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Back and forth action leaves Beverly, Danvers all tied up

Thursday, December, 20 By Phil Stacey
Sports editor

What didn't this game have?

There were big hits, big saves and big goals. There were plenty of power plays, a bevy of backchecking and a cavalcade of chances for both teams.

We saw a freshman forward score on a freshman goaltender; the lead see-saw back and forth like a broken teeter-tooter, and even a rare, rocket shot from center ice that beat one of the goaltenders cleanly.

December high school hockey games aren't supposed to have this much action and emotion crammed into them. But that didn't stop the Beverly Panthers and the Danvers Falcons from turning in a highly entertaining 4-4 tie last night before about 800 fans at the Rockett Arena.

Beverly senior center Jack Leathersich sent both teams home with one point when he scored his second goal of the game, a pretty rush up the off-wing boards and subsequent 5-hole stuff in past Danvers goaltender Pat O'Kane (28 saves) with 1:15 remaining.

Beverly (2-0-1) appeared to be in control of the game when it took a 3-1 lead on Leathersich's first goal, a power play strike, late in the second period. But the resilient Falcons responded with three straight tallies, including two in the final period, forcing the Panthers to scramble for the tying goal late.

"We showed flashes of the way we can play when we play our best," said Danvers head coach Kevin Brown, whose team has a pair of ties in its first two games this season. "Now, we just need more of those sustained flashes."

Danvers managed to rally despite the fact that it lost first line center Troy Thibodeau late in the first period to a head injury. John Curran stepped up from the second line and filled Thibodeau's spot for the final two periods.

Beverly was certainly feeling frustrated it wasn't able to skate away with its third win in as many tries. On several occasions the Panthers looked to have Danvers on the ropes, only to hurt themselves with sloppy play.

"This one wasn't pretty from our end," Beverly head coach Bob Gilligan said after the game. "I give Danvers a lot of credit for going hard the entire game and never packing it in. "Still, we hurt ourselves with some erratic passes and selfish play. Those mistakes we made were magnified."

A big miscue came late in the second period, when Curran grabbed an errant Panther pass and fed Falcon captain Steve Kontos down the right wing. Stopping in the circle, he ripped a shot just under the crossbar, cutting the lead to 3-2 before the second intermission.

The Falcons then took advantage of a heads up play by senior captain Jake Korthas | not to mention a lethal shot. With a faceoff outside the Beverly zone, third line center Jason Carucci won the faceoff and drew it back to Korthas. From center ice, he rocketed a slapper that caught Beverly freshman goalkeeper Tony Walsh by surprise, beating him low stick side to tie the game at 3-3.

"Jake was shooting for a goal, not just to dump it in," said Brown. "I think he figured, 'What do I have to lose?' He's got the shot to do it. I certainly jump-started our bench and gave us the energy we needed."

Danvers took its first and only lead with 3:49 to play when senior wing Jay Sabino put a wrist shot in from between the circles, only to see the Panthers roar back behind Leathersich's second strike with 75 seconds to play.

"We need to keep it simple and not try to make fancy passes that become errant," said Gilligan, who praised Walsh's play in goal after his first varsity game. "Offensively, we've got to shoot it low and try to get rebounds. And defensively, we can't be sagging and giving our opponents the blueline to attack us."

Freshman Kyle Larson notched his first varsity goal for the Falcons, while sophomore Jack Liacos and senior Alex Baker each added goals for Beverly.