Complete effort helps Marblehead clinch tourney spot

SALEM – Before its game with Danvers on Wednesday at Rockett Arena, the Marblehead hockey team was challenged by its coaching staff to play its best.Well, the Headers obviously took the pregame speech to heart as they controlled the play in all three zones and capitalized on their scoring chances to take a 3-0 win over the Falcons and clinch a spot in the Division 3 North tournament.Click here for a photo gallery.”In the eight years we’ve been here as coaches, that was the best forechecking and neutral zone play we’ve had,” Marblehead coach Bob Jackson said. “Coach (Gary) Conn and coach (Mark) Tarmey challenged each player to do one thing: Be better than they’ve been. And everyone stepped up.”No player might have stepped up more than junior goalie Tony Cuzner.Cuzner, who made his first career start against the same Falcons two years ago, stopped all 23 shots he faced Wednesday.”Even when he was out of position at times, (Tony) stayed so focused and his athletic ability showed up,” Jackson said. “He followed the puck as well as anything.”Marblehead (10-2-2) made its intentions very clear from the outset, hitting the Falcons whenever they had the chance and not letting Danvers sniper Kyle Larson shake loose.”Marblehead has been consistent all year,” Danvers coach Kevin Flynn said. “And these are games that are only going to help them in the tournament.”It didn’t take long for the ice to break as Chris McLeod made a slick pass in front to Ryan Dempsey off a turnover for a one-timer past Mike Allain and a 1-0 lead.Dempsey nearly made it 2-0 moments later but Allain came up with a huge stop on a breakaway. Cuzner also came up big on the same shift as he robbed Chris Kontos’ point-blank chance to keep it 1-0 after one.Marblehead kept the momentum going in the second as it scored another early goal. Defenseman Ben Koopman took an Austin Haley pass and snapped a shot from the left point past a screened Allain to make it 2-0.Cuzner then came to the forefront as Danvers swarmed and had several chances to get back in the game. But the junior stopped all 10 shots he faced, none bigger than his point-blank stop on D.J. Yost late in the period.The Headers then showed that playing all 15 minutes in a period can pay off as defenseman Jake Kulevich snuck in and backhanded home a Hunter Graves pass at the buzzer to make it 3-0 after two.”That was the first thing we said when we came in the room after the second,” Jackson said. “When you play 15 minutes, good things can happen.”The third belonged to the Marblehead defense as it shackled the Falcons and helped protect Cuzner’s shutout and its tourney-clinching win.