RallyNorth.net

Newburyport will advance to sectional final with victory over Tewksbury

Wednesday, March, 05 By Dan Guttenplan
Sports editor

Deafening cheers spilled out of the Newburyport hockey team's locker room Sunday evening only minutes after the Clippers pulled off the upset of Gloucester in the Division 2 North quarterfinal at Richard H. Rockett Rink.

The Clippers players' chants echoed beneath the bleachers that a stunned Gloucester fan base was exiting as quickly as possible. Newburyport had effectively stunned a team only two years removed from a state title.

For the first time since 2005, Newburyport would be playing in the Division 2 North semifinal round.

The Clippers had earned the right to celebrate. But state championships are not won in the quarterfinal round. So this evening, three days after Newburyport's postgame celebration, Gloucester will be the last thing on the players' minds.

No. 6 Newburyport | the lowest remaining seed in the Division 2 North bracket | will face No. 2 Tewksbury tonight (5:30 p.m.) back at the Rockett Rink on the Salem State College campus.

In the rearview mirror is a Gloucester team that posted a 50-11-7 record over the last three seasons.

Onto the next challenge, which comes in the form of a Tewksbury club (16-3-3) that boasts the Merrimack Valley Conference coach of the year in Derek Doherty, player of the year in defenseman Dan Grasso, and a goalie who allows an average of 1.08 goals per game in Joshua Silberberg.

Not that Tewksbury can't score. The Redmen have tallied 12 goals in two tournament games | one more than the Clippers. "I think this is the stiffest competition we've seen yet," Newburyport coach Paul Yameen said. "I don't anticipate another 11- or 12-goal game. We played an up-and-down, high-scoring game on Sunday. That's not what I expect (tonight)."

But if the last month is any indication, perhaps Yameen should expect a high-scoring output. During its current nine-game winning streak, dating back to Jan. 30, the Clippers have scored no fewer than four goals in a game.

"We're not trying to slow anybody down," Tewksbury coach Derek Doherty said yesterday. "We play our style of hockey. We hope we're successful doing it."

Doherty, in his seventh year as Tewksbury's coach, led his team to its second MVC title on his watch. Like Newburyport, his team fell in the Division 2 North quarterfinal round last season. Like his counterpart Yameen, who is in his fifth season at Newburyport, his furthest tournament run ended in the Division 2 North semifinal round.

Tewksbury cruised to the semifinals with a 4-1 victory over Watertown in the opening round and an 8-2 victory over Masconomet in the quarterfinals.

Newburyport beat Saugus 5-1 in the opener before posting a 6-5, last-minute victory over Gloucester. Still, Doherty does not feel his team will have the advantage in the energy department.

"I doubt it," Doherty said. "It's the state tournament. This time of year, kids get up to play. They've had a few days to rest. If they're not in shape by now, they'll never be in shape."

Newburyport's most recent appearance in the Division 2 North semifinals was in 2005 when the Clippers fell to Danvers. Yameen said that year's senior class has been supportive of this year's group of seniors most of whom were freshmen on the team three years ago.

"I don't think it's fair to compare the two teams, but there has been some gamesmanship between the two senior classes," Yameen said. "They're having fun back and forth. A lot of the alumni have called and wished us luck. I'm just happy for these kids, the alumni and the program as a whole."