Marblehead hockey looking to extend dream season

There’s no secret to winning a hockey game. All you have to do is score one more goal than the other team.The Marblehead High boys hockey team figured it out in the first round of the Division 3 North sectionals. The Headers beat Swampscott, 4-3, in overtime, and since then, they’ve won every game by one goal. Although a little more of a cushion might make for a little less gray hair on the coaching staff, the system seems to be working.Marblehead will try to keep the train on track when it plays Scituate Thursday in the Division 3 state semifinals at the DCU Center in Worcester. If the Headers are successful, they’ll be pulling into North Station and the TD BankNorth Garden sometime before 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, the time of the state final.Both Marblehead and Scituate have overcome the odds to make it this far. The Headers, now 14-10-0 after going 10-10 during the season, were seeded 12th in the North, and the Sailors, with an 8-6-5 regular-season record (now 12-6-5), were seeded 15th. Scituate managed to knock off the No. 2 (Norwell), No. 3 (Pembroke), No. 7 (Medway) and No. 9 (Westwood) seeds to make it to the DCU Center.The Sailors’ motivation, however, runs deeper than just trying to complete their own Cinderella season. One of their players, sophomore Tim Mahoney, died in a car crash on Feb. 2.”I think that put them in a lot of turmoil (at the time),” Jackson said, referring to Scituate’s record.What made things more difficult for Scituate was the fact that Tim Mahoney’s older brother, Pat, is a senior defenseman on the team.”(Scituate’s) on a mission,” Jackson said. “They’re playing not only for themselves, but for their teammate who died. I understand where their strength is coming from.”Jackson and assistant coach Mark Tarmey made the trek to Bourne earlier this week to see Scituate play Westwood in the South final.”I think they’re a very, very good hockey team,” Jackson said. “They have a quick goaltender and two very solid defensemen, who are both very big.”Senior forward Danny Galvin was the big gun offensively in that game, scoring two goals and assisting on another.”He has a good set of hands and he’s a very good skater,” Jackson said.Jackson compared Scituate to Northeastern Conference teams like Gloucester, Danvers and Swampscott.”They have some speed and quickness and they play an up-tempo game,” Jackson said, adding that the Headers will continue to play their game.Given the fact the Headers have only allowed five goals in four games, the game Jackson is referring to has featured some pretty good defense. The Headers won their last two games by 1-0 scores, shutting out Concord-Carlisle in the North final and Trinity Catholic, the Div. 3 North top seed, in the semifinal. Marblehead also beat Latin Academy, 4-3, in a shootout.”It all starts with Aaron Reny,” Jackson said, referring to his goalie.Jackson said he also plays six defensemen the majority of the game, which allows his top two players, Mike Cohn and Anders Gundersen, to double-shift come crunch time.”They wouldn’t be able to do that without the other guys putting time in,” Jackson said.Jackson said he’s also been skating 11 forwards, 12 before senior Eric Fader got hurt in the Latin Academy game.”That also gives us a boost come third period,” he said.The excitement surrounding this year’s team has been building every game. After winning the North title, Jackson said the team was greeted at the Salem-Marblehead line by a police and fire escort. When the team finally got to the school parking lot, Jackson said there were probably 100 fans waiting to cheer the players as they got off the bus.Jackson said the company he works for, HCPro in Marblehead, and his co-workers have been incredibly supportive during the tournament run. Jackson said he was supposed to leave for a five-day trip to San Diego on Tuesday, but the company worked it out so he didn’t have to go. He said people at work have also stepped up to help him out.