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Three late goals lift Peabody to dramatic win over North Andover

Thursday, February, 28 By Jean DePlacido
Correspondent

STONEHAM | When the Peabody High hockey team fell behind by two goals with under five minutes remaining in last night's Division 2 North first round showdown vs. North Andover, most figured the end was near.

But somebody forgot to tell the Tanners.

Scoring three times in the final five minutes, Peabody fought back with a miraculous finish to beat North Andover, 6-5.

"We saved the best for last," said Tanner head coach Mark Leonard, whose team improved to 16-5 and earned a quarterfinal date Sunday with Lynnfield (14-3-5) at 4 p.m. back at the Stoneham Arena.

"We didn't play our best game, but give (North Andover) credit for that. Down by two goals with less than five minutes left, you have to figure it's over. But we fought back. The kids never let up."

The game was 3-3 heading into the final period when the 13th seeded Knights started to pull away.

Sensational junior Ryan Sifferlin, who put on a one-man show with four goals and an assist, finished off a nifty rush with a wrist shot that eluded Tanner netminder Jonathan Camara just over a minute into the period. Sifferlin then set up Mike Indigaro with 4:48 remaining for a two-goal cushion.

North Andover (9-10-2) had kept Peabody's explosive first line of Elijah Cohen, James Noftle and Matt Rodgers bottled up for the game's first 40 minutes, but couldn't stop them when it counted most. Cohen, the Northeastern Conference's leading scorer, notched his 20th goal of the year after being set up by Rodgers (goal, 2 assists) to cut the lead to 5-4 and begin Peabody's comeback.

With 21/2> minutes to play, Peabody sophomore Andrew Bucci scored his second goal of the game to tie it up, beating Knights' goalkeeper Ryan Whyte on a backhander. Finally, Cohen found himself alone out front and delivered the game-winner just 22 seconds after Bucci had tied it. Rodgers and senior defenseman Taylor Shalin assisted on the winner.

"This one really hurts," said North Andover coach Denis Barrette, whose team has just two seniors. "When you have a two-goal lead with under five minutes left, you expect to win. The kids were pretty emotional in the locker room, but I'm very proud of the boys.

"We had played Peabody before in the Haverhill Christmas Tournament (a 4-3 Peabody win), and I was concerned about their No. 1 line, especially No. 19 (Cohen). I put (senior captain Jonathan Blackwell, Mike Levy and Matt Taylor against that line, and they did an excellent job battling them as well as stopping the long passes."

The difference, said Barrette, was his team's inability to maintain its composure after the Tanners sliced their lead to 5-4.

"That's such a dangerous first line, and they came back," he said. "Our defense did a good job taking care of the middle and blocking shots, and our goalie played well. But you have to give Peabody all the credit for this comeback."

The Tanners never led in the game until Cohen's game-winner. Sifferlin struck less than two minutes into the game, and although Peabody dominated the first period, it was tied 1-1 after a second effort by Rodgers resulted in a goal off Whyte's skates with nine seconds to go in the first stanza.

The teams traded goals in the middle period with the Knights getting two Sifferlin goals and Peabody getting scores from Bucci and linemate A.J. Parker.

"We never let up. At the end, I felt I could have done anything," said Cohen. "I think it was tougher playing them a second time, but a win like this is a big boost for the rest of the way," said Cohen. "It's what you dream of | being down by a couple with time running out and coming back to win."

Bucci added that his teammates, coaches, and the fans kept the team positive after they fell behind by two scores.

"We knew we had to stay up and work hard," said Bucci. "We were pumped and focused on our shooting."

The Tanners had a 31-15 advantage on shots, the biggest margin coming in the first period (13-3).