ARLINGTON — A five-goal, first-round beatdown from Arlington last season was a rough introduction to the Ed Burns Coffee Pot Tournament’s upper Doherty division for the Tewksbury boys hockey team.

A year later, the Redmen didn’t flinch in the rematch Sunday night.

With two goals exactly one minute apart in the second period, and a standout performance from goalie Cole Abruzi (20 saves) and the defense to limit No. 5 Arlington, No. 7 Tewksbury (14-0-1) secured a 2-1 win to advance to the prestigious in-season tournament’s championship round next Sunday.

“We were just determined,” junior defenseman Jake Cunha said. “Obviously our main goal is a state championship. But this is a big part of our season. Coming in here and taking them down after a tough loss last year, it means a lot to us.”

While Arlington ended the first period with a 1-0 lead on Cam Petrillo’s power-play goal, a fast start played a major role for Tewksbury in setting the tone.

It took nearly seven minutes in for the Spy Ponders (11-4) to register their first shot on goal, while Tewksbury peppered John Snider (30 saves) with 11 shots in the first. Right from the jump, Tewksbury head coach Derek Doherty could see the hunger the group was playing with.

“The teams in this tournament right now can compete against anybody,” Doherty said. “I thought we came out and had a real strong first period. Kind of went right at them hard, kind of set the tone. And then we took care of business. … I’m proud of all of them. They all played hard.”

“We play our best game when we come out hard, physical and fast,” Cunha added.

The start of the second period saw Arlington head to the box less than three minutes in, but it did a masterful job through much of the penalty kill to deny Tewksbury from clean looks. It even had two shorthanded scoring chances that were shot just off the mark of tight windows.

As the power play expired, though, the Redmen got a shot on net from the right circle that bounced in front. Jack Ryan was there to clean it up for the tying goal.

A minute later, Kevin Andriolo followed his own rebound on a wraparound with a goal in front to give Tewksbury the 2-1 lead.

“After the first (goal), we never really got down on ourselves,” Abruzi said. “We knew we were still in the game no matter what. It kind of comes a long way if we keep putting the pressure on them, which we did all game.”

Doherty said before the game that Abruzi would be ready, later saying he just looked particularly locked in for the matchup.

He had eight saves in the third period as Arlington brought pressure in a tying attempt, and denied several more chances in the second period through two Spy Ponders penalties.

“Yeah, I got to the rink really early today,” Abruzi said. “Juggled 30 minutes, stretched out a ton, and hand-eye coordination was there every time in this zone. … I just saw it in the whole way.”

After Arlington scored on its first power play, Tewksbury’s penalty kill held it 0-for-2.

The Spy Ponders did well to slow down Tewksbury’s offensive pressure over the last five minutes of the first, and seemed to gain momentum with the power-play goal that Nolan Russell assisted.

But Tewksbury still produced several charges the rest of the way. Snider was pivotal in keeping it a one-goal game.

With the win, the Redmen remain the state’s only unbeaten boys hockey team. They await the winner of tomorrow night’s semifinal between Hingham and Canton to see who they face in the Doherty championship game.

It will be next Sunday at Tsongas Center. Reaching that stage is a point of pride for Tewksbury.

“This is a very important tournament to us,” Doherty said. “It kind of says who’s the top public school team in the state. For us to be in there as a Div. 2 team, we’re pretty proud of that and the kids work hard for it.”