Shuyi Chen also contributed to this article.
The few horsemen of ice hockey at Malden High School are back on the ice for another season. While there are not many on the Revere/Everett/Malden/Mystic Valley (REMM) co-op team, the ones that do play bring plenty of value.
Seniors Aaron Al-Marayati, Jake Simpson, and John “Jacky” Summers alongside freshmen Thomas “Tommy” Cronin and David Perez have suited up for the team this season. Simpson and Summers have also earned the captain patch on their jersey.
In their first matchup of the year, REMM defeated Peabody/Saugus 9-6 on Saturday night in December. They got off to a hot start and never looked back. With both teams being a co-op, this meant that players from six different schools were all competing on the ice in the same game.
27 seconds into the game, Mystic Valley sophomore Michael Brandano netted the first REMM goal of the season. Nine seconds later, he did it again. Three minutes later, Revere sophomore Frankie Annunziata found the net. Within four minutes, Peabody-Saugus found themselves in a 3-0 hole. It was the perfect way to kick off the season for the REMM side, who had just missed out on the state tournament last year.
The first period was far from over, however. A shot from Summers deflected off his fellow Malden captain Simpson into the net, extending the lead to 4-0. But Peabody/Saugus responded, scoring a power play goal before tapping in another one just seconds later to cut the deficit in half. With 17 seconds left, Revere senior Matt LaCroix scored to wrap up a five-goal period.
The momentum carried into the second when Simpson and Annunziata added two more to the count within the first few minutes. Both teams quieted down after that, with no goals being scored until the second intermission hit.
Peabody/Saugus scored to start the third period but Mystic Valley senior Liam Thompson put one between the iron in response. Peabody/Saugus got another, but Brandano buried his third goal for a hat trick with just over five minutes left, giving REMM a 9-4 lead. They allowed two more goals before the horn sounded, but their offensive excellence proved enough to take the 9-6 win.
Summers, who is usually not very expressive, had a big smile on his face after the win. “We were buzzing out there. Coach was happy with how quickly we were scoring.” He described the win as “a great start” but noted that they need to “keep it up.”
Simpson felt the same way. “We didn’t let a lot of pucks get to Ray [Blauvelt] in net, so that’s good. We could have played better though, but it’s game one so we’ll keep working.”
Cronin was “super” excited about winning his first varsity game. “I have a friend named Larry that plays for Peabody/Saugus and I’m happy we dominated them.”
Since then, REMM only managed to win two of their next seven games. However, they look to turn it around against Greater Lowell and Somerville.
