The Gloucester boys hockey team came into Wednesday’s clash with Peabody on an absolute tear.
And despite a lackluster middle period, the victory train kept on chugging along as they snared yet another win on their home ice at Talbot Rink.
After a dominant opening period that saw the Fishermen build a quick four-goal advantage, Peabody battled back to make it a game. But Gloucester did enough down the stretch to secure a 6-4 triumph.
The Tanners had cut it to a one-goal game (5-4) after two before GHS potted one final tally in crunch time to seal the deal.
“Very sloppy game, obviously. I mean, we came out flying and had a very effective forecheck in particular, but then we decided to take the second period off and just played at half speed and didn’t win any puck battles,” said Gloucester head coach Derek Geary, his team now winners of five straight games to push their season record to 7-3-1.
Despite some admittedly sloppy play by the hosts and the valiant comeback effort by the Tanners, Gloucester’s Luke Salah would put an end to any remaining hope Peabody clung on to with an empty-netter in the final minutes. It was the second goal of the evening for Salah, a sophomore.
Prior to the decisive tally, however, the game looked to be over virtually before it even started.
Connor Curley started the party with an early goal off assists from Lukas Albano and Cam Amero. Luke Salah then followed suit before Curley — who finished with a hat trick — found the back of the net again. Jackson Harnish capped off the phenomenal first period with one final unanswered strike.
The Tanners clawed their way back into it in the second, scoring four goals to Gloucester’s one (by Curley) as the two teams headed for home in a suddenly tight affair. Three of Peabody’s second period goals came in succession after Curley had secured his hat trick.
Gloucester goalie Trey Marrone (20 saves) then stepped up his game, making a number of big saves to help keep his team in front late. The Fishermen relied on their talented netminder for much of the final 15 minutes, and the junior did not disappoint.
Despite the win, a frustrated Gloucester team still thinks there is a lot to take away from this game.
“All our bad habits were present and we kind of woke up the giant where they started to believe in themselves, so it’s not an ideal win,” said Geary. “In the end we started to forecheck a little better in the third period, and obviously Trey Marrone saved us.”
Needless to say, Geary had some high praise for Marrone, who has come up clutch on more than one occasion this winter as he continues to string together an all-star-like campaign between the posts.
“Trey may not have played his best second period. The whole team played a horrendous second period, but Trey certainly saved us,” added Geary.
The Fishermen may have secured their fifth straight win, but they looked like a team that was unhappy with how the final two periods went. That can be viewed as a good thing moving forward, as the streaking squad still escaped with a win and will now look to use the lapses as motivation for a more complete performance in Saturday night’s road clash with fellow NEC rival Danvers.