RallyNorth.net

Thu, Feb 28, 2008 05:30 PM @ Neutral Location

Team	1	2	3	Final
Playoff Game Division 2 North - Round 1
Bishop Fenwick	0	1	1	2
Danvers	1	2	4	7

McInnis, Kontos both turn the trick as Danvers knocks off Fenwick in playoff opener

Thursday, February, 28 By Phil Stacey
Sports editor

SALEM | The odds were not in John McInnis' favor. When the 2007-08 high school hockey season began a little over three months ago, McInnis was a sophomore defenseman fighting for ice time at Danvers High.

"If you had told me this was going to happen back at the start of the year," said the 16-year-old McInnis, "I wouldn't have believed it."

Believe it.

McInnis, who was converted into a third line forward during the season, was a surprise hero last night by scoring his first ever hat trick as the Falcons knocked off Bishop Fenwick, 7-2, in the first round of the Division 2 North state tournament before an overflow crowd at Salem State's Rockett Arena.

McInnis, who had exactly one goal coming into the season, buried one in each of the three periods last night to pace the eighth-seeded Falcons (13-6-2). Danvers captain Steve Kontos also had a hat trick | the first since his freshman year | as the Blue-and-White peppered Fenwick goaltender Craig Forrest with 48 shots.

"Everything was clicking for us tonight. It was awesome to see," said junior center Troy Thibodeau, who also had a hand in his team's offensive explosion with a goal and three assists.

"We've been looking for a spark from some of the other lines all year. What John did tonight couldn't have come at a better time."

The victory sends Danvers into Sunday's Division 2 North quarterfinals at the Stoneham Arena (6 p.m.), where they've earned the right to play the top seed in the bracket, No. 1 Wilmington (14-2-4). The Wildcats, who had a first round bye, defeated the Falcons, 4-0, in the Haverhill Christmas Tournament earlier this season.

In truth, the final score of last night's contest was not indicative of how the game was played. True, Danvers held a huge territorial advantage and outshot Fenwick by a whopping 48-18 count.

But the ninth-seeded Crusaders (12-8-1) never gave an inch and fought Danvers for more than two-and-a-half periods before fatigue set in, allowing the Falcons to score three times over the final 5:48.

"They were in it until the very end. Their kids never, ever stopped working," Danvers head coach Kevin Brown said of Fenwick. "Their goalie was outstanding, too; he was stopping a ton of shots."

What plagued Fenwick was the constant onslaught of Danvers scoring attempts in the offensive zone. When the Falcons started burying some of those chances | particularly

Thibodeau's power play goal just 1:33 into the third period, giving his team a 4-1 lead | Fenwick was forced to start taking chances to make up that deficit.

"When you're tired and having to play catch up, especially against a team like Danvers, that's not a good formula," admitted long-time Fenwick head coach Bo Tierney.

"I figured that realistically, we needed to either be up a goal, tied or at the very worst down a goal heading into the third period. We were down two (3-1), but when (Thibodeau) scored that early goal in the third, that was a backbreaker."

Fenwick sophomore Joe Cannatella got his team within two again after taking a pass from Pat Desmond-Dorzio and beating Danvers keeper Pat O'Kane (16 saves) through traffic with a little over 10 minutes to play.

But Danvers continued its offensive push, with freshman Kyle Larson making the prettiest play of the night to set up his team's fifth goal. From the slot, he slipped a beautiful backhand pass to a cutting Kontos, who deked Forrest and scored to make it 5-2. Kontos (with 2:49 to play) and McInnis (56 seconds left) then went on to complete their hat tricks.

"It's a great feeling," said Kontos, not only of notching his 14th, 15th and 16th goals of the season, but also for Danvers winning its first tournament game in two seasons.

"It's also great to see someone like John have this happen to him. He works so hard, and it's good to see him (rewarded). It's guys like him why we're so deep."

Danvers also had a fine effort from its four-man defensive corps of Jake Korthas, Dylan Carr, Tim Wilkinson and Brett Spencer. Not only did they contribute offensively (Korthas had two assists, Car and Spencer one each), but they kept the Crusaders away from O'Kane for the most part, forcing most of their shots from outside the perimeter.

"Those guys don't get nearly the credit they deserve," said Thibodeau of his team's rearguards. "Most people know Jake because he frequently is involved in the scoring, but those other three guys have been great, too. They all were tonight."

Senior captain Pat Doliber of Marblehead had the other Fenwick goal, his team-leading 19th of the season. Doliber finished the season with 44 points and 83 for his terrific four-year career.