Cohen eclipses career scoring mark at Peabody

PEABODY – For Peabody’s Elijah Cohen, his final Carlin Cup game against Bishop Fenwick already held special meaning. But with the performance the senior displayed Monday at McVann-O’Keefe Rink, the game took on a historical significance.Cohen came to the rink needing four points to tie Ed Sousa for No. 1 on the Peabody all-time scoring list. Cohen went one better, recording his third four-goal game of the season and adding an assist to reach the top as the Tanners defeated Fenwick, 8-4.Cohen now has 63 goals and 64 assists in his career, which saw him miss 17 games over his first two seasons due to injuries. And with the state tournament looming next week, Cohen wanted to get the inevitable over with.”I really wanted it done before the tournament,” Cohen said. “I was just trying to keep in position and get shots when I could ? The last two years have been fun.”After seeing teams turn all their attention towards Cohen, Peabody coach Mark Leonard was happy to see him reach the top of the list.”It hasn’t been an easy year for Eli,” Leonard said. “And I’m really glad for him. He’s been a great teammate and really was great (Monday).”The Tanners (17-3-0) needed nearly every one of Cohen’s points. The Crusaders (11-4-3) led 3-1 after the first period and tied the game, 4-4, early in the third.”I don’t think the score indicates how good of a game this was,” Fenwick coach Bo Tierney said. “I was very proud of the team for the effort. We just made some mistakes that you can’t make against a team like Peabody.”The Tanners came into Monday boasting the top three scorers in the Northeastern Conference. Despite his five-point game, Cohen couldn’t catch Andrew Bucci, whose goal and two assists gave him 46 points for the season. Cohen finished with 45; junior Matt Rodgers had a goal and an assist to finish with 44 points.”Right at the beginning of the year we came out good and then lost a couple of games (to Winthrop and Revere) where we weren’t getting bounces,” Cohen said. “But then we got on our streak (of 13 straight wins) and the bounces started going my way and Matt’s way and Bucci’s.”Cohen set up Chris Lavoie 19 seconds in for a 1-0 lead. Fenwick responded five minutes later as Adam Clay scored on a Mark Sparaco rebound to tie the game.Sparaco and Chris Renzulli helped give the Crusaders a 3-1 lead during a penalty kill late in the period. Renzulli scored on a Sparaco rebound at 12:23; the two reversed roles at 13:19 with Sparaco recording his 25th goal of the season.In the second, Cohen scored on a power play at 6:28, assisted by Bucci, to cut the lead to one. Less than a half-minute later, Lavoie was sprung by Connor Purcell on a breakaway that ended with his second goal of the game and a 3-3 tie.And before the period ended, Cohen dazzled the crowd. Taking an Eric Muise pass in the neutral zone, Cohen skated into the Fenwick end, went around two defensemen, and ripped a shot under the crossbar to make it 4-3 after two.The Crusaders’ Louis Williams tied the game 37 seconds into the third, assisted by Sparaco. But Cohen drew himself even with the historic mark at 3:26 when he redirected a Muise slapper from the left point past Craig Forrest to put Peabody ahead for good. Rodgers and Bucci then scored seven seconds apart late in the third to make it 7-4.With 23 seconds left, Cohen sent the rink into a frenzy when he took a Rob Houghton pass and scored upstairs once again to get the record.