RallyNorth.net

STONEHAM | When the Peabody High hockey team fell behind by two goals with under five minutes remaining in last night's Division 2 North first round showdown vs. North Andover, most figured the end was near.

Junior winger Tom Brazil scored twice as Masconomet earned its 12th win of the season, knocking off North Andover, 3-1, at Merrimack College.

Ryan Dooley also scored, Andrew Roach had a pair of assists and Mike DiGiorgio stopped 13 shots for the Chieftains (12-7 overall), who finished 10-6 in Cape Ann League play.

The Newburyport Clippers traveled to Lawler Arena in North Andover Saturday night looking to break a four-year curse. "This place has been a house of horrors for us," said Coach Paul Yameen. "We've been 0-3-2 (here) including our loss to Central Catholic last year."

North Andover's Ryan Sifferlen stands out like a sore thumb on the ice.

Maybe it's his impressive speed. Maybe it's his uncanny ability to score both around the net and from outside of the crease.

Michael Levy took a pass from Jonathan O'Connor and scored on a breakaway with 3:47 left to give North Andover a 2-1 win over North Reading. Ryan Sifferlen added his 18th goal of the season, and Tyler Morandi made 25 saves for the Scarlet Knights. Fred Hein scored the Hornets' goal, and Garrett Topping made 23 saves.

The Newburyport hockey team needed a player to emerge as its go-to scorer during Saturday's tilt against North Andover. The Scarlet Knights entered undefeated in league play (4-0-1), while the Clippers would've dropped to 2-4 with a loss and had their hopes of capturing a Cape Ann League title all but dashed.

North Andover's Ryan Sifferlen stayed hot, scoring an impressive breakaway goal and assisting on two others, but the Scarlet Knights fell to Newburyport, 6-4.

Ryan Gillespie added a pair of tallies and Ryan Arsenault had one goal for North Andover, which rallied back from a two-goal deficit in the second.

And this is still only the beginning.

After a sophomore campaign where he scored a team-high 40 points and earned Cape Ann League All-Star honors, North Andover's Ryan Sifferlen continues to improve his game without specializing in it.

Ryan Sifferlen netted two goals to go along with two assists as North Andover trounced Pentucket 5-1. The Sachems' goal came from Adam Roberts.

Behind the hot goaltending of Justin Joslin and a devastating second period in which Triton outscored North Andover, 4-0, the Vikings beat the Scarlet Knights, 7-1, on Saturday night at the Graf Rink.