The reigning Northeastern Conference South champions were supposed to be going through somewhat of a rebuilding year. But someone forgot to tell that to Swampscott.Fresh off winning the East Boston Deep Freeze Tournament on Tuesday, the Big Blue came to Connery Rink looking to stay perfect in league play. And thanks to two goals from freshman Gino Cresta and another superb effort in net from Tyler Gallagher, Swampscott moved to 6-0-0 with a 3-1 win over the Lynn Jets.”It’s a real good win for us,” Swampscott coach Gino Faia said. “It’s a division opponent and they responded well after winning the East Boston tournament. We were worried that they’d have a little bit of a letdown.”The Big Blue (3-0-0 NEC South) broke a scoreless tie late in the first period when Cresta scored, assisted by Justin Massey and A.J. Zarinsky.That lead lasted all of 70 seconds as the Jets (3-2-0, 1-2-0 NEC South) came back to tie on Bucky Surette’s goal, assisted by Jack Erekson.Swampscott went back in front for good early in the second when Cresta picked up a pass behind the net and swooped around to stuff a wraparound chance past Lynn goalie Nick Comeau.”Gino really has a nose for the net,” Faia said. “He made a great play there behind the net.”It stayed a 2-1 game into the third when the Big Blue’s third line helped put the game away.Sean Lannon and Matt Videtta picked up the assists as Erik Mihovan, who played many games at Connery for the former Lynn Tech hockey team, scored at the 5:15 mark to make it 3-1.”We got beat to every loose puck,” Jets coach Joe Conlon said.”If the other team is more aggressive, than 99% of the time, they are going to win the game.”Swampscott gets right back into the thick of the NEC South on Saturday (3) when it hosts archrival Marblehead at Salem State’s Rockett Arena.The last time the two teams skated was in the first round of the Division 3 North tournament last year with the Headers winning in overtime.”It’s always a battle with them,” Faia said.The Jets also will have a conference game on Saturday, traveling to 2-2-1 Saugus.Fenwick 4, Tyngsborough 2At McVann-O’Keefe Rink in Peabody, the Crusaders (2-1-2) broke the .500 mark thanks to 35 saves by goalie Craig Forrest and a goal and two assists by Dale Crispin.”It was a great high school game,” said Fenwick coach Bob Tierney.”This gives us good momentum going into the Trinity Catholic game (Saturday). They’re the defending league champs.”Crispin broke a 2-2 tie with 1:39 left in the game, and then Mark Sparaco scored the empty-netter only 19 seconds later.Adam Clay put Fenwick on the board at 8:22 in the first period, and the teams traded goals (Bob Engel for the Tigers, Louis Williams for Fenwick) to give the Crusaders a 2-1 lead after two.Tyngsbrough’s Ron Corcoran tied the game again at 4:06 of the third period before Crispin’s goal won it.BOYS BASKETBALLWinthrop 64, Medford 49At Winthrop, the Vikings (6-1) started slowly, trailing 18-16 after the first quarter, but turned up the wick to take a 36-24 halftime lead and never looked back.”We came out a little slow but when we started playing defense like we should, we were fine,” Winthrop coach Dave Brown said.Dino Mallios led the Vikings with 24 points while freshman Anthony Hatvisavas had 12 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Mark Jenkins and Jake Connors also added 12 points each.
