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Gloucester turns the tables on Peabody, clinches NEC

Thursday, February, 14 By Matt Williams
Staff writer

Turnabout is fair play, and the Gloucester Fishermen invaded Peabody's McVann-O'Keefe Rink last night bent on turning the tables on a lopsided loss to the Tanners earlier this season.

An inspired Gloucester squad did just that and dispatched Peabody 7-2 on the Tanners' home ice. It was an emphatic statement for a Fishermen team that came in winless in its last four games and in danger of giving up first place in the Northeastern Conference for the first time all season.

"They wanted it more. They beat us to every loose puck and they definitely had more desire," said Peabody coach Mark Leonard. "They came in here wanting to win. We wanted to win, but we weren't willing to pay the price."

In what was the De facto NEC title game, the Tanners (13-5-0, 9-5-0 NEC) simply didn't appear interested in getting their noses dirty. Gloucester came in with 20 league points to Peabody's 18, meaning a win by the hosts would vault them into the top spot. The Fishermen (11-4-2, 10-2-2 NEC) weren't about to let that happen, though, and clinched the conference championship with stout defense and opportunistic scoring.

"We played with a lot of emotion and a lot of desire. That's all it was," said Gloucester coach Don Lowe.

Throughout the night, the Fisherman won the physical battles and contained the faster, shiftier Tanner skaters. Despite lengthy streaks of possession, Peabody struggled to find shooting lanes. At the other end, Gloucester crashed the net with little objection from the hosts' D.

After a feeling-out process in the opening frame, the Fishermen seized control with a second period blitz. Andrew Fulford began the onslaught with a laser from the circle on the power play at 1:08. Marc Buotte made it 3-0 at 3:20 when he walked around Peabody defender Luke Moran and flipped it over the shoulder of goalie Jon Camara.

It was the beginning of a second period in which five of Gloucester's 11 shots on goal found the back of the twine. "It seemed like every shot they took went into the net," said Leonard. "I don't think we had a very good game defensively at all, both the defense and the goalies."

The third tally spelled the end for Camara, who finished with 14 saves, and was replaced by freshman Mac Shalin. The Tanners showed signs of life when Chris Lavoie snapped home a shot from the boards to cut it to 3-1 only 20 seconds later, but it was a moot point as the defense couldn't help Shalin any more than they had Camara.

Dylan Morrissey crashed the cage and chipped in a loose puck to make it 4-1 and Gloucester added another at 12:47 when sophomore Conoe Russel (goal, 3 assists) cut to the crease and buried a backhand to extend the edge to 5-1. A perfectly timed two-man rush with just 13 seconds left in the decisive second period resulted in a Brett Biondo (goal, 2 assists) tally and a demoralizing 6-1 hole for the hosts.

"We had a little bit of life and then they came right back with more goals," said Leonard. "We started out OK and (Gloucester) just wouldn't give up."

The loss snapped Peabody's four-game winning streak and while any hope of an NEC crown has gone by the wayside the Tanners' 13 wins have already earned them a berth in the upcoming Division 2 North state tourney.

"There's a long way to go," said Leonard. "We're still trying to get a better seed for the tournament and get as many points as we can."

Peabody's Zach Brown batted a puck through the five-hole of Gloucester's sophomore goalie Dom Novello (22 saves) midway through the third, but the Tanners couldn't mount enough pressure to make a run at the comeback. Morrissey potted an academic empty netter with 2:25 to go to account for the 7-2 final, a near mirror image of Peabody's 7-1 triumph at Talbot Rink Jan. 19.

"It came down to them skating harder than us. That's really all it was," said Leonard.