Salem rallies, ties Swampscott

SALEM – Persistence paid dividends for Salem Saturday afternoon as the Witches rallied from 3-0 and 4-2 deficits to forge a 4-4 tie with Swampscott at Rockett Arena.Cam Toomey?s shot from the mid-slot leaked through the pads of Swampscott goalie Trent Gallagher (19 saves) to tie it with 3:21 to play and capped a dominant third period during which Salem outshot Swampscott, 11-3.Senior captain Matt Jalbert?s second goal, a doorstep rebound deposit into a wide-open net, brought Salem to within 4-3 at 1:48 of the final period.Most remarkable was the play of senior goalie Mike Rosengren, a converted defenseman in his first year with the team. He stopped 12 shots in his final appearance in place of Brett Harring, who returns to the team Monday.?He held us in, kept us in the game. For a defenseman who?s never played in the net, he?s been great. Just an awesome kid,” said exuberant Salem coach Ted Hanley.?Since we started this last year, we have preached that we have to be in great shape. They?ve all bought in and have the attitude ?whatever you need, Coach.? The first two games this season they?ve worked really hard and gotten no results. This point is huge for them,” he said.It was a disappointing result for Swampscott. The Big Blue raced to a 3-0 lead in the game?s first 10 minutes but, despite a hat trick from freshman forward Ryan Donnelly, couldn?t close the deal.?We?re young, we?re inexperienced and we have to learn to play with a lead. We got comfortable, we got away from doing the things that got us the lead and we got sloppy,” said Swampscott coach Gino Faia.Donnelly made it 1-0 at 4:04 of the first period, collecting Griffin Hunt?s two-zone pass at the offensive blue line before ripping a shot from the left circle that broke through Rosengren.Donnelly?s second, a point-blank shorthanded conversion of Mike Johnson?s pass from behind the net, doubled Swampscott?s lead at 7:05.Junior Steve Dandreo?s wraparound tuck at the right post seemed to put the Big Blue in complete control at 9:55 of the first.Salem had other ideas. Jalbert?s mid-range slap shot beat Gallagher high to the glove side with 3:40 left in the period. Then, with 53 seconds remaining, Dan Zwienkan won a puck battle on the wall, walked in from the left circle, and beat Gallagher high to the far side, making it 3-2 after one.Donnelly completed his hat trick at 8:02 of the second period, stealing the puck at his own blue line and outracing the pursuit before snapping a shot past Rosengren high to the stick side.The freshman will likely assume a more prominent role moving forward as Faia revealed that talented sophomore Noah Maercklein has likely been lost for the season after breaking his right thumb last week against Revere.?Ryan?s going to be a player and he?s already playing a key role for us – he can skate, he can shoot it and he can play defense,” Faia said.Swampscott (0-1-1) meets Rockport in a non-league game tonight (Salem State, 7:10) while Salem (0-2-1) is off until Thursday when it meets Ashland in the semifinal round of the East Boston Deep Freeze Tournament (Porrazzo Rink, 8).