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Marblehead Magicians Boys Ice Hockey '07-'08

Ben Laing, Staff Photographer

Dream season rolls on for Marblehead icemen

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Monday, March, 10 By Matt Williams
Staff writer

There's no need for the boys on the Marblehead High hockey team to pinch themselves. Their amazing Cinderella run through the Division 3 North bracket might be a dream come true, but it is indeed a reality.

The 12th-seeded Headers barely qualified for the postseason at 10-10-0, but have since rattled off four straight wins | culminated by the school's first-ever North championship, a 1-0 victory over Concord-Carlisle Friday night.

Up next for the North titlists is a battle with Division 3 South champion Scituate (12-6-5) Thursday night at 6 p.m. at the DCU Center in Worcester. The winner advances to the state championship game Sunday at the TD Banknorth Garden.

"In the middle of the season or even a couple of weeks ago I couldn't have fathomed this," said sophomore Anders Gunderson.

Once the brackets were released and the Headers were matched up with arch rival Swampscott | which shut them out twice during the season | it seemed as if Marblehead was doomed.

But the Headers were undaunted, playing like they had nothing to lose in a shocking 3-2 overtime upset.

The Headers followed that with a 4-3 shootout win over Boston Latin Academy and back-to-back 1-0 triumphs over the top two seeds in Trinity Catholic and C-C.

"Our confidence has been snowballing," said Gunderson. "At the beginning we just wanted to get by Swampscott and once we beat them it has been growing exponentially."

A selfless, blue-collar style has propelled the Headers to this stage. The squad has stayed true to its defensive philosophy with goalie Aaron Reny owning a sparkling 1.03 goals against in the playoffs and riding a shutout streak of 98:11.

"With back-to-back shutouts you just can't speak enough about Reny. Those two teams he shut out were both great teams," said second-year Header coach Bobby Jackson, who has lead Marblehead on its longest tournament run since 1985 when they fell to St. John's Prep in the Division 1 final.

There's been a different hero every night as well. Whether it was freshman Chris McLeod with the game-winner against Swampscott, sophomore Ellery Smith with the lone goal against Trinity Catholic, junior Andrew Bates with a decisive shootout goal against BLA or his winner versus C-C, every Header has contributed in one fashion or another.

"One of the things that's been great is that someone new has stepped up every single game. That's been really rewarding for our entire coaching staff," said Jackson.

With an overtime win, a shootout victory and a pair of 1-0 margins, the Headers have had to claw for everything they've earned this postseason. But they've never played like they were feeling the pressure and that's been a big help in overcoming higher-seeded squads.

"If you look at all our games, they've been by one goal. Nothing has come easy for us," said Jackson.

Playing in the competitive Northeastern Conference, which placed four teams in the Division 2 North field, might have diluted the Headers' record a bit. But it got them ready for the rugged style of playoff hockey.

"We kind of told the kids (before the tournament) that in the NEC we're playing great teams," Jackson said. "We knew that, playing tough opponents on a regular basis, if we played our game in the playoffs we'd be fine."

Even more impressive is that the Headers have shaken off that pressure with a whopping eight freshman in the lineup. It took a while for them to blend in with the squad, as evidenced by starts of 0-4-0 and 4-7-0.

Lately, it's been a different story with the team's two seniors | Jackson Barber and Eric Fader | stepping up in the leadership department and the underclassmen have been cool despite the baptism under fire. Everyone has bought into the philosophy Jackson and his staff have been preaching all season.

"These guys have just dug down deep. It's a great team that's really come together," said Jackson. "They're working a lot harder and these guys have just done a great job of drinking the Kool-Aid."

The result has been an unforgettable ride, four straight playoff wins, the North championship and a place in school history. As they celebrated with the North trophy on the ice after Friday's win, all that and more began to sink in.

"That was the epitome of what this is all about," Gunderson said of hoisting the hardware. "Once we did that you knew that this was what all that hard work was for."

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