By DAN ZIMMERMAN
SAUGUS — The best way to silence a busload of loud, boisterous opposition hockey fans, it turns out, is to rally back from a deficit with three unanswered goals down the stretch and prevail in a game that was all but lost.
Last Saturday night, the North Reading Hornets hosted Rockport in a highly-anticipated grudge match and found themselves trailing by a pair of goals midway through the third period. To that point in the contest, the Vikings had outskated, outshot and outplayed their host and were minutes away from capturing retribution for the meeting in December, which was claimed by North Reading, 2-1. But Rockport committed several costly penalties which opened the door for a dramatic come-from-behind 4-3 triumph by the Hornets.
Rockport scored once in each of the first two periods to claim a 2-0 lead. Charlie Cooper performed admirably, gloving labeled shots, one after another. In the first period alone, the freshman goalie faced a 19-shot barrage but held the fort, yielding only once.
“Honestly, we couldn’t get it going in the first two periods,” said North Reading Coach Brian McAuliffe, who added a nice touch by starting his five seniors as part of the senior night tribute. “We had a number of scoring opportunities but we weren’t finding the back of the net. But in that third period, from the very first shift, you could almost feel the momentum swing.”
“We had talked in the locker room and knew changes had to be made,” said junior defenseman Max Forristall, who ignited the Hornet uprising with 4:50 remaining. “The coaches tuned us up and we came into that third period fired up. We haven’t been capitalizing lately on the man advantage but tonight, it all came together and we scored power play goals when it mattered most.”
First to tally for the Hornets in the pivotal third frame was Luke Baker, who scored for the sixth time in the last four games. Tom Gazda assisted on the goal that halved the deficit. Rockport quickly recaptured a 2-goal lead, however, with 7:58 remaining in the game. Moments later, the Vikings suffered discipline blight, committing five infractions in a 3-minute span.
Co-Captain Forristall took advantage of a 5-on-3, unloading a rising wrister from the top of the right circle that beat suddenly inundated Rockport goalie Luke Holmes. The helpers on the power play goal were provided by Christian Lava and Duncan Gulino, both who battled relentlessly behind the net to seize the puck and feed it to Forristall.
Last December, when these teams met in the season-opener, there was a heavy collision in the Rockport net that injured their goalie and triggered a brawl that ultimately led to suspensions for a pair of Hornets, Forristall and Gulino. The Rockport fans, in attendance for the rematch at Kasabuski, made certain that Gulino, who was unjustly blamed for the Viking injury, heard their full-throated wrath, each and every time he touched the puck. Unrattled by the added attention, the junior Hornet quieted the Vikings supporters by burying a game-tying power play goal with 4:13 left.
As the North Reading faithful held their collective breath, McAuliffe deployed his top line in the waning minutes and they obliged, once again on the man advantage. Tom Gazda, the current Hornets scoring leader with 9 goals and 9 assists, buried the game-winner, with help from Lava. The unsung hero on the goal that saved North Reading’s senior night was Forristall, who stopped a wayward puck at the blue line and sent it to his teammates in the slot.
“Max has been logging more minutes than any defenseman we’ve seen in recent history,” said McAuliffe. “I feel that he is the best in the league at his position. Some of the teams we face don’t necessarily have him on their radar because he’s a defenseman, so that allows him to make a larger impact at both ends of the ice.”
North Reading, which has avoided back-to-back losses this season, climbed to 7-4 overall and remains undefeated in the Cape Ann Baker League at 4-0. The Hornets moved up in the MIAA Power Rankings from 16 to 15 in Division 4.
“One of our goals this season is to win the league,” McAuliffe shared. “Tonight’s win mathematically solidifies that championship title.”
Recently, North Reading ice hockey was recognized by Poland Spring as part of the company’s “The Ice Runs Deep,” program. According to their press release, “Poland Spring is teaming up with the MIAA as the Official Water of Massachusetts men’s and women’s high school ice hockey. Together, we are proud to support coaches, fans, parents, and booster clubs across the state. During our Ice Runs Deep campaign, Poland Spring will be awarding a Team of the Week in each Division.” The Hornets were selected as the Week 7 recipients of this well-deserved honor.
North Reading faced the 7-4 Newburyport Clippers on Wednesday (results in after press time) and will next host 6-5 Amesbury on Feb. 7 at 5:20 p.m. This game will also feature the North Reading Youth Night 2024 and will showcase a mini-mite and in-house mites scrimmage between periods. Players wearing their NR or NR-Stoneham jerseys will receive free admission to Kasabuski Rink.