Slow start, big finish for Marblehead against Swampscott

The Marblehead High boys hockey team seemed in need of a wake-up call Saturday afternoon and a pair of late first-period power play goals by Swampscott did the trick.Trailing 2-0 after a period, Marblehead responded with four unanswered second-period goals in a span of 4:15 and went on to an 8-3 win at Salem State. Senior captains Ryan Dempsey and Chris McLeod both had two goals and two assists while junior Austin Haley added a pair of goals and a helper. Outshot 15-6 in the first period, Marblehead dominated the final two periods and finished with a 43-26 advantage in shots.”Swampscott came out very hard and played an excellent first period. We did not seem to have the proper focus,” said Marblehead coach Bob Jackson. “We started to wake up in the second. All three lines started to move their feet and create some better scoring opportunities.”Matt Videtta and Nunzio Morretti staked the Big Blue to that early 2-0 lead with power play strikes at 12:14 and 13:03 of the period. Jackson credited goalie Tony Cuzner, who had 13 saves in the first period alone, with keeping the Magicians from falling further behind. “Tony played a great first period,” Jackson noted.Haley started Marblehead on the comeback trail with an unassisted strike at 5:16 of the second period. Goals by Ian Maag (at 6:53), McLeod (at 7:25) and Dempsey (at 9:31) followed in short order.Swampscott pulled to within 4-3 on Gino Cresta’s breakaway tally with 1:29 left in the period but Marblehead ended any hopes of a Big Blue rally when McLeod and Hunter Graves scored 34 seconds apart in the first minute of the third period to make it 6-3. Dempsey (on the power play) and Haley completed the scoring with goals 38 seconds apart midway through the third.”We came out the start of the third period with a bit of urgency to get control back. Our first two lines scored on their first shifts,” said Jackson.Marblehead (4-1-1; 2-1-0) takes on first-place Revere (3-2-0; 3-0-0) tonight in a key NEC South tussle at Cronin Rink (6:30 p.m.). The Patriots knocked off Salem at Salem State Saturday, 6-3. Meanwhile, Swampscott (2-4-0; 0-4-0) is off until Saturday’s date with Beverly at Salem State (5 p.m.).