Hockey: Swampscott gets back on winning track

Having lost three straight, Swampscott needed a pick-me-up on Monday. And though it took a little longer than coach Gino Faia might have anticipated and liked, the Big Blue scored five unanswered goals to take an 8-3 win over St. Clement at Porazzo Rink.”We needed a win,” Faia said. “Our first line was outstanding and the guys responded after getting sloppy and finished the way we should.”That first line of Matt Videtta, Gino Cresta and Trevor Massey combined for six goals and six assists. Videtta finished with four goals while Cresta dished out a career-high five assists.”That first line was outstanding,” Faia said.Swampscott (6-4-1) led 2-0 five minutes in before the Anchormen rallied to tie. Videtta’s second of the opening period made it 3-2 after one. St. Clement tied it again early in the second before Nunzio Morretti broke the tie for good.Videtta and Massey added goals late in the second for a 6-3 lead. Robert Serino and Videtta capped the scoring in the third.St. John’s 5, Cath. Memorial 1At Walter Brown Arena in Boston, Prep senior Sam Kurker showed why he is projected as a second-round pick by the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau. Kurker had a hat trick and assisted on Brian Pinho’s first-period goal in the win.”We needed this win,” Prep coach Kristian Hanson said. “We were 0-3 in league play and every game there is so competitive.”The Prep (5-4, 1-3 Catholic Conference) led 1-0 after one on Pinho’s goal. Kurker made it 2-0 early in the second before CM got a power play goal, cutting it to 2-1 after two.Kurker, though, delivered a knockout punch with an unassisted goal at 21 seconds of the third. Nick Gianelli’s shorthanded goal two minutes later was followed by Kurker’s hat trick goal at 8:23 on the power play.David LeTarte made 30 saves in net to record the win.Peabody 2, Lincoln-Sudbury 1At McVann-O’Keefe Rink in Peabody, the youthful Tanners (5-4-0) made it three consecutive wins as they upended a Warrior team that was 6-1-1 coming in.”This was the best game we’ve played all year,” Peabody coach Mark Leonard said. “We showed some resilience and character and it gives us a lot of confidence.”Peabody netted a goal in each of the first two periods. Tommy Burns gave his team a 1-0 lead midway through the first, assisted by Pat Ruotolo, with Tyler Gillespie’s second period goal at 13:31 holding up as the game-winner.The Warriors cut the lead to 2-1 with 3:21 left and had a power play to end the game but goalie Joe Powers made two point blank saves on Jordan Dow to steal the two points.GIRLS HOCKEYSt. Mary’s 2, Arlington 1At Connery Rink, the Spartans (7-2) took a 1-0 lead 10:10 into the game on a goal by Tatiana Doucette. After coming up empty-handed on a couple of quality opportunities later in the first period and in the second, St. Mary’s finally got an insurance tally early in the third period by Kaleigh Finigan. Alison Butler had the assist. Arlington’s Kaitlyn Morse scored with just under six minutes left in the game on a power play.The Spartans had a solid outing in net from Lauren Skinnon, who stoned the Spy Ponders a couple of times in the third period to preserve the win.”Overall we played pretty well, but we didn’t finish off our opportunities,” St. Mary’s coach Frank Pagliuca said.Shrewsbury 7, Marblehead 6At Buffone Rink in Worcester, the Magicians (5-4-1) scored four goals in the third period, but that wasn’t enough to come back against Shrewsbury.Marblehead was held scoreless in the first period, but had goals by Ally Healy and Eliza Quigley in the second period to cut the deficit to 5-2. Rachel McKay, Casey McDonald, Quigley and Emmarose Winder found the net in the third.Sabrina Doughman and Aly Hopkins split the game in net for Marblehead.