NEWBURYPORT — The Gloucester boys hockey team had every intention of battling hard on the road and coming out with a payback-like victory over Newburyport in Tuesday night’s Division 2 playoff opener.
But those intentions were swiftly warded off from the host Clippers, who came out physical, struck early, and rode the momentum for 45 full minutes.
The result was a convincing 6-1 win for Newburyport, its second state tournament triumph over its ‘rival’ Fishermen in as many ears.
“I don’t think it was a game that merits deep analysis; they kind of took it to us from the start,” said Gloucester head coach Derek Geary, his team wrapping up the season at 10-9-2.
“We just got beat, old school beat tonight and we have to accept that as a team with the best sportsmanship we can offer. But it does not diminish what I thought was a terrific season for this team.”
In last year’s playoff meeting between the two teams, an instant classic of a D2 Sweet 16 matchup, Newburyport survived a pair of Gloucester rallies to prevail, 4-2.
Earlier this season, the newfound rivals met again, with the Fishermen skating to a competitive 4-3 overtime victory on the road.
But Tuesday night’s clash was unlike the others, as Newburyport laid down the hammer and rode a hat trick from sophomore Luke MacIsaac to the finish line. MacIsaac actually opened things up by assisting on a Henry Waddell goal less than four minutes in, with Waddell pounding home a rebound off his teammate’s initial shot.
Later on in the first, Jack Sullivan got out in front on the left wing and feathered over a crisp pass to MacIsaac, who flicked it home top shelf for a swift 2-0 lead.
Gloucester showed signs of life thereafter, controlling play early and often in the second period as it attempted to climb back into things. But a miscue in front of the Fishermen’s net allowed MacIsaac to pounce, and he capitalized by wrapping a shot that bounced over Gloucester goalie Trey Marrone’s leg and into the back of the net for a backbreaking goal.
“The story of the game for me was that we came out strong at the beginning of the second period and started to play our hockey,” explained Geary. “We were moving pucks much better, we were winning puck battles and we were getting the puck in deep. But then we just gifted them a third goal which was characteristic of the game as a whole; just too many mistakes tonight.”
Gloucester earned their first power play opportunity shortly after, but was unable to muster up much offense and gave the momentum right back to ‘Port. The hosts then scored two more goals to close out the second and all but put the nail in the coffin, with Jack Sullivan finishing off a pass from Waddell and MacIsaac securing the hat trick off a feed from Will Forrest.
“No, God no,” Newburyport coach Paul Yameen said when asked if he expected a lopsided victory for his team. “I thought one goal game the whole time and we just jumped on them early and I think kind of took the wind out of their sails a little bit and kept the momentum.
“Whenever we play Gloucester we know to be ready,” he added. “We’ve had a great rivalry with them and our guys were prepared.”
Gloucester skated hard until the final horn, with Cam Amero finally getting his team on the scoreboard late in the third with a rocket of a shot five-hole to avoid the shutout for his team. But Newburyport had already added a third period tally as well just eight seconds into a power player (courtesy of a Will Forrest snipe from the blue line), and for all intents and purposes, the final stanza was all cosmetic.
It was a disappointing result for a young Gloucester team that had played some of its best hockey down the regular season stretch and largely exceeded expectations this year. But the Fishermen will be back, and Geary hopes Tuesday’s elimination setback will be just what his group needs heading into next season.
“We only have really five kids that have ever played in a state tournament game before (Tuesday), but we would offer no excuses; we just got beat plain and simple,” said Geary. “Newburyport deserved to win the game and hats off to them, but hopefully it’s a learning lesson for us in terms of the intensity of these kinds of games and what it takes to compete in them.
“There’s a lot to be positive about this season,” added the coach. “It’s hard to do after a game like this but once the dust settles I think the kids can look back on this season and feel good about the effort they put in and the resiliency a lot of the time.”
After graduating two 100-point players in Colby Jewell and Brett Cunningham last year, Gloucester turned truly turned a “rebuilding” campaign into an entertaining and prideful journey. They finished with an impressive 8-1 record in one goal games, had some signature wins against strong programs, and got a slew of underclassmen plenty of experience in what should be another productive year in 2025-26.
Sports Editor Nick Giannino may be contacted at 978-675-2712 or ngiannino@northofboston.com.