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Two late scores salvage a tie for Swampscott vs. Danvers

Wednesday, December, 12 By Phil Stacey
Sports editor

SALEM | True, the game ended in a tie.

But it felt like so much more to the Big Blue of Swampscott.

Trailing by two goals with under three minutes to play, Swampscott rallied in dramatic fashion as captain Keith Morgan and defenseman Sam Rakoc both connected late, forcing a 3-3 stalemate with Danvers on opening night of the 2007-08 high school hockey season.

"It would have been very disappointing had we not come out of this game with at least one point," said Swampscott head coach Geno Faia, whose team held a big territorial edge and outshot the Falcons, 33-23.

When was the last time anyone associated with Swampscott hockey could utter that phrase after facing Danvers | and be totally accurate?

The Big Blue have beaten the Falcons once since 1989: a 5-3 shocker the day after Christmas in 2002. Since then, it's been all Danvers, all the time when these two Northeastern Conference rivals have met.

Not last night, however.

Host Swampscott came out flying and constantly put pressure on Danvers' defense by skating and attacking the net. If not for the stellar work of captain Pat O'Kane (30 saves) in the Falcons' net, the Big Blue would have walked away with a win.

"Even if we had won, I would have given Swampscott all the credit in the world for outplaying us," admitted Danvers head coach Kevin Brown.

Never was that more evident than the middle period, when Swampscott pelted O'Kane with 19 shots and seemed to tire the Falcons with their speed. However, only sophomore Colby Wollerscheid could solve the Falcons' keeper, roofing a rebound high into the net to tie the game at 1-1.

Less than two minutes later, Danvers responded as captain Steve Kontos scored his second goal of the game, a beautiful slapshot from the top of the left circle that beat Swampscott goaltender Connor Barton (20 saves) high over his left shoulder.

When second line right wing Colin Cooper beat Barton with a fake and subsequent stuff-in with 3:09 to play, it seemed as though the Falcons would steal two points on this night.

"We really felt like we were outplaying them, but our guys weren't seeing the results," said Faia. "But they understand that we've got a good team this year, and in this league it takes a 45-minute effort to win. They kept working and shooting | and it paid off."

Morgan sliced the deficit in half with 2:35 to play, jamming a one-timer from fellow senior captain Danny Rakoc inside the right post. Then, with just 35 seconds to play, Sam Rakoc (Danny's brother) floated a shot from the left point that found its way through a maze of traffic and into the Falcons' net.

"We had some missed opportunities on odd-man rushes that ultimately hurt us," said Brown, while also praising the play of freshman first line left wing Kyle Larson, who assisted on Kontos' first goal. "We need to learn to bury those chances, plus understand that every single night in this league is going to be a battle."

Swampscott, which takes its show on the road to Gloucester Saturday night, hopes last night was the start of big things this season.

"I was really pleased with the way we played," said Faia. "The fact that we were able to come back and get a point will be a big confidence booster for us."