MIDDLETON – A two-goal, first-period rally. Six penalties to kill off. A game-tying goal in the last six minutes of regulation – twice. Scoreless overtime.

There was no shortage of obstacles that Hingham and St. John’s Prep faced when the two Div. 1 juggernauts clashed in their respective boys hockey season openers Wednesday night at Essex Sports Center, trading clutch moments against adversity. Yet neither relented in the end, playing to a thrilling 4-4 tie.

Both head coaches identified clear mistakes that their teams will need to correct as they each figure to contend for a title come March. They also identified clear positives in a true barn-burner.

And as far as building blocks go, they agreed this was quite a starting place.

“Excellent pace,” said Hingham head coach Tony Messina. “I’m proud of the team. … Little resilience there. First game of the year, you’ve got to be happy with that. (St. John’s Prep head coach Kristian Hanson) and I were talking after the game – both teams can build off this one. Lot of learning (points) and we both played pretty good considering we’ve been skating for two weeks.”

St. John’s Prep found itself in a two-goal deficit about 10 minutes in, as Hingham’s second and third lines produced John Walsh and Aiden Rotondo goals only 31 seconds apart. The Harbormen controlled play for much of that stretch, showcasing their premier speed.

It only took the Eagles two minutes to respond, though, as Andrew Macaulay (goal, assist) tipped a Logan Daigle shot from the point to Luke Horenstein (two goals) at the post for a goal and a one-goal deficit. Hingham got a bit sloppy to close out the period with a 5-on-3 disadvantage, and Sefton Paradis – who stood out all game on defense – scored the tying goal with 0.3 seconds left in the frame.

“We get down 2-0 early, so that really tested our resolve there,” Hanson said. “It was nice for us to see guys step up and get those two goals and get us right back into the game. … Hingham’s a great team. This game is a battle every year. … Games like this is what kind of prepares us for bigger things later on.”

Penalties continued to plague Hingham, having to kill off 5:53 of penalty time in the second period to keep it tied. It succeeded, but Horenstein scored again with 1:27 left in the second for St. John’s Prep’s first lead of the game.

“Luke played limited varsity last year,” Hanson said. “Scoring two goals … he’s pretty good around the net. That’s what we hope to get out of him, so nice job for Luke.”

The Eagles did well on defense to shut down Hingham’s potent top line, but couldn’t stave off its whole attack down the stretch. Fourth-liner Sean Callahan scored off assists from linemates Charlie Peak and Brett Larson to tie the game at 3-3 with 5:50 left in regulation.

St. John’s Prep answered with Macaulay’s first tally of the year to regain the lead about a minute later, but Hingham’s Brendan McCarthy (goal, assist) lit the lamp with 2:22 to play to again tie up the score.

“I’ve got to give the kids credit. We asked for a big third period and we got it,” Messina said. “We have a ton of seniors. We have 16 seniors and eight juniors. I challenged them between the second and the third, said ‘How many guys played in these games last year?’ More than half the room raised their hand. Everyone’s been in this situation before. So, we’ve got to count on the guys that have been there, and they proved it.”

Hanson wasn’t pleased with SJP allowing the late goals to allow Hingham to force overtime, but was happy with the response in overtime to not crumble and lead shots on goal 4-0.

The Eagles led shots 33-25 overall.