School Roundup: Peabody hockey ends its tournament drought

Reed Foster made certain on Friday evening that the Peabody boys? hockey team?s three-year hiatus from the MIAA Division 2 North state tournament would not continue.
The senior center netted his second goal of the game, late in the third period of a 3-2 victory over North Andover at Merrimack College, assuring the Tanners of a spot in the postseason.
?(Foster) had a huge game tonight,” said Peabody coach Mark Leonard of the the team?s captain who opened the scoring midway through the first period, with helpers from seniors Cam Smullen and J.T. Eason. Junior Aaron Dollin assisted on the game winner.
?We didn?t make it easy on ourselves, handing away a pair of leads, but it?s a great feeling to be heading back to the tournament,” Leonard said. “These kids worked extremely hard to get to this point.”
Scarlet Knights? forward Nick Querci answered Foster?s first tally of the game with just two seconds remaining in the first frame.
?That goal could have been a real swing of momentum but Aaron McDonnell came up big for us in net with a tremendous effort,” said Leonard of his sophomore goaltender who finished with 23 saves.
Pat McCarthy, from Bobby Caproni, restored Peabody?s lead early in the second period before North Andover?s Patrick Sweeney found the equalizer 4:22 into the finale.
Peabody (9-7-2) started off the season just 1-5-1 before finding another gear which Leonard had a most simple explanation for.
?We started putting the puck in the net,” he said. “We were outshooting every team we played but only scored 12 goals in those first seven games…From there on out we?ve been able to score lots of ugly goals by going hard to the net. That kind of hard work and dedication has paid off in a big way.”
North Reading 8, Saugus 3
Nik Straticos tallied three assists for the Sachems who got goals from Chris Sanderson, Victor DeMatteo and Brendan Ronan in a loss to the visiting Hornets. Nick Moore and Jimmy Alcott added helpers for Saugus (4-13-1).
GIRLS? HOCKEY
Beverly 7, Peabody 3
The Panthers clinched the Northeastern Hockey League title behind four-point performances from Izzy Primack (two goals, two assists) and Jessica Barthelmess (goal, three assists). Caitlin McBride added a goal and two assists.
Beverly (11-4-1, 8-1-1) got goals from Kristen McCarthy, Anna O?Neill and Izzy Straw as well as two assists each McKinley Karpa and Marlee Hamor.
For the Tanners, Elise Murphy scored twice in the opening 15 minutes before Cassie Mirasolo beat Madison Jalbert (15 saves) in the final frame.
Both teams? seniors were recognized prior to the start of the game.
TRACK
Division 3 Championships
The Gloucester boys? track team finished fourth among the field of 26 teams at the Reggie Lewis Center, led by a pair of first-place finishes from seniors Jared Marshall in the 55-meter hurdles in 7.62 seconds and Willy Pierce in the the two mile (9:56.35).
Seniors Everest Crawford (2:34.54) and Noah Hillier (47-2 1/2) added a pair of third-place finishes in the 1,000-meter dash and shotput, respectively.
Eighth-place finishes from senior Dan Carpenter in the 600 meters (1:25.68) and junior Jebediah Hogan in the 300 meters (37.59), along with a ninth-place finish from senior Matt Ciaramitaro helped the Fishermen accumulate 40 points.In girls? action, Gloucester (five points) placed 23rd, helped by a pair of seventh-place finishes from sophomore Sierra Rudolph in the high jump, at 5 feet even, and freshman Christina Jones in the two mile (11:56.22).