Hockey: Peabody rolls to tourney berth

For the ninth time in the last 10 seasons, the Peabody hockey team will be playing meaningful hockey at the end of February.On Wednesday at McVann-O’Keefe Rink, the Tanners got two goals and an assist from the Northeastern Conference’s leading scorer, Matt Rodgers, and a goal and two assists from Elijah Cohen in a 6-1 win over Concord-Carlisle, the No. 1-ranked Division 3 team in the state.”It really is a good win for us,” Peabody coach Mark Leonard said. “Concord is a quality team.”The win was the seventh in a row for Peabody since a New Year’s Eve loss to Winthrop.”We shuffled some things up after that and it has given us two strong lines that have really played well,” Leonard said.It was the second line of Andrew Bucci (assist), Rodgers and Pereira that did most of the damage Wednesday. Rodgers gave Peabody a 1-0 lead after one via his 11th goal of the season.Cohen got his 18th of the year, assisted by A.J. Parker and Eric Muise, early in the second. Parker and Rodgers then added power play goals to up the margin to 4-0 after two.The Patriots (9-2-0) cut the gap to 4-1 early in the third before Pereira and Mike O’Brien closed out the scoring for Peabody.”I still don’t think we’ve played our best hockey,” Leonard said. “We’re still making a lot of mistakes but we have a good offense and that hides a lot of them.”Swampscott 4, Trinity Cath. 0At Ryan Skating Arena in Watertown, the Big Blue (9-1-3) scored three times in the first and then cruised from there as Conor Barton pitched the shutout to clinch a spot in the Division 3 North tourney.”That was our main goal this season,” Swampscott coach Gino Faia said. “Now we can move on and concentrate on our others.”A.J. Zarinsky and Justin Massey each had a goal and an assist while Gino Cresta added two assists. Colby Wollerscheid and Miles Rutkowski had the other goals, with John Pelletier, Jake Donahue and Ben Wollerscheid having assists.Lynnfield 4, Pentucket 2At McVann-O’Keefe Rink in Peabody, the Pioneers (5-4-2, 5-3-1 Cape Ann League) got a goal and two assists each from Mark Connolly, John Lee and Cam Higgins. Brian Relihan also had a goal, assisted by Mike Lang and Rocco Schelzi.In other action, Revere (8-1-3) moved within a point of clinching a tournament berth with a 5-3 win over Everett at Cronin Rink.GIRLS HOCKEYSt. Mary’s 8, Everett 1At Connery Rink, the Spartans (11-0-0) clinched a tournament berth as Erin McAndrews and Courtney Winters each had two goals and an assist. Courtney White had a goal and three assists.Michelle Macchione had a goal and an assist with Michelle Golden adding two assists. Sabrina Iannetti also had a goal.Marblehead 12, Peabody 0At Rockett Arena in Salem, the Headers (6-4-1) scored three times in the first before tacking on seven goals in the second and two more in the third.Allie Healey, Brittani Dunbar and Taylor Maag all had two goals to lead the Marblehead offense. Keelin Fallon had a goal and two assists while Meg McDonald, Lizzie Caplan and Katie Zarinsky all had two assists.Frannie Pelletier; Lauren Turner; Courtney Maag and Casey McDonald added one goal each.Beverly 5, Shaw. 1At Gloucester, the Panthers (6-3-1) got a goal and two assists from Corey Konaxis. Katelyn DeSimone added a goal and one assist. Rounding out the goal-scorers were Jenelle Parker, Brittany Russo and Courtney McTague. Alison Houde had two assists. Elizabeth Doherty and Corinne Woods had single helpers. Brianna Jackson stopped 27 of 28 shots.