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Fishermen escape from Winthrop trap

Thursday, January, 17 By Nick Curcuru
Correspondent

The Gloucester boys hockey team came into yesterday's game against Winthrop looking to stay out of the trap in more ways than one.

Primarily, the Fishermen were looking to knock off last place Winthrop and avoid falling into the dreaded trap game. Secondly, Gloucester was hoping to solve Winthrop's trap-style defense, which is when two defenders trap an offensive player in the corner or against the boards to prevent them from moving the puck to the middle of the ice.

The Fishermen may have had trouble overcoming both obstacles, but they were still able to pull out a come-from-behind 4-3 win over the Vikings yesterday at the Dorothy Talbot Rink.

With the win, Gloucester (9-0-1) moves within one point of clinching a berth in the state tournament.

"Winthrop came out, executed their trap and played a very good game, and we didn't come out with any emotion," Fishermen head coach Don Lowe said. "We are a better hockey team, but Winthrop took it to us.

"(Winthrop) trapped us and we didn't skate well and move our feet. Overall it was a poor effort."

On the other hand, Winthrop head coach Dale Dunbar, was very pleased with his team's ability to put a scare into the Fishermen, calling it the best game they played all season even in defeat. Dunbar was especially happy with his trap defense.

"We gave them a lot more than a scare," Dunbar said. "We were able to frustrate them and trap them well by clogging up the neutral zone to slow their offense. We carried out our game plan to a T at times, we just couldn't do it for three periods. Give Gloucester credit, they found a way to win, that's what the good teams do."

Trailing 2-1 heading into the third period, Gloucester came out strong with three goals in the first six and a half minutes of the frame. Junior forward Dylan Morrissey tied the game at two just 54 seconds into the period when he banged a rebound past Viking's goaltender Patrick Feeley just after the Freshman netminder robbed Fishermen captain Andrew Fulford.

Brett Biondo gave the Fishermen a one-goal lead four minutes later when he raced the length of the ice and got one just past the glove of Feeley to make it 3-2. Jeremy Fanning would give Gloucester a two-goal lead just one minute later when he slid in his own shot that was trickling past the Vikings goalie.

Winthrop's Alex Hamilton would make things interesting, adding a late goal, but Gloucester was able to hold on for the win.

"We had to get those quick goals in the third," said Fanning, who has a team-high 25 points on the season. "We realized that if we didn't get out quick then it wasn't going to happen for us, they blind-sided us."

Despite coming back in the period, Lowe still thought his team could have played better.

"We came back in the third but we still didn't play very well," Lowe said. "We can play much better."

Before the final frame, Winthrop (2-7-1) appeared to be on their way to a big upset. Trailing 1-0 going into the second, the Vikings got two goals in under a minute from Joe Casey and Vinnie Eruzione to make it 2-1.

Fanning led the Fishermen offense with a goal and two assists. Biondo (two goals) and Morrissey (goal, assist) also played well for Gloucester turning in multi-point games.

The Fishermen will now move on to host second place Peabody (8-3) on Saturday in a Northeastern Conference showdown (7 p.m.).