Eldredge’s Hat Trick Helps Nauset Boys Hockey Cruise To Codfish Cup

SOUTH DENNIS – The wins keep piling up for the Nauset boys hockey team.

After taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, the Warriors exploded for five goals in the second period and three more in the final frame to pull away for a 9-0 victory over the Dennis-Yarmouth/Cape Cod Tech/Cape Cod Academy co-op squad in the Codfish Cup on Monday evening at Tony Kent Arena.

“The way that we play and the style that we play, we’re going to continue to wear teams down,” Nauset coach Connor Brickley said. “If we play fast, if we play with pace and we play the right way, those things will happen. So, 1-0 after the first period didn’t really scare us. We just continue to roll and then the floodgates will open eventually.”

Monday marked the latest triumph for the rolling Warriors (8-1-1). After allowing a combined nine goals through its first two games — a 7-3 win over Sandwich and a 6-4 loss at Nantucket — Nauset has posted a 7-0-1 record while outscoring its past eight opponents 38-3.

Five players lit the lamp in Monday’s victory over the Dolphins: sophomore Jake Eldredge notched a hat trick, senior Julian Krivos and junior Logan Poulin netted two goals apiece, and junior Colin Ward and sophomore Brody Bassett each tallied a goal.

Between the pipes, junior goaltender Matthew Swanson made seven saves to secure a shutout.

“It’s nice that some of the guys are starting to find some more scoring,” Brickley said. “These games are proven to have some value for those guys that find some offensive upside and start to build some confidence.”

For Eldredge, a Brewster resident, recording the first hat trick of his high school career was a memorable feat.

“It felt good to finally get one and get it done,” he said. “It took a while — I was close last year a couple times — but I finally got one and it feels good.”

After Poulin opened the scoring in the first period, Eldredge and Krivos each found the back of the net twice in the second. Bassett then lit the lamp with 2.6 seconds remaining to put the exclamation mark on the scoring spree in the middle frame.

“The name of our game is putting teams away early and we kind of failed to do that in the first,” said Krivos, a Harwich resident. “But we got to it in the second, which was great.”

The lopsided victory was the latest example of Nauset’s strength. Although the Warriors were ranked No. 1 in the initial MIAA Power Rankings that were released on Friday, the team views the ranking as a product of playing well rather than as an excuse to take its foot off the gas.

“It’s just business as usual,” Krivos said. “It’s great for the program and the organization to have that No. 1 ranking, but we go into every game expecting to play to our potential as a team. No matter who the opponent is, we’re going to try to focus on playing our game.”