NEWBURYPORT – Danvers forward Troy Thibodeau might be a shade under six feet but the junior certainly doesn’t play to that height. And on Friday in the Gulazian Division final of the 13th Newburyport Bank Ice Hockey Classic against St. Mary’s, Thibodeau proved to be the biggest player on the ice.With two swings of his stick and one bone-crushing check, tournament MVP Thibodeau embodied how the Falcons went about upsetting the Spartans, 3-2, at Graf Rink.Scoring twice and being a part of setting up a third Danvers goal, the Falcons little dynamo did it all offensively, but it was his hit on Ryan Fitzsimons late in the third period that had everyone buzzing. The crushing hit sent the Spartan defenseman over the boards on the fly and into the Danvers penalty box, which was occupied by Brett Spencer at the time.”He’s a kid who really plays on emotion,” Danvers coach Kevin Brown said about Thibodeau. “And when it’s going well for him, it’s really going.”For the Spartans, on the other hand, it was a missed chance to win their third Newburyport title in four tries. But that wasn’t what had the attention of head coach Mark Lee.”We didn’t show up to play (Friday) and it showed,” Lee said. “But give all the credit in the world to Danvers. They played well and wanted it more.”The win was big in another way for the Falcons as it clinched the No. 8 spot in the Division 2 North tournament and a likely first round meeting with No. 9 Bishop Fenwick when the sectional begins next week.”That was probably as good a game as we’ve played all year,” Brown said. “And it gives us a great boost going into next week.”From the outset, it was clear that Danvers was going to give the Spartans (11-8-2) all they could handle as the Falcons held a 9-8 shots on goal advantage and a 30-25 buffer for the game. But some outstanding goaltending from St. Mary’s Frank McCormick kept the game at a stalemate.At the other end, Danvers’ Pat O’Kane was on his game as usual, showing the form that made him an all-league choice in the Northeastern Conference’s North division. But with 50.1 seconds left in the period, the Spartans found a chink in his armor.A defensive zone turnover landed on the stick of Fitzsimons for a shot that was stopped by O’Kane. But Zak Borowski was right there waiting at the top of the crease for the rebound, which he tucked around O’Kane’s right pad for a 1-0 lead.Any though that that goal would be a catalyst to the Spartan offense taking wing disappeared quickly in the second, when Danvers controlled the play for nearly all 15 minutes.Once again, it took some great netminding from McCormick to keep the Spartans alive. Eventually, however, the law of averages caught up to St. Mary’s and with 1:25 left on the clock, Danvers finally got the equalizer.Thibodeau took a drop pass from Steve Kontos in the slot and whistled a wrist shot past McCormick and just inside the left post for his 20th goal of the season and a 1-1 tie.Even with his team in a 1-1 tie heading to the third, Brown knew that his team was probably going to get a challenge from St. Mary’s in those final 15 minutes.”Oh, we knew that they would come out in the third charging,” Brown said. “And I told the guys to hang on because I was happy with the way they were playing.”St. Mary’s did launch an initial charge at the start of the third, but the Falcons weathered the storm and then launched a premptive strike of their own.Jake Korthas, who joined Kontos, O’Kane, Fitzsimons and McCormick as members of the all-tournament team, sent Kontos in on a breakaway with a home run pass. McCormick made a spectacular pad save on Kontos’ initial chance, but the senior roofed his 13th goal of the year on the rebound to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead with 11:49 remaining.The Falcons had a chance to extend the lead midway through the third, but failed to convert on a power play after Derek Vecchia was tagged for high sticking. Seconds later, Danvers found itself shorthanded when Spencer was called for roughi