Late rally not enough as Falcons fall to Fishermen

Jan. 23—GLOUCESTER — When there are rebounds to be had around a goaltender's crease, teams that have to fight for every goal they score need to prioritize getting to those loose pucks.

The Danvers Falcons tried Saturday night, but ultimately weren't able to get to those chances in a 4-2 loss to host Gloucester at the Talbot Rink.

The Fishermen's two best players, sophomore Emerson Marshall and senior captain Jack Costanzo, certainly did what they do best to help propel the Fishermen to their ninth win in 11 games. Marshall scored three goals, including a shorthanded breakaway, giving him 23 tallies in just 11 games; Costanzo added a goal of his own, assisted on Marshall's third and excelled on the penalty kill by ragging the puck up ice.

But the Falcons (now 6-4-1) weren't able to cash in until the third period, when they already trailed by four goals. Most of their shot opportunities over the first two frames came from deep outside the slot, including on their four power play chances over the first 30 minutes, and they were unable to penetrate the Gloucester defense — particularly seniors Ryan Frates and Robbie Schuster — to claim those loose pucks for second chances.

Danvers head coach Kevin Fessette was pleased in general with his team's zone defense and structure, but the breakdowns they did make often led to pucks being fished out of their own net.

"There were times we weren't sliding correctly ... other times we slid too far down at the wrong time. That comes back to communication and spacing, and good teams with speed will expose that," he said. "Good communication in the course of a shift is something we can definitely work on."

With smart breakouts, a relentless forecheck and its usual strong skating, the Fishermen stuck to their systems in scoring twice in both the first and second periods while killing all four penalties assessed to them.

"We know Danvers is hard nosed, plays with a lot of emotion and never gives up. We were prepared for that and answered that bell," said Gloucester bench boss Derek Geary. "I was very happy with the effort and desire."

Danvers, which actually outshot the Fishermen (23-22), scored with 10:43 to go when captain Aidan Lanphere followed up a shot that rang off the post and pushed it past GHS keeper Nick Tarantino. A little over two minutes later sophomore Ty Langlais came off the right half-wall, cut towards the net and put a shot between Tarantino's pads by the left post, slicing his team's deficit to 4-2.

"We got a little sloppy in the third period," admitted Geary.

But the Blue-and-White would get no closer. They also never pulled their own goalie, freshman Brayden Holt (18 saves) for an extra skater in the waning seconds, no doubt in part because of the state's new power ratings system (losing by 2 goals to the Division 2 Fishermen rates better than a 3-goal setback in the ratings).

Marshall, the leading scorer in the Northeastern Conference, scored twice in the opening stanza — once on a nice lead-in pass by Tim Marrone leading to a breakaway, the other shorthanded after he blocked a shot and raced up ice alone — to stake the hosts to a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

"A couple of times we hesitated for that split-second and we puck watched," Fessette said. "When we make a pass there, we have to move to that space. That spacing is everything; it's something (Gloucester) does a great job at."

Using both the long change and its speed to its advantage in the second period, Gloucester doubled its lead as Costanzo scored a coast-to-coast goal, which started with him picking it up behind his own net. He then delivered a saucer pass to a wide open Marshall as Gloucester came into the zone with numbers, resulting in another tally — and a surprising number of hats coming out of the Talbot stands and onto the ice to celebrate Marshall's hat trick.

Danvers will look to get back to its winning ways when it takes on Northeastern Conference Dunn leader Masconomet at the Essex Sports Center Wednesday (6:30 p.m.).

"I do think we'll get better from this one because there are things we can learn from this game," said Fessette, "lessons that if we do them right will make us better in the future."

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Gloucester 4, Danvers 2

at Talbot Rink, Gloucester

Danvers;0;0;2;2

Gloucester;2;2;0;4

First period: G, Emerson Marshall (Tim Marrone), 5:52; G, Marshall (un), 14:27.

Second period: G, Jack Costanza (un), 2:55; G, Marshall (Costanzo, Brett Cunningham), 10:52.

Third period: D, Aidan Lanphere (Jake Ryan, Jimmy Thibodeau), 4:17; D, Ty Langlais (Thibodeau, Lanphere), 6:33.

Saves: D, Brayden Holt 18; G, Nick Tarantino 21.

Records: D, 6-4-1; G, 9-2-0.