GLOUCESTER — Seniors Riley De Haan and Jackson Hakes saw the opportunities presented to them Saturday night and pounced on them.
That’s something that the improving but still-a-work-in-progress Beverly High boys hockey team is working on achieving.
In his first start of the season, De Hannan stopped 21 of 22 shots while his teammate, Hakes, had two goals in a 3-point effort as the Gloucester Fishermen took down the Panthers, 4-1, Saturday night at Talbot Rink.
De Haan made himself big between the pipes, turning aside a number of solid scoring opportunities by Beverly while allowing few rebounds and steering shots to safety.
Hakes, promoted to first line right wing with Cade Cooper sitting out (concussion), staked his team to an early lead in the first period and then doubled it with a rebound tally in the second.
“Jackson is kind of the poster child of doing things the right way,” said Gloucester head coach Derek Geary, his team now 2-1. “He plays with his heart on his sleeve and works as hard as he possibly can. He earned his chance to skate on the first line tonight with Brett (Cunningham) and Colby (Jewell) and responded in a big way. He’s a guy who goes to the net hard, and we need more of that. He’s not afraid of any physicality, either.
“Riley won that game for us,” added Geary. “He’s such a smart goalie, with great positioning and is a great competitor. Riley was the first and second star of the game for Gloucester tonight.”
Inconsistently hurt the Panthers. There was an early sequence where they had the Fishermen hemmed in their own zone and were outshooting them, 6-1, including a great scoring chance in tight from junior right wing Jonny Mezza. But a turnover led to a break the other way for the home team, and Hakes scored the first of his two goals to make it 1-0.
After third liner Henry Mills popped home a rebound from the slot to cut the Panther deficit to 3-1 late in the third period, they allowed Gloucester’s Giacomo Martell to walk out of the left corner and get the goal back for his team just 31 seconds later.
“That inconsistency, that’s going to happen sometimes when you’re building as a program,” said Beverly head coach Andy Scott.
“Anyone who watched this game can plainly see we’re a lot better than we were last season. Anyone could see that,” he continued. “We just want to take that next step where we can be more consistent as a team in all areas.”
The goal for Mills, a right wing, was his first as a varsity member. He followed up the shot of linemate Coby Malionek for the tally; freshman left wing Anthony Barror also earned an assist.
P.J. Redman had a strong game in his own right in the Beverly cage, making 19 saves.
“They had a lot of quality shots, so PJ was a big part of any success we had,” said Scott.
Cunningham and Jewell assisted on both of Hakes’ goals. Cunningham also found Jewell at the far post to make it 3-0 before the second period was over. Big sophomore Giacomo Martell scored his team’s final goal, a reward for several strong shifts in the third period.
The win notwithstanding, Geary feels his team has a lot to work on prior to their next game the day after Christmas when the Fishermen take on Medford (7 p.m.) while hosting the Cape Ann Savings Bank Tournament
“Beverly played as advertised: with a lot of emotion and character. They bring a lot to the table,” said Geary. “But it was scrappy for us. Right now, we’re a bit of an unfocused team with a lot of stuff to work throughout. Most pressing is that we need to play tougher; we’re not playing through guys, not stopping on pucks, and we’re not winning pucks. We’ve got weak sticks all over the place. There’s a lot for us to work on this week.”
Scott, who liked his team’s fight throughout the contest, returns home to Bourque Arena Thursday (6:30 p.m.) to host another Cape Ann League squad, Rockport, in a non-league battle.
Gloucester 4, Beverly 1
at Talbot Rink, Gloucester
Beverly;0;0;1;1
Gloucester;1;2;1;4
First period: G, Jackson Hakes (Brett Cunningham, Colby Jewell), 6:52.
Second period: G, Hakes (Cunningham, Jewell), 6:50; G, Jewell (Cunningham, Hakes), 10:06.
Third period: B, Henry Mills (Coby Malionek, Anthony Barror), 12:34; G, Giacomo Martell (Jackson Pierce), 13:05.
Saves: B, P.J. Redman 19; G, Riley De Haan 21.
Records: B, 0-1-1; G, 2-1-0.