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Fishermen find offense, defeat Big Blue

Monday, December, 17 By Nick Curcuru
Staff writer

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.

"We have been shooting a lot over the last two games and it paid off tonight," Fishermen defenseman and tri-captain Paul Russo said. "If you put up a lot of shots, the goals will come."

Gloucester was able to get on the board first when senior Jeremy Fanning put home a Conor Ressel pass to give Gloucester a 1-0 lead after one period.

The second period saw both teams explode for a combined five goals.

The period did not start out to well for the Fishermen, as Big Blue captain Danny Rakoc was able to get one past Gloucester goalie Bradley Robertson to tie the score at one. Less than two minutes later Swampscott would take the lead when Justin Massey would score on a break away.

The rest of the period, however, would belong to the Fishermen. Junior Brett Biondo would put home a centering pass from Josh Salah. The power play goal made it 2-2. Salah would give the Fishermen the lead later in the period. Fanning would add his second goal of the game at the midway point to make it 4-2, which is where it stood going into the third.

The Big Blue would cut the Gloucester lead in half early in the third on John Pelletier's unassisted goal. Swampscott thought they had tied the game at four late in the game but the play was blown dead even though the puck was still loose.

"I thought that was a quick whistle," Swampscott head coach Geno Faia said. "If we score there who knows what happens." The Fishermen, however, would make sure the controversial play had no effect when Ressel and Biondo scored a goal a piece respectively in the final 2:16 to give Gloucester the 6-3 win.

Fanning led the Fishermen in scoring with two goals and two assists. Biondo also had a big night for Gloucester with two goals and an assist, Salah and Ressel notched a goal and an assist each.

Fishermen coach Don Lowe was pleased with his team's effort. "We played a little better tonight then we did on Wednesday," Lowe said. "We capitalized on our chances and we won every period, that's what we always look to do."

Lowe also credited Robertson for another solid outing in net and for earning his first career varsity win. Despite his team's loss, Faia was also pleased with the effort his team put forth.

"We played hard and didn't quit," Faia said. "We had a few breakdowns and they took advantage of them, but overall I am satisfied with the effort."

Gloucester will now move on to host Saugus on Wednesday (7 p.m.). Russo says that in order to win the Fishermen must keep up the play that they showed Saturday night.

"We need to keep shooting," Russo said. "Even if we have a bad angle we have to put the puck on net. We also need to keep playing aggressive defense, if we do that we will be in good shape."

Additional stories:

• Fishermen pull away late to drop Big Blue