Maag boosts Headers past Rockport

STONEHAM – Ian Maag delivered in a big way Saturday night. With his team trailing by a goal after one period, Marblehead’s senior captain delivered a passionate locker room speech between periods. Then he backed up his words with a hat trick that lifted the Headers past Rockport, 4-2, in a Div. 3 North quarterfinal at Stoneham Arena.NEC South champion Marblehead (18-5-0) next takes on league archrival Swampscott (16-5-0) in the semifinal round Wednesday night at the Chelmsford Forum (5:10 p.m.). No. 10 Rockport, the Commonwealth Conference champion, capped a 9-9-2 campaign.After Josh Guertin staked Rockport to a 1-0 lead at 4:49 of the first period, Maag said he flashed back to last year’s season-ending 2-0 quarterfinal loss to these same Vikings and did not want another early postseason exit to be the lasting image of the No. 2 Headers’ season.”As a senior, I didn’t want this season to end like that. As a captain, I think you have to do that, show leadership in the room and then take it to the next level on the ice,” said Maag, who now has 14 goals.”In between the first and second periods, Ian really talked from his heart and then he backed it up with probably one of his best periods of the year,” said Marblehead coach Bob Jackson.After Guertin’s rebound deposit past Marblehead goalie Myles Barry (11 saves), the energized Vikings effectively clogged the middle for most of the remainder of the first period. However, the Headers began to find their legs and seams late in the period, forcing Rockport goalie Colby Foster to make seven of his total 37 saves in the final two minutes.That momentum, galvanized by Maag’s speech, spilled into a second period in which the Headers outshot the Vikings, 17-1.”We wanted to set the tone and jump out ahead and take their fans out of the game. We did that in the first period but we didn’t come hard in the second and they just kept coming,” said Rockport coach Derek Papalegis.Maag tied it at 1:37 of the period with a great dangle-and-deke around a Rockport defender out of the right corner before slipping an on-ice shot past Foster’s short side. Then, anchored mid-slot as the third man high, Maag intercepted an attempted clear and zipped a wrist shot past Foster’s stick side for the go-ahead goal with 8:32 left in the period.Marblehead stretched the lead to 3-1 with 7:07 to play when Tom Koopman cashed in a 2-on-1 break-in with Ty Bates for the game-winner. Rockport pulled to within 3-2 with 5:28 to play when Tucker Reedy burst around a Headers defenseman and snapped a wrist shot past Barry, but Maag sealed it with an empty-netter with 37.6 seconds to play.”A win’s a win. I thought that Rockport played hard and their coach had them well-prepared. They gave it their all. It was a good battle for us and I thought they out-battled us in the first period,” said Jackson, knowing the Headers will have to play a much cleaner game in order to beat Swampscott for a third time this season. “We have to match their intensity and we have to work as hard as they do.”