RallyNorth.net

SALEM | Marblehead High hockey goaltender Aaron Reny stopped everything short of the kitchen sink last night against arch rival Swampscott in the first round of the Division 3 North tournament.

In overtime, he finally got his reward.

Having already secured their first-ever Northeastern Conference (Small) title earlier in the day thanks to Saugus' 2-1 loss to Winthrop, the Big Blue kept the good times rolling with a 3-0 blanking of arch rival Marblehead that night.

Senior Brendon Hambleton scored his sixth and seventh goals of the season to help Swampscott shut out host Salem, 4-0, at the Rockett Arena.

Junior Conor Barton had 13 saves for his second shutout this winter (and the team's fourth) for the victorious Big Blue (10-4-3).

Swampscott head coach Geno Faia, in the postseason for the first time in his eight years behind the Big Blue's bench, talking about his seniors and the travails they went through to earn this postseason bid:

A year ago, the Swampscott icemen had three games to earn one point in order to break a decade-long postseason drought. The Big Blue fell short of that goal, but the sting hasn't subsided. Though the streak extended to 11 seasons, the slump could come to an end as soon as next Saturday after a 4-0 win over rival Marblehead put Swampscott within a point of the postseason once again.

First half analysis: The Big Blue are 7-2-1 since Christmas and have found a goaltender in sophomore Tyler Gallagher to go along with their potent offense and a much improved defensive corps. Very deep and speedy team, too.

Craig Forrest had been struggling lately in net for Bishop Fenwick, but he stopped every puck Swampscott shot at him to lead the Crusaders to a 6-0 victory yesterday morning at Peabody's McVann-O'Keefe Rink.

Keith Morgan had a career night for the Big Blue (4-3-3), scoring five goals | including three on the power play | as Swampscott moved to over .500 for the first time this season with a 6-4 triumph over Methuen.

Freshman goaltender Tony Walsh put forth a strong third period to earn his first career shutout in net for the Panthers (5-1-1) in a 5-0 shutout of Swampscott.

Making his fourth career start, Walsh stopped all 20 shots he faced while getting scoring support from Chris Bushey, Ryan Karp, Mitch Hamor, Jack Leathersich and Chris Freni. Three third period goals sealed the deal for the winners.

Coming into the season, it was well known to hockey fans around the Northeastern Conference that Gloucester had a high-powered offense.

Swampscott found that out first hand as the Fishermen were able to net six goals on 40 shots en route to a 6-3 win over the Big Blue on Saturday at the Talbot Rink in Gloucester. In the win, Gloucester topped 40 shots for the second game in a row. They were also able to amass that total in the season opener against Revere on Wednesday, but Patriots goaltender Nick DiMare was able to stymie the Fishermen attack by holding them to two goals in a tie game.