 "Doug Usseglio")
 "Brian Rowland")
The Waltham High boys hockey team is headed to the state tournament, already has nine victories, and enjoyed a 10-game unbeaten streak that covered nearly six weeks of the middle of the season.
Yet, for the most part, not a lot has come easy for the Hawks this winter. Eight of Waltham's 16 games have been decided by one goal or less, including four ties. Almost every contest has come down to the final few shifts. Almost every point has been a grind.
After visiting Arlington put 15 shots on Waltham senior goalie George Tedford in the second period of last night's rivalry game at Veterans Rink, cutting a three-goal Hawk lead to 3-1 entering the final period, it looked like it might be another one of those nights.
In a 61-second span early in the third, however, the Hawks made sure their final home game of the season would be among the least dramatic games all year.
Waltham scored three times in just over a minute to turn a two-goal game into a 6-1 romp during the team's Senior Night. The widened gap allowed everyone to get plenty of ice time during the last 13 minutes, and allowed the Hawks to hit the final league game of the season with a 9-3-4 record.
``We usually get goals when we need to get goals - timely goals,'' said senior defenseman and co-captain Dominic Coviello. ``To play a game like this gives us a different comfort level. We came together and moved the puck. We got everyone involved.''
As well as the Hawks have done in the one-goal games and ties (3-1-4), it was nice to avoid a tight finish against the archrival that has found a way to swipe points from Waltham several times in recent years despite an inferior record.
``You look at it and 2-1, 1-0 has been our mode all year,'' said Waltham coach John Maguire. ``So to have a little breather - 6-1 - was enjoyable. It was a good win for us, a nice league win, and I was really happy to have a game like this in the seniors' last home game.''
The decisive stretch of the third period came in the blink of an eye. It started with what appeared to be a harmless play as sophomore Brian Rowland flipped a puck on net from outside the zone and it found the back of the goal.
Just 32 seconds later, Waltham had a rush that Arlington tried to clear. But junior Brad Keirstead was there at the blue line to blast the puck back toward the net, and junior Mike Cushera put in the redirect, with sophomore Christopher Maguire also assisting.
Just 29 seconds after that, the Hawks had a quick charge off the faceoff with junior Doug Usseglio scoring his second goal of the night from seniors Bobby Poillucci and Ryan Pratt.
The Hawks easily skated out the rest of the five-goal triumph with everyone getting liberal ice time, including seniors Mike Lombardi, Joe Cicconi and Mark Trelegan.
Waltham improved to 9-1-4 after an 0-2 start, including Saturday night's 2-1 victory over MVC/DCL Division 1 stalwart Central Catholic.
``Central is a great team - definitely a Super 8 contender,'' Poillucci said. ``That win just boosts our confidence and now we have more confidence in each other.''
With good reason. While the Hawks haven't won every close game, they've put themselves in position to grab a point in almost every game since a bumpy first week of the season.
``The reason we've done it is we have a great goalie (in senior George Tedford) and we've played very good defensive hockey,'' Maguire said. ``Scoring two or one goals is not an offensive juggernaut. But we do chip in when we need to and they know how to finish off a game.
``Saturday night was a perfect example,'' he later added. ``We play Central Catholic and they're bigger, faster, stronger, everything. On paper, they're three goals better. But we hang around and we beat them.''
Coviello and Poillucci both gave Tedford a lot of credit for all the low-scoring victories and ties this season. The goal of the team is to make his job easier and then pick spots to support him with offense.
``We're taught that blue-collar Waltham mentality,'' Coviello said. ``We block the shots, get the sticks in the lanes, and stuff like that. We do what we have to do to get the puck out, work it around, not let them get the pucks on net, and make sure George can see the pucks when they do get on net.''
``It all starts with George,'' Poillucci said. ``He keeps us in every single game. He's unbelievable. Then we just feed off each other. It's a close-knit group. We stick together and don't give up.''
After dominating possession early with nothing to show for it, Waltham caught a break with 2:55 left in the first period last night when a nice clear turned into a breakaway and Usseglio scored from Coviello and Tedford.
Waltham appeared to take control midway through the second period when junior Mike Hanley got a stick on the rebound of a Rowland blast and it trickled over the goal line. Waltham went up 3-0 two minutes later on Poillucci's goal from Usseglio and Rowland.
Arlington still had the shot advantage in the period, though, and finally cashed with two minutes left on Dan Fitzgerald's goal from Joe Shea and Dan Russell.
It could have set the stage for an interesting third period.
The Hawks made sure very early in the session that it didn't.
``We're confident,'' said Coviello. ``We're going well as a team right now. We're working well in practice, hoping to keep this thing rolling, pop some goals in, and go deep into the tournament.''
The Hawks are scheduled to finish the league season tomorrow night at Acton-Boxboro (snow permitting) before heading down to Falmouth for the Cape Cod Classic beginning with a game against Arlington Catholic on Sunday.
(Scott Souza is a Daily News staff writer. He can be reached at 781-398-8006 or ssouza@cnc.com.)
