Lynn Jets rally in third to knock off Marblehead

LYNN – The calendar might say it’s a couple days before Christmas, but the Lynn Jets and coach Joe Conlon got one of those early presents that you can only dream of on Wednesday at Connery Rink.The Jets (2-1) got a spectacular 41-save performance from Nick Comeau in net and Jordan Morelli’s power play goal with 2:15 left was the winner as Lynn stunned defending Division 3 North champion Marblehead, 5-3.”It’s a huge win,” Conlon said. “We have a ton of respect for Marblehead and they’re the team to beat still in the NEC. We found a way (Wednesday) to get it done and it’s truly a team win from the goal out.”John Finnegan was the leader for the Jets offense on Wednesday as he turned in a hat trick against a Marblehead team that had been scored on only once in six periods this season.”Lynn did a great job. They were tougher than us and beat us to loose pucks,” Marblehead coach Bob Jackson said. “That’s a compliment to Joe and their preparation.”Comeau was on his game from the outset as he kept the game scoreless until the final seconds of the first period when Kyle Martin set up Finnegan, who beat Tony Cuzner, to send the Jets to the dressing room with a 1-0 lead and a huge momentum boost according to Conlon.”One thing that came from that first goal was a lot of belief that we could get this done (Wednesday),” Conlon said.The Headers (2-1-0) fought back early in the second as Hunter Whitmore polished off an Ian Maag assist to tie the game at 1-1. Lynn’s response was swift as Martin put the Jets back in front at 6:57, assisted by Joe Lannon and Tony Uva.It stayed 2-1 Jets through the rest of the second but the Headers began a roller-coaster ride of a third as Chris McLeod tied things, assisted by Ryan Dempsey.Things stayed tied for a grand total of 58 seconds as Finnegan scored for the second time on the night, this one being an unassisted marker, to make it 3-2 Jets. Marblehead pulled even for a third time at the midpoint of the third when Dempsey tallied, assisted by Maag and Whitmore.”When it got to 3-3, I really thought we were going to pull it out,” Jackson said. “But that’s more of a compliment to Lynn. They kept working the whole game.”That work ethic got the Jets a power play late and Morelli converted when he finished off a Kyle Devin rebound at 12:45. Finnegan completed his hat trick with 25 seconds left on an empty-netter and Lynn had its stunner.”Nick deserves a ton of credit for this win,” Conlon said. “It was a barrage at times and we knew it would be. He was focused, intense and played great.”