Sports
Headers Defeat Pembroke, Book A Garden Party
Tuesday night's 3-2 win over the Titans propels Marblehead into the Division III state title game against Westfield Sunday morning.
Marblehead coach Bob Jackson said that Tuesday’s game was a little tough on his blood pressure, but he and his players were elated after holding off Pembroke 3-2 to advance to the state championship.
Although the Headers dominated the first two periods, the Titans staged a furious comeback attempt in the third to keep the game close right up to the final buzzer.
When Pembroke's coach elected to put the team's goalie, Kyle Jacobs, on the bench to gain a sixth attacker, his counterpart in the Marblehead net, Tony Cuzner, made three saves in the final minute, including one with just four seconds to play.
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Cuzner made a great save on Joe Villari with 13 seconds remaining in the second period and opened up the third period with a great stick save on Paul Tower.
“I was having fun out there; I rely on my defense and they don’t let me down," Cuzner said after the game. "I couldn’t do it without my defense.”
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The Headers and Titans felt each other out for the first few minutes of the game, and then Marblehead cranked up the pressure, finally finding a way to beat Jacobs after 13 frustrating minutes.
After coming up empty on a 5-on-3 power play, Austin Haley scored his 15th goal of the season, knocking a Chris McLeod rebound past Jacobs at 12:24. Ben Koopman had the second assist on the play that sent Marblehead into the locker room up 1-0, holding a 20-6 advantage in shots on goal.
It was more of the same in period number two, with the Headers dominating play at both ends of the ice. One writer in the press box described it as “total domination for Marblehead.”
Senior Hunter Graves gave the home team a bit of breathing room at 7:10, slamming a rebound home from five feet in front of the net. Jacobs made saves on Ryan Dempsey and Alex Whitmore before Graves found an opening and buried his 10th goal of the year.
“We were all over them; we knew if we kept the pressure up something would break for us,” co-captain Ryan Dempsey said.
Despite being outplayed, the team from the Patriot League came out strong in the third period and succeeded in knocking Marblehead back on their heels.
Cavan Fitzgerald made it 2-1 when he fired the puck off his back leg to Cuzner’s glove side for an unassisted goal at 5:56.
With Pembroke pushing to tie the score, Marblehead’s leading scorer, Ryan Dempsey, restored the two-goal lead at 10:31. On a play similar to Graves' goal, Chris McLeod and Austin Haley got initial shots on net before Dempsey knocked in a loose puck from in close.
The Headers would need the goal, number 24 on the season for Dempsey, because Pembroke wasn’t ready to go away. Chris Waterfield crashed the net with 3:04 to play, simulataneously putting the puck in and knocking the net off its mooring.
The Titans pulled Jacobs with 1:32 to play and managed to get three shots on goal, but Cuzner stood his ground and the Headers are now moving on to compete in the state championship game this Sunday at the TD Garden in Boston.
“There were a couple of funny bounces tonight, but we’ll take the victory, for sure,” Jackson said. “The seniors on the team were determined to keep us from losing.”
Marblehead will play Westfield, the winner of the other semifinal, Sunday morning at 11:15. The Headers' sterling season continues with Tuesday's win and they improve to 19-4-3.
“Coach Colby told the guys before the game that he wanted to run a few more practices, and now that’s exactly what we’re going to do to get ready for Westfield,” Jackson said.
Check in with Marblehead Patch Sunday for up-to-the-minute updates as the game progresses.
