Peabody boys hockey tops Swampscott

SALEM – They’ve been playing hockey together since the age of five and are becoming a very dangerous weapon for the Peabody hockey team.Derek Pereira, Matt Rodgers and Andrew Bucci – collectively known as “The Three Amigos” – were nearly unstoppable on Thursday at Salem State’s Rockett Arena. Rodgers recorded four goals and Bucci had two goals and two assists with Pereira adding a single assist as the Tanners won their eighth straight contest, 6-2 over NEC South leader Swampscott.”I guess we just click in this rink,” Rodgers said in reference to his hat trick the last time the team played in Salem against Marblehead. “As Elijah (Cohen) says, we play on the pond every day and it shows. We just love playing together.”As lopsided as the score might indicate the game was, it was the exact opposite. The Big Blue (9-3-3) outshot Peabody, 30-21, and controlled the play in many stretches.But several crucial mistakes resulted in Peabody chances and more often than not turned into goals.”We made four or five mistakes and they turned into four or five goals,” Swampscott coach Gino Faia said. “And that’s going to happen against a team that has as much talent as they do.”The Tanners (11-2-0) offense certainly was on full display Thursday, but it was the defense and goaltender Derek Savage who helped Peabody play perhaps its best game of the season.”It was an excellent effort against a good team,” Leonard said. “There really wasn’t much wrong out there. They played the body, stayed out of the box for the most part and gave a solid effort. And we needed it.”The first period was controlled mainly by the defenses, but the Tanners were able to take advantage of a Swampscott turnover to score the only goal in the opening 15 minutes.Rodgers got his extremely productive day started when he was able to roof a Cohen rebound over the shoulder of Tyler Gallagher for a 1-0 lead.But the Big Blue didn’t back down and came out flying at the start of the second, outshooting Peabody 7-1 in the first four minutes. And when Justin Massey picked up a Ben Wollerscheid rebound and scored from a nearly impossible angle, Swampscott found itself back in the game.Just 2:57 later, Bucci singlehandedly helped give Peabody back the lead. After forcing a Wollerscheid turnover at the Tanner line, Bucci chipped the puck off the boards to create a 2-on-1 with Rodgers.Bucci waited until the final second and slid a pass to his left for a Rodgers one-timer that made it 2-1 at 6:53.”The kid can just play,” Leonard said of Rodgers. “He had almost 40 points last year and when you look at him in warm ups you wonder how he can score. But he anticipates well and is just a hockey player.”Seventeen seconds after Rodgers struck, the Big Blue came right back as Colby Wollerscheid took an Anthony DiPietro pass and ripped a shot that went off Savage’s glove and trickled across the goal line to tie the game again.Once again, however, the Tanners had a response. This time it was Bucci forcing a turnover and feeding a pass to Pereira, who was stopped on the initial chance. But Rodgers followed up and completed his hat trick with 4:40 left to make it 3-2.Even more damaging for Swampscott would be the final two minutes seconds of the period, where the Tanners delivered a crippling salvo.Defenseman Tony Bogdanowicz hit Bucci behind the defense with a long pass, allowing the junior to deke Gallagher and score his 10th goal of the year with 1:38 left to make it 4-2.”I thought Tony was icing the puck but he hit Buch right on the tape,” Rodgers said.Swampscott had a chance to get back within one as time was winding down but a turnover in the final seconds allowed Cohen to get through the neutral zone and feed Rodgers for a shot that beat Gallagher as time expired.”That was a great play by Eli,” Leonard said. “He had the presence of mind to know that Matt was there.”The Big Blue clawed back to within a pair midway through the third when freshman Gino Cresta notched his 13th goal of the year, assist