Tanners' Comeback Falls Short; Boys Ice Hockey fall to Lincoln-Sudbury

A two goal comeback for the Varsity Boys ice hockey team wasn't enough to overcome Lincoln-Sudbury High School in a game that was played on Martin Luther King Day at the New England Sports Center in Marlborough.

After coming back from a first period, two-goal deficit, the Tanners fell 4-2.

“It was not our best game for sure, but we are kind-off banged up right now,” said Peabody head coach Mark Leonard. “The kids tried hard in the second period. Unfortunately we just had a slow start.”

With the Tanners bouncing back from a two-goal deficit to tie the game at 5:22 in the second period, momentum swung to Peabody's side. Thirty seconds later, Lincoln-Sudbury responded when Warriors sophomore Jordan Dow pressured the net and chipped in a top-corner goal to give the Warriors the lead.

“Henry Fairbairn hustled so hard to come up with the puck behind the net,” said Lincoln-Sudbury head coach Peter Elenbaas. “Jordan Dow worked hard to get there and to poke it in.”

A one-on-one goal by Warriors senior Henry Fairbairn late in the third period capped the scoring. Losing his defender, Fairbairn faked the goalie right and managed to cut left to find an open net for his second goal.

“That was a huge goal, because it takes a little bit of pressure off,” said Elenbaas. “He finished stick side low where we have been telling him to shoot.”

The Tanners' two goals came in the second period. Ninety seconds into the period Peabody senior Rob Houghton sent a shot off the left post. With the puck bouncing 30 feet in front of the goal, Tanners junior Mike Chiappini caught the shot and buried a goal to bring the score to 2-1.

“That goal was just about going to the net and we needed more of that,” said Peabody coach Mark Leonard. “We have had slow starts in most of our games this season. The players came out with a better effort in the second period.”

At 5:22 of the second period, a ricochet by Peabody freshman Derek Demild evened the score. Setting up in the deep corner, junior teammate Nick Salalyko ripped a low shot toward the middle of the net. Demild manged to reverse the puck's direction and force it into the bottom left corner.

“We had a nice shot from the point and the tip we were looking for,” said Leonard. “We had good work in the corners.”

With Lincoln-Sudbury ripping shots from the corners, Warriors senior Adrien Rousson managed to take advantage of a screen by teammate Devin Patel. Shooting low and center, Rousson slipped the puck under Patel's legs and into the net to put the Warriors up 1-0 at 5:17.

“We have been preaching to the guys to get shots-on-net,” said Elenbaas. “Guys did today and they got some nice low shots.”

At 2:20 a two-on-one breakaway put the Warriors up by two goals. With sophomore teammate Shane Sefton cutting in on the right side, Fairbairn slipped in a second goal in for the Warriors.

“L-S played hard and earned the victory,” said Leonard. “We went down and just got a little outworked.”

Both teams had 22 shots on goal and seven penalties. Five penalties came early in the second period with Lincoln-Sudbury playing Peabody four on three for 16 seconds.