A night prior to the Spy Ponders’ pivotal Middlesex League matchup against the eighth-ranked Reading Rockets, Arlington coach John Messuri was pouring his focus into his tandem of sophomore goalies Jack Pinard and Ryan Ouellette.
On Wednesday, Pinard earned the nod and helped gut out a huge win for the 17th-ranked Spy Ponders, whose recent struggles were wiped clean with a 3-2 victory over the Rockets (9-2-5, 8-2-4) in the familiar confines of Ed Burns Arena in Arlington.
“I spent an hour just with the two of them last night, so I’m on a lot of Advil right now, but they’re on a lot of good mojo,’’ Messuri said with a laugh. “You got a sense for the first time [Pinard] has been here that he was comfortable, he was in charge of his net.’’
Pinard did just enough to hold off a speedy Reading attack, finishing with 20 saves — including a crucial ones in the last minute when the Rockets were on a 6-on-4 attack because of an Arlington penalty and a pulled the goalie.
The scoring for the Spy Ponders (9-3-2, 8-3-2) started in the first period, when junior Mic Curran poked in a rebound about eight minutes into the game.
Arlington pushed the gap to two in the second, when freshman Dara Conneely scored a beauty on a wraparound that fooled everyone but the person who scored it.
Two minutes later, a power-play snipe by Kevin Ouellette pushed the score to 3-0.
A valiant comeback bid by the Rockets, who hadn’t lost since Jan. 9, made the game interesting, but Arlington seemed more prepared.
Could this be a turning point for Arlington? Too early to tell, said Messuri.
“We’ll find out, we have to go to Woburn Saturday, then Winchester, then Hingham,’’ he said, listing three teams in the Globe’s top 20 poll. “If we’re going to have a strong record at the end of the year and make a case for ourselves, we’re going to have to earn it.’’
St. John’s Prep 5, Austin Prep 0 — In a matchup with Super 8 implications, third-ranked St. John’s Prep registered a decisive win over fourth-ranked Austin Prep.
Marblehead 8, Lynn Classical 0 — Tim Kalinowski scored his 100th point and James McCarthy scored a hat trick for the magicians (15-0-1).
Peabody 3, Revere 0 — The Tanners (9-4-2) qualified for the state tournament.
BC High 3, Pope Francis 0 — Troy Ladka, Billy Roche, and Ian Murphy all scored for BC.
Boys’ basketball
Charlestown 45, Dorchester 41 — Kewan Platt lit up the scoresheet with 16 points, 14 rebounds, 3 steals, and 4 blocks for the Townies (13-3).
Brighton 104, Snowden 63 — Junior shooting guard Tyrone Perry scored 18 points, pulled down 5 rebounds, and made 2 steals to lift the Bengals (11-5).
Latin Academy 70, South Boston 67 — Junior forward Jeff Marcellus notched 30 points and 15 rebounds to pace the Dragons (11-5).
For more highlights go to at BostonGlobe.com
