Marblehead hoping experience pays off

The Marblehead hockey team barely made it into last season’s Division 3 North tournament, finishing the regular season with a 10-10 record. But when it counted the most, the Headers got on a run.They bested archrival Swampscott in overtime and then beat Latin Academy in a shootout before surviving a pair of 1-0 games against Trinity Catholic and Concord-Carlisle to win the program’s first North crown in over 20 years.Though the run ended with a loss to South champion Scituate in the Eastern Mass final at the DCU Center in Worcester, the Headers left the arena that night knowing that the bulk of that team was coming back.With 21 players back from that team that fell to Scituate, the Headers, under the direction fo coach Bob Jackson, find themselves as the most experienced team in the Northeastern Conference when they open play on Saturday against Saugus.”We have a lot of returning players and are going to try to implement one of two more systems into our offensive game,” Jackson said. “We will need to be at our best to be competitive in the Northeastern Conference.”Leading the returnees will be captains Mike Cohn, Aaron Reny and Anders Gundersen. Reny was immense in the Headers run through the postseason, winning the OT game against the Big Blue and stuffing Latin Academy in the next round. Tony Cuzner get the nod as Reny’s back-up.Gundersen and Cohn form the Headers top defensive pairing, with Gundersen also spending time at forward in the state tournament.”Defensively, we have some experience back and that will help us get the puck out of our zone,” Jackson said.Jake Kulevich and Ben Koopman will be joined by Jay King, Hunter Whitmore, Tom Cormier and Max Martinez to form the rest of the Headers defensive unit.Offensively, Marblehead returns 10 forwards who skated a regular shift last season. The big loss comes in the form of Andrew Bates, the team’s leader in scoring, who transferred to St. Mary’s for this season.”We return a lot up front and will be working hard to create more opportunities in the offensive zone,” Jackson said.Chris Donahue, Tyler DeCotis and Colby Bates will comprise the Headers first line with Ellery Smith-Chris McLeod-Alex Whitmore working as the second unit.Justin Levine; Ryan Dempsey; Austin Coen; Tyler Gelineau; Mike Bernato and Hunter Groves also are expected to skate a regular shift up front for Jackson’s squad.”We have a young team and are still working on improving our mental toughness,” Jackson said.The Headers will open with the Sachems in a NEC South battle and will also see tournament teams in the Big Blue, Peabody, Gloucester and Danvers on their schedule as well.”The league is much stronger this year,” Jackson said. “There will be no easy games. All 14 of them will be a battle.”