Marblehead shuts out Lynn for first win of season

LYNN – Winning 1-0 games is nothing new for the Marblehead hockey team as the Headers did it twice en route to claiming the Division 3 North title last season.On Wednesday at Connery Rink, Marblehead once again lived on the edge, hanging on for dear life as Lynn buzzed around the net in the third period. But the Jets failed to score as Aaron Reny stopped all 16 shots he saw in a 1-0 Marblehead win.Click here to see a photo gallery from the game.”We’d like to have a few more goals to make life a little easier on ourselves,” Marblehead coach Bob Jackson joked after the game. “It wasn’t easy, but we hung in, and getting this division win is huge.”The Jets (1-1) netted six goals in an opening-night win against Latin Academy but struggled to get a consistent offensive attack going until the third period, where they outshot the Headers, 9-6.”We played well in the third period,” Lynn coach Joe Conlon said. “But there’s two sides to that. We stepped up when we had to, but it’s disappointing to not have played our best for the first two periods.”The Headers (1-1) came out and took control of the game in the first period, holding Lynn to a single shot on goal. But Marblehead wasn’t finding much success either as Nick Comeau stopped all six shots that came his way in the first 15 minutes, sending the teams to the locker room in a scoreless tie.The second period began with Marblehead picking up where it left off in the opening frame, pelting Comeau with plenty of rubber. The Headers wound up with a 13-6 shots on goal advantage in the middle period and took a 1-0 lead at the 3:33 mark.Ellery Smith fired a shot that was turned aside by Comeau. But the rebound remained loose and Colby Bates was able to swoop in and shovel home the puck.Marblehead then got a power-play chance midway through the period when Eric Bransfield was called for tripping. And the Headers nearly made it 2-0 when Ryan Dempsey had a yawning net in front of him off a scramble, but his shot sailed well over the net, keeping it 1-0 heading into the second intermission.”We have to do a better job on the power play,” Jackson said.The Headers nearly got their insurance goal in the opening moments of the third when Austin Coen got a breakaway, but Comeau kicked the shot aside, giving the Jets a big boost of adrenaline.Following Comeau’s save, the Jets took control of the game. But every chance Lynn got found its way safely into Reny’s grasp.No chance was more golden that the one Matt Lunden had with 9:20 left following a Marblehead turnover in the Header zone. But the shot glanced off the shaft of Reny’s stick and went harmlessly into the corner.”When you wait until the end to get going, sometimes you get burned,” Conlon said.The Jets had another chance in the final minute with Comeau off for an extra attacker. Dave Stevens fed Bucky Surrette at center ice for a rush around the Marblehead defense. But Surrette’s backhand chance was gloved and held onto by Reny with 27 seconds remaining.”Aaron made some great saves,” Jackson said. “Lynn is a good team and Joe has done a great job with them. They are very disciplined and played real hard.”