by Brian Piekos ·
Friday, December 20, 2024
The Littleton/Bromfield Parker high school boys ice hockey team, the Tigers, season got underway winning their first game on Saturday, Dec. 14. In his sixth season as head coach, Harvard’s Kevin Lizotte is looking to continue the team’s streak of qualifying for the postseason state tournament. This year’s 22-player varsity roster includes 12 varsity returners, seven seniors, 10 juniors, three sophomores, and two freshmen; eight of the team’s players live in Harvard. The Tigers are a Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 4 team playing league games in the Coughlin Conference.
The Tiger’s first game had them traveling to play the Leominster Blue Devils in a Coughlin Conference matchup. As an indicator of how the game would play out, the Blue Devils only had 15 players on their bench, and that lopsidedness was apparent when play began.
Three minutes into the game Littleton sophomore Ryan Pittorino, playing defense for the first time as a Tiger, made an aggressive play keeping the puck in the offensive zone and quickly put a shot on net that caught the Blue Devils goalie off guard leading to the Tigers’ first goal of the season. The Tigers dominated play over the remaining 12 minutes of the first period scoring three more times with goals by Littleton senior captain Ethan King, Harvard senior captain Zach Lizotte, and Littleton junior Justin Lefebvre scoring his first varsity goal.
The Tigers continued to control play in the second period, scoring four more times, with Ethan King scoring his second goal of the game; Harvard junior Liam Glew his first of the season; and Littleton freshmen Blake Hannon and Austin Huber scoring their first varsity goals. Third-period play remained mostly in the Blue Devils zone with Littleton junior Gavin Werling scoring the final goal to complete the 9-1 Tiger’s rout.
With the season underway the Tigers begin their two-games-a-week schedule, traveling to play Gardner Dec. 17 and hosting Fitchburg/Monty Tech Dec. 21. For the third year in a row the Tigers will participate in the Valley Holiday Tournament on Dec. 28 and 30.
Brian Piekos is a Tigers parent.