ARLINGTON — The implications were high for both Catholic Central League boys hockey foes No. 11 Arlington Catholic and No. 12 St. Mary’s of Lynn, and after a thrilling 50 minutes Saturday, they played to a 2-2 draw in the first meeting of the year between the two programs.

Twice the Spartans (6-6-1) took a lead in the first two periods, which the Cougars (10-2-1) rallied from before each posted a shutout in the final frame and in overtime.

Brayden Boczenowski (goal, assist) led the way for Arlington Catholic, while freshman goalie Connor Anderson (33 saves) anchored St. Mary’s.

“That was a fun game to be a part of,” Spartans head coach Matthew Smith Sr. said. “The effort’s always there with this group. They play hard, they embrace the blue-collar mentality.”

The tie had significant importance for both Div. 1 threats for different reasons.

Arlington Catholic started the year 1-2 before ripping off a Div. 1-best nine straight wins, and a tie here extends that mark to 10 straight unbeaten games.

“Whenever you play a league opponent, you have to have a little extra juice in the tank,” Cougars head coach Curt Colarullo said. “That’s a really good opponent today. We haven’t seen a lot of the meat and potatoes of our schedule yet, and that’s the start of it.”

St. Mary’s goalie Connor Anderson (31) makes a pad save on a goal attempt by Arlington Catholic’s Landon Masters (24) during a boys hockey game, Saturday, in Arlington. (Mark Stockwell/Boston Herald)

It felt like St. Mary’s was due for a signature showing, navigating an extremely difficult schedule with several slight losses. It played No. 2 Hingham evenly on Monday as part of a 4-2 loss, and it challenged unbeaten No. 7 Tewksbury until the Redmen took a 2-1 win in the final minutes.

“It’s good going into Wednesday night against (Archbishop Williams) because that’s another real good team, two evenly-matched teams,” Smith Sr. said. “We’re battle tested. We’ve played against all the best teams in the state.”

Resiliency was a major standout for the Cougars, who carried play in a dominant first period with a 15-7 shot advantage. Anderson saved all 15, though, and a miscue at the end of an Arlington Catholic power play gave Cam Marchand an opportunity to steal a Spartans lead, and he crashed on a puck Cougars goalie Stephen Camara (24 saves) couldn’t secure for a goal.

Boczenowski’s centering pass from the right wall found leading scorer Tyler Heldenbergh (9-8-17) for a top-shelf snipe that tied the score at 1-1 just five minutes into the second, only for Evan Toto to clean up in front on the other end for St. Mary’s to retake a 2-1 lead less than 30 seconds later.

Arlington Catholic forced a bevy of turnovers in the Spartans defensive zone to apply a long wave of pressure toward the end of the second, though, and Boczenowski took his turn potting a goal to neutralize it again.

“The first goal definitely set us back a little bit, but I thought the first period, we carried the play,” Colarullo said. “There were some rebounds I thought we should’ve got in the back of the net, but other than that, coming back is great. Kids showed some resiliency … I think it was a good way to keep coming back, down two times.”

Arlington Catholic’s Brayden Boczenowski reacts after scoring during a boys hockey game against St. Mary’s, Saturday, in Arlington. (Mark Stockwell/Boston Herald)

That’s all Anderson would allow, though, despite numerous scoring chances the Cougars generated throughout.

St. Mary’s had been alternating goalies every game, but after 37 saves against Tewksbury on Wednesday, Smith gave Anderson an opportunity for an encore.

He didn’t disappoint.

“He’s awesome,” Smith Sr. said. “He’s been great the last two games. … He got back-to-back starts because of what he did the other day against Tewksbury.”

Just a sophomore, it was a big showing for Boczenowski to play a role in getting two past Anderson to force the tie.

“(He has) some great offensive instincts,” Colarullo said. “He was right in the slot, he got a great pass from the corner, and he doesn’t miss those too often. He’s definitely one of our offensive forces, we’re just looking to get him going for the end of the season.”

St. Mary’s carried play in overtime, out-shooting Arlington Catholic, 4-1. Defenseman Caleb Racki was also a major standout for the Spartans, disrupting a handful of promising rushes the Cougars could have scored on otherwise.

“He’s been our rock,” Smith Sr. said. “He’s played like that every single game. He’s strong, he’s hard to knock off the puck.”