Through the efforts of Captain Dick Mechem, who tallied twice in 10 minutes, first tying the contest and then winning it, the Yardling hockey team maintained its unbeaten record yesterday, nosing out Andover 7 to 6 at the Boston Skating Club, in a thrilling battle which went to two overtime periods.

In their first contest under the tutelage of newly-appointed Coach John Chase, the Freshmen went ahead twice, blew both leads, and finally needed Mechem's Merriwell-like feat to ring up their fifth consecutive win.

Tommy Ayres shared the limelight with his captain, accounting for three goals. The Crimson forces went into a 3 to 1 lead in the opening period on scores by Bill Hamlen, Ayres, and Ned Harding. Dong Sturges netted the puck or the Phillipians.

Andover Overcomes Lead

Andover bounced back resoundingly in the second period, scoring three goals to take a 5-4 lead, with another Ayres score the only Yardling tally.

When Ayres turned the hat trick with his third score early in the final stanza, the '45 outfit tied up the game, but the Blue six came back with two scores of their own to gain back the lead at 6 to 5.

There were only 40 seconds remaining when Mechem performed his game-saving score, coming in all alone on the goalie to tie up the encounter. One over time period went scoreless, and in the second five-minute session, with 13 seconds remaining, the Yardling captain took a short pass from Ned Harding, outwitted the Andover defenseman, and rang the bell with the winning tally.

Rough Contest

Ten penalties, all of two minutes, were meted out in the rough-and-tumble battle, the only contest this year in which goalie Gus Summers has permitted the opposition more than one score.

Exeter is the next opponent for the undefeated sextet, coming to the Boston Skating Club on Saturday afternoon.