Two third-period goals help Marblehead boys hockey defeat Swampscott

SALEM – It is intense enough whenever Marblehead and Swampscott get together in any athletic event. Throw in the fact that it was senior day at Rockett Arena for both teams and that the Big Blue were playing effectively for their tournament lives and the rivalry went up about 10 notches.The Big Blue played like a team that had its season on the line, standing toe-to-toe with the Northeastern Conference/South champions for all 45 minutes thanks to a brilliant goaltending effort from Tyler Gallagher.Gallagher stopped 35 shots on Saturday, but Chris McLeod took advantage of a defensive breakdown early in the third to put Marblehead in front and Austin Haley added an empty net goal with 10.6 seconds left to ensure a 2-0 Headers victory that bounced their rivals from tournament contention.”That was just such a great game,” Marblehead coach Bob Jackson said. “Tyler made some great saves for them and full credit to coach (Gino) Faia and his staff for getting that team ready after a tough game on Friday. They gave us all we could handle.”Despite being outshot 37-9, the Big Blue were more than in the game most of the way thanks to Gallagher’s absolutely amazing play between the pipes.”Tyler did just what we expected him to, he gave us a chance to win and we can’t fault him for that,” Faia said. “He was just unbelievable in net ? Unfortunately, we just couldn’t finish a couple of chances we had or it might have been a different game.”For a rivalry game and all that was on the line Saturday, it was a remarkably clean game as the teams were called for only a single penalty (Swampscott’s Tom Ball for interference early in the second period) and gave the packed house plenty of thrills.Marblehead (16-2-3) had an 11-1 shots on goal advantage in the first period, including a five-shot flurry right off the opening faceoff, but Gallagher stepped to the forefront and kept the game scoreless.Early in the second, Ball was called for his penalty and Marblehead looked to push in front. But Gallagher again came up huge, robbing McLeod and Ryan Dempsey on quality chances from in close.Late in the second, the Headers had an even better chance when Haley got a breakaway. But Gallagher somehow came up with a lunging glove save to keep the game scoreless. On the next shift, Swampscott’s Gino Cresta had a breakaway chance of his own but Tony Cuzner came up with his biggest stop of the game to keep it scoreless after two.”Nine out of 10 times, Gino probably puts that in,” Faia said. “I don’t think he quite got the shot where he wanted it.”Despite having 23 shots through two periods and no goals, the mood in the Marblehead locker room was still upbeat, thanks to a message delivered by the coaching staff in the intermission.”Coach (Gary) Conn and coach (Tom) Colby said that we just had to work a little harder and stay positive because one was going to come,” Jackson said.The advice preached by the Marblehead coaches paid off immediately in the third as Alex Whitmore got to a loose puck and fed McLeod at the left post for a tap-in and a 1-0 lead.”That first goal was huge. It really gave us a lift on the bench,” Jackson said.The rest was up to the Marblehead defense and Cuzner as the Headers never let the Big Blue get anything going in the final 15 minutes. With Gallagher off for an extra skater in the final moments, Haley stole the puck and backhanded it into the vacated net to seal the win.