PHOTO BY BOB ROCHE
Peabody goalie Aaron McDonnell clears the puck off his stick as Swampscott’s Louis Oliveri, left, and Mike Johnson attack his net. Donnie Shaw, right, helps his goalie.
By SCOT COOPER
PEABODY – Tanners’ senior co-captain Owen Brewster opened the scoring Saturday afternoon, and potted the eventual game-winner in the second period, as the Peabody boys’ hockey team continued their dominance over the Big Blue with a 3-1 win at McVann-O’Keefe Rink on Saturday afternoon.
Swampscott is still looking for their first win over Peabody since the Tanners moved over from the Greater Boston League to the Northeastern Conference in 2007.
“We played really well against a good team today, it was tight at 2-1 going into the third period, and then we were able to get a big goal from Connor (McCarron) in the third for some breathing room,” Brewster said. “We played really well in our tie with Marblehead and that continued today, and we’re only going to get better as this season goes along. We have some great players on this team.”
McCarron, a freshman, scored his first varsity goal for Peabody. Tanners’ center Nolan Shaw had a pair of assists.
The Big Blue got a goal from winger Steve Santanello, assisted by Mike Johnson and Dante Ceccarelli, that tied the game, 1-1, in the first period.
They key to the Peabody win was time of puck possession, as they killed Swampscott power plays and outshot the Big Blue by a 42-17 margin, including a 16-1 differential in a dominant second period. Swampscott goalie Danny Johnson stopped 15 of 16 in period two and kept his team in the game for as long as he could.
“I like to be busy, get 20-30 shots a game. The guys tried really hard, we just need to keep working, keep cycling down low and we’ll get some goals,” Johnson said. “We’re working really hard, we just need to keep at it.”
With the win, Peabody improves to 4-2-1, and Swampscott drops to 5-4. Tanner coach Mark Leonard said it’s always good to play well and get a solid win over a good hockey team.
“That second goal in the second period was, big, they were hanging on, and their goalie was playing great,” Leonard said. “(Swampscott coach) Gino (Faia) always has that team ready to play, every year. We’ve had some luck against them, but it’s never easy against Swampscott.”
“They (Swampscott) worked very hard, I don’t think this was our best game of the season, but we worked hard too, and we were able to pull it out,” Leonard said. “They kept coming until the final buzzer. They’re tough.”
Faia said his team played very hard, and they ran into a team that played just as hard.
“I told the guys that Peabody’s a real good team, they’re tough,” Faia said. “I was happy the way we battled, we didn’t quit, we’ll try to get back on track against Rockport on Wednesday.”
