WOBURN — The Marblehead Headers took the ice Thursday afternoon against the Woburn Tanners at O’Brien Rink. Despite falling behind twice, the Headers were resilient and fought their way back to win in overtime 4-3. Captains Christopher Locke and Hogan Sedky, as well as London McDonald and James Caeran all scored for Marblehead.
“I think it would have been easy to quit. It would have been a moral victory if we kept it close. That ability to overcome [adversity] is good to see,” Marblehead head coach Mark Marfione said.
In the first two periods, the Tanners dominated in the Headers’ zone. The early possession led to a Woburn goal, and though he conceded one early, Marblehead goalie Griffin Winter recorded several big saves throughout the remainder of the game.
“Griffin [Winter] played really well. We’ve been a goalie tandem all year, so both goalies have played well. They know it’s kind of a competition there,” Marfione said. “Griffin really made all of the saves he’s had to make, so I was proud of him.”
In the second period, the Headers got stuck defensively, but put their bodies on the line to keep Woburn from finding its second goal. Sedky led by example, constantly blocking shots. The Headers held off Woburn to go into the final period down 1-0.
The Tanners eventually found their way through the Headers’ defense in the third while on the power play. A snipe from the faceoff dot doubled the Tanners’ lead to 2-0.
Down two goals, the Headers looked to their captains. First, Locke sparked life for Marblehead as his goal put his team back in it. With players on both sides wreaking havoc in front of the goalie, Locke found the puck and scored.
A few minutes later, Sedky got in on the action for Marblehead, roofing the equalizer on a solo chance.
“Hogan [Sedky] is a special player. He can do it all on his own,” Marfione said.
The momentum quickly swung back to Woburn after the Tanners fired a shot past Winter to reclaim the lead. However, Woburn’s lead did not last long. Marblehead responded immediately with a goal from freshman McDonald after he crashed the net, sending things to overtime.
Marfione said he loved the effort, especially from a freshman.
“He had that answering, tying goal, so it’s good to see a freshman doing that,” Marfione said.
With one minute remaining in overtime, sophomore James Caeran capped off the thrilling comeback with a well-driven, low strike to seal the game.
“Caeran is a good scorer. He likes to go high glove-side. We told him to go low to the farside and he listened. They [Headers] are all coachable,” Marfione said.
Marblehead left Woburn with a 4-3 win, never cowering in the face of adversity. The Headers travel to Winthrop on Saturday, Jan. 7 to take on the Vikings at 1:30 p.m.
Mark Aboyoun can be reached at [email protected]
