The best thing about our team today is we had five different scorers. It’s a 5-3 game — we had five different scorers and everyone contributed,” Saint John’s Head Coach Michael Mead told the Community Advocate after the win.
Jake Stacy started the scoring, and with 8:57 left in the second period, Brady Chenevert followed. Ashton Smith’s goal — made exactly 1.8 seconds before the second intermission — tied the game. Dominic Reidy officially put the Pioneers ahead.
“I feel on top of the world to get that win. We knew it was going to be a tough game — every year they show up to play. We knew it was going to be a battle, so getting that win makes it even better,” said Reidy.
“This team’s really special to be honest. I think we have a bunch of different kids from a bunch of different age levels. We’re not too top-heavy, we have a lot of skill from the top to the bottom of the team. And the most important thing is we’re all great kids. It’s a great group of boys, and we’ve got a good bond going on,” he added.
Caleb Keyes scored Saint John’s fifth and final goal with 6:35 remaining.
“The team just rallied. We knew we could beat this Shrewsbury team — we played against them before. All the boys in there, we all had heart. We all knew it was going to be about who was going to play the hardest, and we came out on top,” said Chenevert.
As a Saint John’s player, and one of two Shrewsbury natives listed on his team’s roster, Chenevert has a unique perspective on the rivalry. The question had to be asked: Playing your geographical rival, was the win extra satisfying?
He smiled as he responded.
“A little bit. Playing against all my buddies — it was kind of fun.”
