PEABODY — It may not have been the prettiest win, but thanks to an outstanding performance from goalie Michael Marenghi, the Lynnfield Pioneers outlasted Cape Ann League newcomer Essex Tech 3-0 Saturday at McVann O’Keefe Memorial Ice Rink. 

Marenghi did it all in this one. He turned away 31 Hawks’ shots, survived three five-on-three shorthanded shifts, and stuffed three shorthanded breakaways after turnovers in the neutral zone. 

“Obviously we weathered the storm and Michael, if he’s not in net, we lose this game 5-3,” said Lynnfield head coach Jon Gardner. “Michael was a beast. He had to work today. Holy cow, here are those 5v3 chances after we took those penalties. He had to really be mentally ready, and he was.”

The Hawks came out flying, peppering Marenghi with four shots in the first four four minutes, but Lynnfield flipped the script the rest of the period to take a 3-0 lead after netting three goals within a seven-minute span.

Defenseman Aidan Norton got things started at the 6:14 mark, converting a dish from left winger Will Norton. Three-and-a-half minutes later, Aidan Norton doubled the lead from Jack Marenghi. Senior center and captain Joe Raffa capped the scoring with a power play goal at the 13:13 mark, jamming it home from inside the right crease. Fellow captain Jack Carpenter and Aidan Norton picked up assists.

Despite the loss (its second in as many games against CAL opponents), Essex Tech head coach Mark Leonard remained optimistic.

“After the first period, I thought we outplayed them, but there were a lot of penalties.  We had a lot of chances to score, but you can’t give the defending league champs a three-goal lead in the first period and expect to come back,” Leonard said. “However, I’m really proud of how they played. I thought they fought hard and didn’t back down physically. We took it to them. Penalties hurt us – killing penalties against a team like that was tough.”

Majors, minors and misconducts ruled the final two periods, yet neither team capitalized on the power play. Lynnfield had short two-man and then one-man up advantages late in the third period, the latter for five minutes, but couldn’t convert.

Gardner was not happy with his team’s performance.

“We wanted to jump on them, being their first CAL road game. This ice is a small sheet and we wanted to capitalize on our ability to skate,” he said. “Never in 23 years of coaching have I been more aggravated with the team. They just blatantly, in the locker room, told them how to not take your foot off the throttle and how to perform CPR on your teammates. Between penalties and taking the bait, they did it all and not in a good way.  On the power play, they were very lackadaisical and were not looking for (Essex Tech) to pay, but instead, gave up those scoring chances. Tech just kept coming and that first period seems like it was six weeks ago. This was the most disappointing 3-0 win in my maybe 700-800 career games as a coach.”

Tech junior and faceoff specialist Brady Leonard (Peabody) played a key role, helping the Hawks kill seven of eight penalties (Lynnfield also had eight, including two majors  for unsportsmanlike conduct in the third). 

“Winning those faceoffs on the penalty kill was huge and we had three breakaways while we were shorthanded,” Leonard said. “We definitely had our chances.”

Leonard said senior goalie Garrett White (Middleton) was also a huge factor. All he did was stop 28 of 31 shots on goal.

“He has really been working hard,” Leonard said. “Their goalie, too, was tremendous and was the difference. Cam Casey (Beverly) also played great on defense and got the game hard hat. He was excellent. Mason Sutcliffe (Peabody) on defense and Jaydan Vargas (Peabody) also played really well.”

While Gardner gave a shout out to Jay Carpenter for a solid effort, he was disappointed with the Pioneers’ overall performance – and undisciplined play.

“After the first period, I told them they needed to figure it out. Down by three goals, I told them Essex Tech had to take chances. My message was: let’s make them pay for being over-aggressive and not reward them,” Gardner said. “I warned them after the second period that they had to come back like they did in the first period, but they disrespected me as a coach and didn’t listen. What was worse was how they conducted themselves. They were running their mouths, and then, when called out, it was the ‘Yeah-buts,’ meaning, ‘Coach, this is what he said to me.’”

Lynnfield is back in action Saturday at home against King Philip (noon). Essex Tech’s next game is Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. against Marblehead at Essex Sports Center. Leonard said he is looking forward to a rematch against Lynnfield in February at the Fairleigh-Dickinson Tournament on Martha’s Vineyard.

“I’ve been wanting to play that tournament for years, but it was always full,” Leonard said. “But when I heard that Hudson wasn’t going back, I reached out to the coach and said, ‘I heard you have an opening, and, so that’s how we got in. It’s going to be a league game and a home game for us. It’s going to be a great tournament and depending on how we do against Lynnfield in the first round, we will play either Martha’s Vineyard or Hopkinton – a team that went to The Garden last year. If it doesn’t kill us, it’s going to make us better, so it’s all good for us. It’s a great trip for the kids.”

“Today was like a tournament game. It was physical. It was intense,” he said. “It’s just going to make us better, so while we lost the game and obviously wanted the win, all is good at the end of the day.”