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Swampscott inches closer to tourney berth with win over Marblehead

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.

"It's been a goal of ours since the postseason," said Big Blue coach Geno Faia. "We're playing good hockey and we're playing hungry."

Senior Brendon Hambleton notched a hat trick and goalie Connor Barton needed to stop just seven shots to record the shutout as the Big Blue skated past the Headers to move to 8-4-3 on the season. This time, they'll have five games with which to earn that critical point, the first coming next week against Lynn. "Since last year, we've learned that you can't wait around. You have to go out and do it | we're looking to get this thing done on Saturday," said Faia.

Goalie Aaron Reny made 21 stops for Marblehead (6-8-0) while others who shined for Swampscott included John Pelletier (goal, assist) and Alex DiDonato (two assists).