RallyNorth.net

Fri, Feb 29, 2008 05:30 PM @ Marblehead

Team	1	2	3	OT	Final
Playoff Game Division 3 North -Quarterfinals
Boston Latin Academy	1	1	1	0	3
Marblehead	0	3	0	1	4

Headers punch semi ticket with shootout win

Friday, February, 29 By Matt Williams
Staff writer

WATERTOWN | Through three periods plus an overtime session, the Marblehead hockey team threw as much rubber at Boston Latin Academy goaltender Mike Newhall as you might expect to find at Tire World. The Dragons' stalwart matched the Headers step for step in making 41 saves to keep last night's Division 3 North quarterfinal deadlocked 3-3.

The shootout was a different story all together. Marblehead's Erik Fader, Anders Gunderson and Andrew Bates all beat Newhall on their breakaway bids and goalie Aaron Reny didn't allow a goal on three BLA chances to propel the Headers into Monday night's Division 3 North semifinal (TBA).

Despite winning in dramatic fashion for the second time this week, the No. 12 Headers (12-10-0) didn't leave Watertown Ice Arena on top of the world. Disaster struck when Fader appeared to seriously injure his elbow during the on-ice celebration. The senior co-captain isn't expected to be able to skate again this season.

"It's a great win and I'm happy for our guys. It was too bad to have something sour at the very end," said Marblehead coach Bobby Jackson, who directed the Headers to their first back-to-back tournament wins in 23 years.

In the shootout, which decides the winner after an 8:00 sudden death OT by MIAA rule, Marblehead's skaters made a simple adjustment. Fader was first to shoot and kept the puck low, deked right and went left to score. Gunderson and Bates followed with similar moves and that was all she wrote.

"We were shooting high all game and going to his glove side | things we shouldn't have been doing," said Jackson. "We got him moving side to side on the breakaways because that's where we felt his weakness was. We did it in the shootout and we should've been doing it all game."

For the second time in as many postseason games, the Headers nearly let a sure win slip away at the end of regulation. Though they dominated stretched of play and held a 40-16 edge in shots on goal, scrappy play by 13th seeded BLA kept it close at 3-2.

The Dragons made the Headers pay with an extra attacker strike with just 12 seconds left on the clock. BLA had the edge in overtime, with a 5-4 differential in shots on net, but Reny (18 total saves) was sharp and forced the decisive shootout.

"It wasn't easy," said Jackson. "Their goalie played very well and they were scrappy and tough."

After falling behind 1-0 after one, Marblehead asserted itself in the second. Gunderson tied the game on the power play 46 seconds in and Bates and Chris Donahue lit the lamp 23 seconds apart later in the period to give the Headers a commanding 3-1 lead.

"After the first we woke up. Taking that 3-1 lead got us in it. With a young team, everything is a learning curve and this was another brick in that foundation," said Jackson.

BLA managed to sneak in a power play tally late in the second when Marcus Egan won the puck out front and poked it home. Despite scoring three times and holding a 14-3 edge in shots in the middle frame, Marblehead went to the dressing room ahead by only a goal and nearly gave it up at the end.

They didn't though, and as a result are headed to the semis for the first time since 1985. If they're to advance to the North final though, they'll have to do it without Fader, their leading goal scorer and one of the top all around skaters.

"It was just piling on each other afterwards. We'd told the kids not to do it and all of a sudden we lose one of our top players," Jackson said. "There's just bodies jumping all over and somebody probably jumped on him."