When your head coach says “that was one of our better games this year,” odds are, it’s a good weekend.
Swampscott boys hockey (6-4) head coach Gino Faia was more than satisfied with his team’s 8-0 win over Peabody-Saugus (2-9) at McVann-O’Keefe Rink on Saturday.
“We got contributions up and down the lineup,” Faia said. “A bunch of different guys on the scoreboard with goals and assists.”
Down the lineup, indeed. Despite Peabody-Saugus’ Dante Mauro and Ryan Jones finishing monstrous checks in the opening minutes, the Big Blue took over with three goals in the first period.
Derek Faia and Jackson Bartram got things rolling, while Quinn Hitchcock scored the third after walking in from the left side and sniping one past Peabody-Saugus’ Evan Tybinkowski.
When asked what got into his team during the first period, Coach Faia said “we were just keeping it simple.”
“Getting pucks in behind them [and] then working the forecheck,” Faia said. “The guys were reading plays pretty good and putting pressure on them.”
Despite the early hole, Peabody-Saugus was skating right with Swampscott for the first six minutes, something head coach Jason Marshall was happy with.
“Especially in the beginning of the game, we played well,” Marshall said. “We’ll play great stretches where we’re playing with some of these better teams.”
Coach Faia said “usually, we’ve been a little inconsistent” this season, but in the second, the Big Blue kept up the pressure with two more goals – Will Roddy on a gorgeous wraparound, and Aidan Sprague going high on a turnaround shot.
“Today, we were solid the whole way through,” Coach Faia said. “Guys are getting a little more confident, and then defensively as a team, we’re playing better.”
Marshall pointed to his young team’s inconsistency, but also applauded Swampscott for its skill and grit.
“They’ve got a couple guys with some good skill, but they skate hard and they fight for the puck,” Marshall said. “Today, they wanted it more than us.”
Regarding the two guys between the pipes, Swampscott’s Dom Pappalardo (15 saves) and his impressive glove were then when needed, and Tybinkowski impressed with some key saves in the loss.
Sprague, Kody Langevain, and Ronan Locke extended the Swampscott lead to 8-0 in the third, and that was all she wrote.
“I thought we played three solid periods,” Coach Faia said. “They come to play every night – they battle.”
If you didn’t look at the scoreboard during the second and third periods, you would’ve thought it was a 0-0 game with how hard Peabody-Saugus was playing. Marshall highlighted his group’s effort postgame.
“That’s one of the big things I’ve been trying to instill in these kids is the resiliency [and] not giving up at the end of the game,” Marshall said. “It’s a great group of guys – they care a lot.’
The Big Blue return to action Wednesday as they travel to face Minuteman at 8 p.m. Peabody-Saugus returns home Saturday at 4 p.m. against Gloucester.
