FILE PHOTO
Ryan Granara netted a goal for the Sachems in the 1-1 tie.
By MIKE ALONGI
SAUGUS — It was a battle of the goaltenders on Wednesday night at Kasabuski Arena as the Saugus boys hockey team tied Danvers, 1-1.
“That was just a great hockey game, at any level,” said Saugus coach Jeff Natalucci. Both goaltenders played unbelievable games tonight, everyone played aggressive and there was a lot of action. Just a great all-around game.”
Saugus junior forward Ryan Granara scored the lone goal for the Sachems, while sophomore defenseman Anthony Cogliano and senior forward Alex Merlina each had an assist. Goalie Nick Sanderson totalled 28 saves.
For Danvers, junior forward Conor Purtell scored on an assist from senior forward Robert Glidden. Goalie Yegor Bublik made 32 saves.
“Yegor has been lights-out for us since he came back from that little injury early in the season,” said Danvers coach Steve Baldassare. “He really kept us in it tonight, especially after we fell behind. He’s a great guy to have back there, he’s been consistent all year.”
The two teams got off to a fast-paced start, flying up and down the ice and getting quality shots on net. The Sachems were able to outshoot the Falcons 9-6 in the period, but Bublik stood tall in net and the period ended with the score still knotted at 0-0.
The Sachems came out with just as much fire in the second period, except this time they capitalized. With 12:50 remaining in the period, Cogliano took control of the puck and sent a pass to Merlina, who bolted into the offensive zone. As he crossed the blue line, he sent a cross-ice pass through two defenders to Granara, who was streaking through the left circle. Granara took the puck on his stick and unleashed a quick wrist shot that found it’s way under Bublik’s armpit to give the Sachems a 1-0 lead.
Saugus kept up the pressure for the rest of the period, notching 14 total shots in the period. The Falcons were also able to get several quality scoring chances, but this time it was Sanderson’s turn to stand tall. Sanderson didn’t let anything by, keeping the score at 1-0 after two periods.
It was then that Baldassare made some lineup adjustments to try and spark a fire in his team going into the final period.
“We shuffled (senior captain) Rob Tibbetts up to the first line with Purtell and (Tom) Mento to try to give us some momentum, and we just wanted to keep working and getting pressure on their goalie to try to squeeze in that tying goal.”
It worked.
The Falcons came out guns blazing to start the period, peppering Sanderson with shots on net. He turned them all away, but Danvers kept coming. The relentless effort eventually paid off with about three and a half minutes left in the game. As Saugus tried to clear the puck out of its own end, Glidden jumped in front of the pass, stole it and took a shot on net. Sanderson turned it away, but the puck came right back to Glidden, who skated behind the net. He then slipped a pass out in front to a waiting Purtell, who knocked home the tying goal.
The two teams battled for the final three minutes, but neither could break through and skated away with the tie.
With the tie, Saugus (7-4-4) is now just two points away from a state tournament berth.
“We’ve just got to work on finishing games,” said Natalucci. “Those four losses and four ties, a lot of them have been a result of us getting a lead and not being able to finish. So we have to clean that up if we’re going to be in competition with high-quality teams in the tournament.”
The Sachems will take on Peabody on Friday night at McVan/O’Keefe Memorial Rink.
For Danvers (10-4-2), the goal is to get healthy to prepare for its tournament run.
“We’ve got like six guys who have been battling injuries, so we need to get them back,” said Baldassare. “We’ll hopefully be getting them back over the next few days and just get back to what we were doing before, when everyone was healthy.”
The Falcons play Gloucester on Saturday.