Lynnfield hockey takes step back in loss to Masco

PEABODY – Just last Wednesday, Lynnfield was riding high.After going winless in their first 12 games (0-11-1) and scoring just eight goals in the process, the Pioneers erupted with five goals five days ago to take down Cape Ann League power Triton.After the victory, head coach Jon Gardner posed a question to his squad: Are you going to step up and ride the momentum to bigger and better things, or is this going to be your season’s highlight, turning the big win into a fluke, and regress?Unfortunately, Lynnfield chose the latter path Saturday against a Masconomet squad on a parallel road, taking a major step back in a 5-2 loss.”We outplayed Masco in the third game of the year during our can’t-score phase – which is our Achilles heel,” Gardner said of that third game (a 5-3 setback where the Pioneers held a 3-1 lead). “And (Saturday) we were good for the first eight minutes, not just for the score (a 1-0 lead on Andrew Crampe’s first of two goals) but because we carried the play. But as soon as Masco scored, we disappeared.”The 6-8-1 Chieftains, who also had a quality win Wednesday by edging CAL top dog Newburyport, took advantage of every gift Lynnfield provided them.Three goals were especially painful:-A 2-on-2 Masco break where the Pioneer defense didn’t man up left Trevor Surrette with a clean shot that he whistled past goalie Joe Bassi’s blocker with 11.8 seconds left in the first period to put the visitors on top to stay.-In the early stages of a 2-1 game in the third period, Bassi (27 saves) blocked a dump pass behind his net for the defense to pick up. Instead, the defenseman glided away, leaving the puck for Surrette to grab and whip into the net on a wraparound.-And midway through the third period, Tyler Costello treated the Pioneers like his own personal slalom ski course, weaving end to end through all five opponents before sizzling a perfect wrister into the top right corner of the net for a power-play marker and a 4-1 advantage. (“I’m scratching my head on that one,” Gardner said. “I have to see the tape.”)”Those were five charity goals, garbage,” Gardner continued. “Not to take anything away from Masco – that’s a good team that worked hard and cashed in when they had to – but you can’t forget the basics and we flat-out forgot the basics. We started staring at pucks, not finishing checks ? those were inexcusable mistakes on our guys’ parts.”The victory keeps the Chieftains’ playoff hopes alive.”We still need seven points to make the tourney in our last five games,” said head coach Andrew Jackson. “It’s within reach if we play the way we played Newburyport and Lynnfield. I think we’ll be right there.”