Hockey: Peabody survives second-period meltdown to tie Saugus

After allowing Saugus two goals in the final 36 seconds of the second period, Peabody (1-4-2) rebounded on Chris Minter’s screened slap shot from the point with 1:14 left in the game for a 4-4 deadlock.During a late power play, Minter took a pass from Mike Vadala, who collected a rebound in a crowd in front of the net to set up the tying score.”We had a couple of breakdowns in the second period, but we showed a lot of character in the third, a lot of heart,” said Tanner coach Mark Leonard.Before that, the Sachems (1-5-1) were riding high behind Anthony Cieri, who scored two minutes into the game and dished off to Chris Sanderson with 14 seconds left in the second for a 4-2 advantage.”We took some bad penalties and got away from our system,” said Saugus head coach Jeff Natalucci. “Peabody capitalized on their opportunities.”Sophomore Cam Smullen drew kudos from Leonard along with Erik Hennessey for strong defense.BC High 2, St. John’s 0At Boston, the Eagles might have been suffering from an emotional letdown after Saturday’s victory against Malden Catholic.”We didn’t play especially well,” said Prep head coach Kristian Hanson. “Overall, we were trying but we were out of sync. We generated our best opportunities in the third period after we shook up our lines but BC High has the best goalie in the state.”Tyler Bird provide some good scoring chances for the Prep (5-2, 1-1 Catholic Conference) but couldn’t bust through as two second-period goals kept BC High unbeaten (6-0-2, 1-0-2).Beverly 5, Gloucester 1At Gloucester, a pair of goals from Graham Doherty triggered a five-goal first-period explosion before Beverly head coach Bob Gilligan “called off the dogs.”The Panthers remain unbeaten at 8-0, 5-0 in the NEC, while the Fishermen fall to 1-5-1 and 1-3-1 in league play.Winthrop 1, Danvers 1At Salem, goalie Ray Feeley (16 saves) saved Winthrop’s bacon by stoning a Danvers shorthanded breakaway attempt, then was rewarded when Pierce Lamberton scored on the same penalty to tie the game.Lamberton was lauded by coach Dale Dunbar for “playing hard and competing,” noting that Winthrop is “fighting the flu bug like everybody else so we weren’t at our best.”Danvers is now 5-2-2 overall and 3-1-1 in NEC play while Winthrop moves to 2-1-4 and 1-1-3.Swampscott 4, Rockport 1At Gloucester, for the first time this season the Big Blue were outshot in a game. Luckily, netminder Tristian Bradley was up for the task.”He came up big in the net for us,” said head coach Gino Faia of Bradley, who stopped 25 Viking shots. “He really made some key saves in all three periods.”Noah Maercklein stoked the offense for Swampscott (7-1), scoring its first and last goals. Connor Douglas had the lone tally for Rockport (2-5).Marblehead 9, Salem 0At Salem, Brett Harring did his usual excellent, acrobatic job in the Witches net, but six Marblehead power plays and 62 enemy shots were just too much to endure.The line of Dean Fader (two goals), Ian Maag (two goals) and Tom Koopman (goal) accounted for nine points in the victory while Trip Franzese added a goal and three helpers. In his first varsity contest, Trevor Gelineau played well and registered an assist.Marblehead is now 5-2 overall and 3-0 in NEC action. Salem drops to 1-5-2 and 0-3-1 in league play.GIRLS HOCKEYIn girls action yesterday, St. Mary’s toppled Notre Dame of Hingham, 6-4, Beverly/Danvers edged Cambridge/Somerville, 3-1 and Shawsheen blew out Peabody/Lynnfield, 8-1.