PEABODY — When it comes to Peabody rivalries, one of the best around is the annual Carlin Cup game between the Tanners and the Fenwick Crusaders.
The latest installment, the 32nd annual, was Monday afternoon at McVann-O’Keefe.The Crusaders came out on top for a second straight year, defeating the Tanners 7-1.
Ian Worthly had a hand in each of the Crusaders’ first four goals and finished with two goals and three assists. His efforts were rewarded with his team’s Coach Robert “Bo” Tierney Most Valuable Player plaque, presented for the first time this year.
Peabody’s Austin Higinbotham also received a plaque as the Tanners’ Tierney MVP.
“This Carlin Cup is just a great thing, it’s like a tournament game with great tournament atmosphere and great hockey every year,” said Fenwick coach Jim Quinlan. “The fans all come out, the Carlin family is here, the Tierney family too. It’s just great see the people come out and support it. “
Peabody’s Mark Leonard agreed.
“The Carlin Cup is a special game for everybody,” he said. “Both teams came out with a lot of energy and both teams played hard. It’s been a long year and for our kids to battle the way they did I was very proud of them. Even though we lost, they kept fighting till the end, which is good and was one of our better games this year.”
Both teams were flying up and down the ice from the get go. Fenwick took advantage of its speed in transition to score two goals in a three and a half minute span to lead 2-0 with 2:24 left in the period. Worthly scored the first at the 9:08 mark (from Nick Muzi and Ethan Belt), while Belt scored at the 12:46 mark (from Worthly and Tyler Layton).
The first goal of the second period may have been the turning point. After Peabody killed off a couple of penalties, the game got a bit out of control with multiple penalties. At one point, there were four Crusaders crowded into the penalty box. When all the dust settled, the Tanners had nearly three minutes left on a power play from a late first period Fenwick major penalty that spilled over into the second. But it was the Crusaders’ Tom Estella (from Worthly) who broke through with a shorthanded goal just 1:46 into the second period to make it a 3-0 game.
Less than a minute later, Peabody got that goal back on a strike from Andrew Phillips (from Caleb Dollin and Zach DeFreitas).
Trailing 3-1, Peabody then had a chance to make it a one-goal game with a five-on-three edge, but couldn’t convert.
“That shorthanded goal hurt a lot,” said Leonard. “We were watching the puck in the corner instead of realizing there could be a guy out front. And that five-on-three, we missed an open net,and that could have made it a different game and given ups a little more energy.”
With under eight minutes left in the period, the Crusaders put the game away with two goals in a two-minute stretch. Muzi (from Worthly) made it 4-1 at the 7:97 mark, then Derek DelVecchio added an unassisted goal at the 9:40 mark.
Fenwick capped the scoring with two more goals in the third, the first at 1:18 from Austin Foglietta, unassisted, and the final one from Worthly about a minute later (from Belt and Muzi).
“We had our chances early, we missed two empty nets, and even when it was 5-1 we were still playing hard, but that sixth goal took the wind out of our sails,” said Leonard. “It was kind of a rough game with all the penalties, so it was a little crazy, but that wasn’t the final factor. We’re just a little young, but it was one our better games.”
