Marblehead rolls to Newburyport Bank Classic title

NEWBURYPORT – A single shift midway through the first period changed the tenor of play and set Marblehead off on a 7-0 blitz of Haverhill in the Gulazian Division championship game of the 18th annual Newburyport Bank Classic at Graf Rink Wednesday night.Bidding to end a long season on a positive note, the Hillies (4-14-2) controlled the first several minutes before a dazzling mid-period shift by the Magicians’ Matt Koopman, Trevor Jones and Aaron DeAngelo turned momentum irrevocably in Marblehead’s favor.Shortly thereafter, seniors Ian Maag and Trip Franzese struck for goals nine seconds apart for a 2-0 lead. Marblehead exited the period with that margin and it would have been worse if not for the play of Hillies keeper Zach Grundy, who had 16 of his 30 saves in the first 15 minutes.”That’s exactly what we said on the bench,” Marblehad coach Bob Jackson said of the game-changing shift. “They (Haverhill) came out flying but then we got that shift and the first goal really took the wind out of their sails.”From that point, Marblehead’s experience, physicality and offensive balance were apparent. Maag and Franzese had two goals each with Erik Powers, Tom Koopman and Owen Picariello adding one each. Nine players had at least one point in support of junior goalie Myles Barry (16 saves), who shared Gulazian Division co-MVP honors with fellow junior keeper Harrison Young.”We’ve really worked hard on our defensive zone play, battened down the hatches. Both goalies have done very well and because we alternate them probably cost one of them being a (league) all-star,” said Jackson. “We’ve really tried to keep our lines balanced and have twenty-goal scorers on two lines (Franzese, 24; Tom Koopman, 21) and a 20-point scorer (Matt Koopman, 28) on another.”Any thoughts Haverhill had of a comeback evaporated early in the second period. First Maag snapped a low wrist shot past Grundy at 2:32, then Franzese stretched the count to 4-0 with a quick finish in the low slot at 5:45. Powers re-directed defenseman Trevor Gelineau’s low shot from the left point past Grundy’s stick side with 5:55 left in the period for a 5-0 lead after two.Tom Koopman’s left post tap-in of a double deflection made it 6-0 21 seconds into the third period. Picariello finished the scoring with 6:43 left when his shot caromed off a Hillies defenseman for a power play tally.Marblehead, now 17-4-0, will begin Division 3 North Sectional play as no worse than the second seed and could claim the top spot depending on the outcome of Lowell’s final game against Newton South tomorrow night. Meanwhile, the Magicians take on Beverly in a clash of Northeastern Conference divisional champions at Rockett Arena (7 p.m.).”The place should be jumping. You hope nobody gets hurt but we couldn’t ask for a better test before the tournament,” Jackson said.