Medfield's Magrath, Graham Dominate on the Ice at Bridgton Academy

North Bridgton, Maine – Bridgton Academy had a successful weekend of competition as their Junior A hockey team swept a two-game series against Ulysse Prep (Quebec).

Medfield's Jimmy Magrath was a strong player in the game for Bridgton, tallying a hat trick in the 8-6 win over Ulysse. Medfield's Tommy Graham also had a strong performance helping Bridgton to victory with a goal and an assist.

The first contest of the weekend saw what promised to be a close match-up. After 20 minutes of play, the score remained tied at zero. In the second period, Graham collected the puck for a breakaway and netted the first goal of the game on a penalty kill giving Bridgton a 1-0 lead entering the second period.

Marco Spisso (Highland Falls, N.Y.) didn’t take long to feed Ryan Connors (Marshfield) the puck, who advanced Bridgton's lead to 2-0. As Bridgton continued to dominate, Sam Scannell (Glastonbury, Conn.) buried a pass from Alex Pompeo (Hingham).

Spisso secured the win with an unassisted, shorthanded goal. Ulysse attempted a comeback with two quick goals, but Bridgton stayed strong to win 4-2.

After the close, physical game the previous night, both teams came out on fire when they met up for the second contest. Bridgton was the first on the board as Magrath scored with assists from Brendan Glynn (Quincy) and Colin Edwards (Winchester). It didn't take long, however, for Ulysse to answer back with two goals in a row. Towards the end of the first period, Magrath tied up the game with an assist from Edwards.

Ulysse came out strong with the first goal in the second period, but Bridgton retaliated as Ryan Connors (Marshfield) netted a power play goal with an assist from Steve Bellew (Hingham). With back and forth play, Ulysse was next to score. While it seemed like they would enter the third period with a one goal advantage, Kevin Seeley (Berkley) was able to tie up the game with help from Graham with one second left on the board.

In the final period, Alex Pompeo (Hingham) scored with a well placed wrist shot, assisted by Edwards for a one goal advantage. A few minutes later, Magrath netted his third goal of the game unassisted to increase Bridgton's lead. Immediately off the next face-off, Zach Wells (Hyannis) finished a feed from Connors for the Wolverine's seventh goal of the contest. Ulysse never backed down, netting a goal of their own in a similar style, off the very next face-off.

The intensity increased a notch, and Edwards fed the puck to Glynn who buried a wrist shot as he was crossing the net. Ulysse was able to sneak one last goal past Bridgton's goalie Jordi Van Gaal (RyMenam, Belgium), but Bridgton walked away with a big 8-6 win.