Marblehead boys hockey wins D3 state title

BOSTON – Put together a team with plenty of motivation; 10 seniors who were determined to see their careers end in style; and a town rich in hockey tradition like Marblehead ? and what happened on Sunday at TD Garden was long overdue.Completely dominating Westfield from the drop of the puck, the Headers used four second-period goals to overcome a 2-1 deficit as they claimed the first state title in program history with a 6-3 Division 3 win over the Bombers.Click here for a photo gallery.It was a fitting cap to a season that saw Marblehead (20-4-3) play with the expectations of a state title on its shoulders from day one ? and it came in comeback fashion to boot.”This is a great group,” senior defenseman Jake Kulevich, who scored twice, said. “We’d been close twice before and we knew we could do it this time.”In the end, it was more of a coronation than a game as the Headers outshot Westfield 42-17 and used a three-goal burst in two minutes during the second to take the lead for good.”Coach (Tom) Colby said it in the locker room after the game that he’d pretty much seen every Marblehead game for the last 50 years and that this was the program’s finest hour,” Marblehead coach Bob Jackson said. “This was just a fantastic group to coach and be a part of. They’ve cemented their place as a team forever.”Things didn’t start quite so well for Marblehead on Sunday though as the Bombers took an early 1-0 lead on Nick Sibilia’s goal following an egregious giveaway by the Headers.True to form, Marblehead cranked things up and had the game tied just 2:25 later when Austin Haley deposited home Tyler Gelineau’s rebound at 7:37. A defensive breakdown late in the first, though, gave the Bombers back the lead when Connor Laraway scored at 14:00.”We never seem to make it easy on ourselves,” joked Jackson. “We made a mistake there at the end of the period and they took advantage of it.”The Headers bounced back immediately at the start of the second as they went on the power play and converted at the 2:18 mark when Chris McLeod (goal, three assists) fired home Ryan Dempsey’s drop pass to tie the game.That goal would set Marblehead off on an offensive blitz.Just over a minute later, defenseman Ben Koopman snapped home a shot off a face-off win from McLeod to give Marblehead its first lead. Fifty seconds later, again on the power play, Kulevich crashed the net and chipped home a McLeod rebound for a 4-2 Header lead.”We talked before the second period and said to just keep doing what we were (doing),” Jackson said. “And we came out and scored quick, which was huge.”The onslaught continued with 5:51 left in the second as Kulevich’s shot from the left point hit off a Westfield stick and got past Nick Liberto for a 5-2 gulf.Westfield made things a little more hairy for the Headers with 1:09 left in the middle period as Matt Gagnon found a loose puck and ripped a shot past Tony Cuzner to make it 5-3 after two.”Unfortunately we’ve had a little experience with that in the tournament and we talked going into the third to come out and take care of business,” Jackson said.Marblehead heeded that just 58 seconds into the final period of the season when Hunter Whitmore fed Hunter Graves for the senior’s 11th goal of the season and a 6-3 lead.All that was left was the coronation and celebration for the Headers.”It’s a thrill,” Jackson said. “Marblehead has a rich hockey tradition and this is a complement to that tradition ? but give Westfield credit. That’s a good team over there and they’re going to be here for the next couple of years.”