Saugus icemen clipped in Newburyport

NEWBURYPORT – The Newburyport hockey team began this season at 1-4-1 and looked to be in a world of trouble. But as the calendar says its about to become March, coach Paul Yameen’s team has all the makings of a tough out in the Division 2 North tournament.Facing off against Saugus in the Bresnahan Division finals of the Newburyport Bank Ice Hockey Classic, the Clippers sent a message to the rest of the teams in the Division 2 North draw as they scored three times in the third period to grab a 4-1 win over the Sachems.”Saugus is a good team, one of the top in the Northeastern Conference,” Yameen said. “We played really well (Friday). This was a great preparation for what is ahead in the tournament.”Just down the hall from the Clipper locker room was a Sachem team that was left to ponder another third period that saw them let points slip away and with it fall into a likely matchup with red hot Beverly when the sectional kicks off next week.”We just didn’t play well in the third period,” Saugus coach Jeff Natalucci said. “That’s been our Achilles heel all year. You have to play for 45 minutes against teams like Newburyport. And we didn’t compete for 45 minutes (Friday).”It wasn’t that the Sachems played badly on Friday, in fact, they outshot Newburyport and had the better chances for two periods. Saugus simply ran into a goaltender in Alex Buckley that came up with every big save that the Clippers needed.”Alex had a really good game for us,” Yameen said. “Actually from the goal all the way out, I was happy with how we played.”The Sachems (11-6-3) came out quick in the first and took a 1-0 lead at 5:54 when Kurt Rodrigues finished off a nifty pass from Drew Oxley. The lead lasted all of two minutes as the Clippers top line returned the favor with Kris Holmes firing home Cam Roy’s centering pass to tie the game at 7:59.It was still 1-1 at the start of the second period when Buckley helped to shift the tide of the game thanks to a pair of spectacular saves on a Saugus power play to begin the middle frame.Neither team would score a goal in the second but the Clippers had begun to take control in all three zones.”We started off really well in the first period but they started to take over the game in the second half of the second period,” Natalucci said.Newburyport (11-5-4) nearly took the lead early in the third but Nick Hegarty made a stellar glove save on Roy’s bid from point blank range. On the next shift, the Clippers would take the lead for good.Saugus failed to get the puck out of its end and Payson Cahill made them pay with a quick shot from the slot for a 2-1 lead with 10:19 left in regulation. Less than two minutes later it was 3-1 Clippers when freshman Ben Ventura potted a Roy rebound.Saugus had a chance to get the lead back to one with 4:00 left but Guy Capillo’s shot hit the left post, then Buckley before the goalie fell on the loose biscuit in the crease.Nick Mombello’s empty net goal with 4.1 seconds left closed the scoring.Peabody 3, Marblehead 2In the Doyle Division championship, the Tanners got a goal and an assist from Matt McIsaac and two assists from Nick Salalayko to finish their season on an up note.”It was a great game,” said Peabody coach Mike Leonard. “Both goals played very well.”Peabody’s Joe Powers had 26 saves while the Magicians’ Mike Harper stopped 25 shots.Peabody took a 3-1 lead late into the game on the strength of goals by Mike Vadala, Eric Costa and McIsaac. But a goal at 12:36 by Marblehead’s Aaron D’Angelo made the Tanners sweat a little bit. Ian Maag scored the other goal for Marblehead.