SALEM – Getting off to a slow start has been the problem for the Swampscott hockey team recently. But the Big Blue had been able to shake off the cobwebs and put together victories despite the first-period troubles.On Saturday at Rockett Arena, Swampscott’s first-period problems finally came back to bite the Big Blue.Gloucester scored a pair of first-period goals and then rode the back of a rock-solid defense and the goaltending of Bradley Robertson to take a 3-1 win and keep what had been some dwindling tournament hopes very much alive.”We’ve been telling the team all along that the slow starts were going to come back to hurt us,” Swampscott coach Gino Faia said. “And (Saturday) it did. You can’t spot a team like that two goals.”The Fishermen, who moved to 4-8-3 with the win, still need to gain 10 points in their final six games to make the tournament. But Saturday’s win was one that coach Don Lowe knew his team had to get.”That’s one of the better Swampscott teams I’ve seen in years,” Lowe said. “And we came out quick and got a couple of goals.”There was a sense that things weren’t quite right for the Big Blue from the beginning as its leading scorer, Gino Cresta, was sent to the penalty box just 2:02 in for a tripping infraction. But the Fishermen failed to convert on that chance.However, they continued applying pressure following the power play and just past the midpoint of the period, the Fishermen were rewarded for the effort.Mackenzie Quinn picked up a Jared Toye pass and rifled a wrist shot over the shoulder of Tyler Gallagher at 7:42 to make it 1-0, Gloucester.Gloucester continued dominating the play, holding the Big Blue to only five shots on Robertson’s net in the first period, and with 2:00 left on the clock, the Fishermen doubled the lead.Once again Toye was in the middle of the action as he put a shot on net that was stopped by Gallagher. But Conor Ressel outraced the Swampscott defense to the rebound and put it home for his fifth goal of the season and a 2-0 lead after one period.”We’re just not getting to enough rebounds at either end of the ice,” Faia said.Swampscott began the second period on the power play after Josh Salah was given a minor and a misconduct for hitting from behind with 1:14 left in the first.After failing to convert on that chance, Swampscott went back on the power play moments later when Dylan Morrissey was called for tripping at 1:26. But once again Swampscott failed to find the mark as Cresta fanned on a one-timer chance in the slot late in the power play.Robertson also got into the act, robbing Colby Wollerscheid following a defensive zone turnover.”We sort of started sitting back in the second and they took it to us for a good portion of the period,” Lowe said.Swampscott was all over the Gloucester defense, putting eight shots on goal in the first six minutes of the period, but had nothing to show for it until defenseman Jake Donahue sprung forward A.J. Zarinsky in the neutral zone.Zarinsky split the defense and then put his shot over Robertson’s glove hand to cut the lead to 2-1 with 7:35 left in the second.Unfortunately for Swampscott, Zarinsky’s goal served as a wake-up call to the Fishermen, as, for the rest of the period, Gloucester took back control of the game.Ressel nearly got his second goal of the game late in the period but Gallagher came up with a sterling glove stop. But for the second time in as many periods, the Fishermen would find the final two minutes to their liking.Quinn blocked a shot at the Gloucester line, resulting in a 2-on-1 with Salah. Quinn’s initial shot was stopped by Salah, but he trailed the play perfectly and deposited home the rebound to make it 3-1.”That goal was huge,” Lowe said. “It allowed us to play solid instead of having to press.”In the third, the Fishermen turned to their defense to hold the fort. And led by Paul Russo, Nick DeCoste and Robertson, Gloucester survived an early Swampscott power play to hang on for the much-needed win.