Going into this past weekend, the West Warwick/Exeter-West Greenwich boys’ hockey team had handed Pilgrim its lone loss on the season – a 4-3 defeat back on Dec. 17 at the West Warwick Civic Center.

So, when the two teams met for the first time since that game on Friday night at Thayer Arena, it’s safe to say that Pilgrim’s intensity level was amplified.

It avenged that Dec. 17 loss with a dominant performance that saw it lead from start to finish in a 6-0 victory.

“The boys were fired up, a lot of energy,” Pilgrim head coach Mike Boyajian, Jr., said. “This was definitely one we wanted to get back after they gave us our first loss last time. They were ready to go tonight.”

Pilgrim’s top line flat-out dominated in the win, pinning West Warwick in its own end for prolonged amounts of time. It would account for four of the team’s six goals in the win, with Ty Morgan and Jack Clements netting two goals apiece.

“They played the way we’ve been asking them to play,” Boyajian, Jr., said of his top trio up front. “They kept the third guy high (in the offensive zone) for the most part. They kept us in the zone and helped us wear West Warwick down. That’s what we’ve been preaching to them. ‘Hard work is going to get you some goals.’ That’s what we saw tonight.”

It didn’t take long for Pilgrim to put West Warwick on its heels.

At the 4:21 mark of the first period, defenseman Pat Reilly entered the attacking zone with speed and fired a low shot that was stopped by Samuel Paiva, but the rebound found the stick of Ronald Minear, who calmly buried the puck to make it 1-0.

The Wizards looked for the equalizer shortly after, but Pilgrim netminder Kyle DiMascio would be up to the task, flashing the glove on a wrister from the slot by Liam Hogan.

DiMascio would serve as a stone wall all night while the Pats continued to apply pressure at the other end.

With 1:24 left in the period, Reilly made a breakout pass to Morgan, and he motored down the left wing before snapping a shot by Paiva far side to up the lead to 2-0 after one.

In the second period, the Pats put the game out of reach.

After a long shift from Pilgrim’s top line in the West Warwick zone, Clements gathered the puck at the right halfwall, took a couple of strides and beat Paiva to the blocker side.

The Pats then scored two goals in a span of just over a minute late in the second.

Reilly and Morgan created some pressure and Clements cleaned up a rebound for his second goal of the night, before Michael Sollenberger batted the puck out of the air on an odd-man rush to give Pilgrim a 5-0 lead.

West Warwick couldn’t solve DiMascio in the second 15 minutes either as Pilgrim took a 5-0 lead into the second intermission.

However, it wasn’t like the Wizards didn’t have any chances.

DiMascio was simply on his game. He came up with a couple of key saves in the second – a short-side stop on Brenden Coski on a two-on-one and a pad save on Zachary Magiera, who managed to get behind the Pats’ defense.

Pilgrim ultimately went on to outshoot West Warwick, 39-16, but DiMascio’s effort didn’t go unnoticed.

He was tested at times, particularly in the first two periods, and he was up to the task en route to picking up his first shutout.

“He put together a full 45 minutes tonight, was aggressive, at the top of his crease,” Boyajian, Jr., said of DiMascio. “He was ready to go tonight and it showed. I’m glad he was able to get his first shutout tonight.”

The lone tally in the third period came in the final second on a breakaway goal by Morgan – his second goal and third point of the evening.

The Pats kept their momentum rolling on Saturday night, blowing past Johnston/North Providence, 13-4, to remain atop the standings with an 8-1 record.

Pilgrim will be in action for two more games this week. It’ll play Mt. Hope on Friday at 9 p.m. at Thayer Arena and Woonsocket/Scituate Co-op on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Mount St. Charles.