RallyNorth.net

Wed, Feb 06, 2008 07:00 PM @ Gloucester

Team	1	2	3	Final
St. Mary's Lynn	2	1	3	6
Gloucester	0	1	0	1

St. Mary's skates over Fishermen, 6-1

Thursday, February, 07 By Nick Curcuru
Correspondent

When one hears the score 6-1, blowout is the first thing that comes to mind.

That may be true in most cases, but it was not the case in Gloucester's defeat at the hands of St. Mary's of Lynn. The Fishermen skated with St. Mary's for three periods and even outshot their Division 1 counterparts, 25-22. Gloucester, however, could not seem to catch a break in their end of the ice, which resulted in defeat in front of a rowdy crowd yesterday at the Dorothy Talbot Rink.

The Fishermen (10-3-2) have hit a tough stretch of their season, after starting the year 9-0-1, Gloucester is 1-3-1 in their last five games.

"Six to one doesn't really tell the whole story," Fishermen captain Andrew Fulford said. "For the most part we skated right with them, they got a couple of bounces and we didn't, but that's hockey. Compared to the way we have been playing the last couple of weeks, this is a good effort."

Gloucester goalie Bradley Robertson was once again forced to leave the game midway through the second period after re-injuring his shoulder. The severity of the injury is unknown.

St. Mary's opened up the scoring five minutes into the game when Corey Bartlett's shot deflected off the stick of a Gloucester defenseman and past Robertson to make it 1-0. The Spartans would make it 2-0 with 18 seconds to play in the period when former Fishermen forward Zak Borowski fished the puck out of the corner and hit John Baldwin for the score.

The second period saw a back and forth battle, with both teams having scoring opportunities. Despite the even play, St. Mary's was able to make it 3-0 on a Corey Lee goal. The Fishermen would cut the lead to two with 15 seconds to play in the frame. The goal was Josh Salah's first since missing most of the last 10 games with a wrist injury.

The Spartans would break the game open in the third period with three more goals. Defenseman Ryan Fitzsimmons would score from the point to make it 4-1. Tommy Adams and Baldwin would add two late goals to put the game away.

Spartans head coach Mark Lee was happy to get the win, and credited the Fishermen's tough gritty play.

"St. Mary's versus Gloucester is always a battle," Lee said. "We're happy to get a win in a tough place to get one." Lee credited Spartans goalie Mike McCormack with his play. "McCormack made some big stops to keep our cushion," Lee said.

Despite the loss, Fishermen head coach Don Lowe was pleased with his team's effort.

"I thought we turned in a good effort, we just couldn't score any goals," Lowe said. "We skated with them all game and we outshot them. Overall I thought it was one of the better games we played in front of the net all year, we just couldn't get a bounce."

Lowe credited Fulford and Salah for having strong games. He was especially pleased with Salah, who scored despite playing with a cut on his leg, which he suffered on Saturday against Newburyport just two shifts into the game.

"Salah turned in a very gutsy performance," Lowe said. The Fishermen hope to get back on track when they host Revere on Saturday at 7 p.m. Gloucester tied Revere 2-2 in the season opener. Gloucester carried the play in that game, but Patriots goalie Nick DiMare made 40 saves to keep it knotted at two.

Additional stories:

• Borowski notches two assists in return to Gloucester