ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
Mike Johnson’s return served as a boost for Swampscott in the 5-2 win at Salem State.
By MIKE ALONGI
SALEM — The Swampscott boys hockey team got one of its leaders and biggest playmakers back on the ice on Wednesday night, and he made an immediate impact.
Senior captain Mike Johnson returned from injury to notch a goal and an assist and help lift the Big Blue to a 5-2 win over Saugus in a Northeastern Conference battle at Richard H. Rockett Arena.
“He’s a difference-maker,” Swampscott coach Gino Faia said of Johnson. “He’s a great player, he knows what to do with the puck and he’s a huge addition back to our team.”
Senior captain Louis Olivieri also had a goal and an assist, giving him an impressive 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists) at the halfway mark of the season. Senior forward Andrew Dove netted two goals and junior forward Thomas O’Keefe scored one goal. Senior defenseman Emery Wollerscheid, senior forward Kevin Lombard and junior defenseman Jack Poska each had one assist.
The Sachems got goals from sophomore defenseman Joe Cross and senior forward Brenden Patterson, while freshman forward Ian Worthley had one assist.
It was a tight game for the majority of the contest, with the score tied at 1-1 after the second period. Johnson got the scoring started in the first period with a nifty shot from the right circle, then Cross tied it up in the second after scoring on a long rebound.
But the third period saw things heat up for Swampscott, as the Big Blue rattled off three goals in less than two minutes. It started early, with Dove scoring on a great backhanded shot less than five minutes in. A minute and a half later, O’Keefe scored on a putback in front of the net to go up two goals, 3-1. Just 14 seconds after that, Dove added his second of the night to ice the game.
The Sachems had a chance to make it a game again after Patterson scored with eight minutes left, but Swampscott was able to keep the puck away to finish it off. Saugus pulled its goalie with about two minutes left, but to no avail as Olivieri scored an empty-netter to put the game away at 5-2.
“We’ve normally been a good third period team this year,” said Saugus coach Jeff Natalucci. “But we just didn’t execute well tonight. We had some good moments here and there, but it wasn’t enough against a good team like this. Give all the credit to Swampscott, they beat us tonight.”
With the win, Swampscott (10-1-0) has already clinched a tournament spot at the halfway point in the season.
“Getting to the tournament was the No. 1 goal of the season, so we can cross that off our list now,” Faia said. “Now it’s time to start trying to fine-tune our game and start to go after other goals we’ve set for this year.”
The Big Blue will go up against NEC foe Danvers on Saturday at Bourque Arena in Beverly.
Natalucci said he’s pleased with where his team is at the halfway point, but there’s still plenty of room to improve.
“This is definitely one of those games that you learn from,” he said. “We’ve got to learn from what happened here tonight, buckle down, work hard and get after it in these last 10 games.”
Saugus (6-2-2) now has a week off before its next game against Marblehead at Rockett Arena on Jan. 25.