WINTHROP — Wednesday night’s Northeastern Conference tilt between the Marblehead and Winthrop boys hockey teams was a back-and-forth affair. When the dust settled, both teams walked away with a point in 3-3 tie at Larsen Rink.
A strong three-goal second period had the Vikings controlling play early. Marblehead scored a pair of power play goals in the final minutes to rally back for the tie, but the inconsistent play had the Magicians and coach Chris Wells frustrated.
“We came out in the third period, I thought we dominated,” Wells said. “Luckily we got some goals and got a point out of it. But again we’re back to the question, when are we going to play three periods? It’s been all season that we’re inconsistent and we need to find a way to play three periods of hockey.”
Despite the 3-3 score, the goalies shined on both sides. Peter Santeusanio had 27 saves for Marblehead while Ryan Holvermale piled up 32 saves for the Vikings.
“I thought (Holvermale) played unbelievable,” Winthrop coach Dale Dunbar said. “He’s going to be the difference in most games for us.”
A handful of late penalties cost the Vikings.
“Some of (the penalties) were marginal,” Dunbar said. “But there were five penalties to one in the third period. Using the same guys all the time is pretty tough. That’s a tough game to give away. I thought we had full control of the game after two periods. Then penalties start and it becomes taxing.”
The Vikings started the night having to kill a pair of penalties, but Holvermale and Winthrop’s penalty kill were up to the task and kept the game scoreless going into the second.
The second period belonged to Winthrop. The Vikings had a major penalty carry over to the second frame but a tripping call on Marblehead evened things up at 4-on-4.
The Vikings got pressure from there. Santeusanio did all he could with a pair of sprawling saves but Ari Hain (two goals) finished a rebound out front to put Winthrop ahead 1-0.
Marblehead answered back fast when Mike Flaherty assisted a goal from Eli Feingold to tie things up at 1-1.
A pair of Marblehead penalties gave the Vikings a 5-on-3 advantage next and a low shot from Hain found its way into the back of the net to give Winthrop the lead back.
Joey Holgersen added another tally just under minutes later and this one was worthy of the highlight reel. The junior forward slipped by a defender with a nifty move and ripped a wrist shot that found the back of the net to stretch the lead to 3-1 before the third.
Winthrop held the lead until midway through the third before the penalties started to add up.
Carter Laramie cashed in on his power play goal and three minutes later, after a pair of great saves by Holvermale, J.T. Monahan cleaned up a rebound to tie the game at 3-3.
Marblehead had one final chance to take a lead after a delay of game call on Winthrop in the final minutes but Holvermale made a last-second save to end things in a tie.
“If we want to play we can play, it’s just that we can’t be playing from the penalty box,” Dunbar said. “We have to limit that, learn from this experience and just move on. This is a tough one to swallow, that’s a big point, but we’ll get better from it as long as we learn from it.”
Winthrop (5-3-3) is at Swampscott Saturday (12:30) while Marblehead (8-1-2) travels to Bedford Monday (2:50).
“We’re heading into a real tough part of our schedule,” Wells said. “Teams that we saw the first time are getting better. It’s going to be a grind here this next month. We have some good teams to play. I just let the guys know it’s not getting any easier because everybody is gunning for us.”