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Shorthanded Salem denied stunning upset

Saturday, March, 07 By Mike Abelson
Correspondent

TYNGSBORO — It took 11:37 of extra hockey to decide a winner and in the end Bishop Guertin’s Ward Gleason wristed the puck over the glove of Salem’s Rob Liberatore to give the top-seeded Cardinals a thrilling 4-3 win at Skate 3.

Liberatore kept the shorthanded Blue Devils (4 players were suspended) in the game with a whopping 57 saves against the two-time defending Division 1 state champs.

“He kept us is there. That’s all we ask him to do,” said Salem head coach Mark McGinn. “He made some huge saves and he gave us a chance to win like he usually does. Without him who knows what we would do.”

Right from the opening face-off Guertin controlled the action but it was Salem, which was outshot 61-18, which struck first. Mike Frahm scooped up a rebound and put it over Guertin goalie Dave O’Brien with 4:27 left in the first.

Salem extended the lead when Ken Frazier ripped the puck past O’Brien with 21 seconds left in the period, but the two-goal lead was short-lived. Craig Ninteau slid the puck by the sprawling Liberatore to halve the lead just eleven seconds later.

“It doesn’t really matter when you give them up,” said McGinn. “But it hurts a little more with a minute left.”

Bishop Guertin tied it at two when Ken Frazier scored 4:24 into the second period. Salem retook the lead five minutes later when Shane Delandy took a strange carom off the Zamboni entrance and found Bryan Thibodeau, who slapped it into the open net to give Salem a 3-2 lead.

Salem let in another goal in the last minute when Greg Girtatos scored with 23 seconds left.

In the third period it was all about Liberatore. He turned aside all 18 Guertin shots to keep the game tied at three.

BG peppered the junior with 61 shots over 56:37 seconds of hockey.

“It’s tough,” said Liberatore. “My teamed help me a lot by clearing out the rebounds, and the defense stepped up when they had to. We lost a lot guys a couple of weeks ago and no one thought we could have done it. We all believed in ourselves and we did it.”

Salem finishes the season with a 13-9-1 record, six of which were by one goal.

“The season was a success for me,” said McGinn. “We probably finished a little under where I thought, but we were competitive and the kids put in the effort. That’s what I’ll remember.”

Suspensions derail Salem
Salem was short four players yesterday and against Manchester West in the first round. Senior captain Joel Vastl and Mark Baroni, who led the team with 29 points apiece, were sidelined along with fellow seniors Aaron Mackey and Mike Rocheleau.

The four were serving suspensions after being charged with unlawful possession of alcohol 1:28 a.m. on Feb. 26.

Salem athletic director Dave Rozumek said, “I can’t comment. It is an internal matter.”

Head coach Mark McGinn also refused comment.