After going scoreless in a pair of 3-0 losses to St. John’s and Norwood, the Dragons got their scoring touch back on Saturday night with a 3-2 win over Marshfield (3-3-3), putting them back over the .500 mark at 5-4-2.

Coach John Blake knew he would have nights when goals would be hard to come by, but with goalie Dan Sangster standing on his head all night long, three would be all the Dragons would need.

“He kept us in the game in that first period,” said Blake. “We were out-played, out-shot, out everything.”

Despite the win, Marshfield carried the play for most of the first period, buzzing the Duxbury end and keeping Sangster on his toes for the full 15 minutes while he held them scoreless.

The junior netminder was hoping his teammates would come to his aid in the second quarter, but it didn’t start out that way, as the Rams tested Sangster twice in the opening minute in trying to grab the lead.

Duxbury took advantage of the Marshfield pressure and broke out of their zone, firing on Marshfield goaltender Will Lundberg, who left a rebound for Matt Hetherington. The senior captain gathered the loose puck and pulled it around Lundberg as he crossed through the crease, depositing it behind the fallen netminder for a 1-0 lead at the 13:35 mark.

Sangster continued to keep the Rams at bay as the shots kept coming, and once again the Dragons took advantage of a lull in the action to grab a 2-0 lead.

With sophomore defenseman Stefan Krall and Hetherington moving the puck up ice and into the Marshfield zone, Hetherington spotted junior forward Jim Landry, who fired to the top left corner to beat Lundberg  for his first goal of the year.

A minute later it appeared the Rams were on the verge of narrowing the margin by one, but they failed to execute a 3-on-1 break into the Duxbury end and saw their chance go by the board.

The frustration continued for the visitors, as Sangster was unbeatable while facing over 20 shots in the first 29 minutes. With 2:49 left in the middle stanza the Rams went on their first power-play of the night: a sequence that would test Sangster and the Duxbury defense.

Just two seconds remained on the man-advantage when the Rams broke through, picking up another Sangster save with Ryan Conors beating the Dragon goalie to cut the margin to 2-1 with 21 seconds to go.

Things got a bit testy in the final seconds of the second period, as the Rams were whistled for roughing, and the referees hit both teams with unsportsmanlike penalties, setting up a Duxbury power-plat to start the third.

“We knew coming into the game it was going to be physical,” said Blake. “Last time we played them in the Christmas tournament it was very chippy. Any time you throw these two teams together it is going to be an emotional game.”

The penalty would come back to haunt the Rams, as it took sophomore Bryan Barry just 41 seconds to score what proved to be the game winner on an assist from sophomore defenseman Kane Haffey.

Despite trailing 3-1, Marshfield kept on plugging, as Eric Weidemann came busting in from his right wing slot and fired on Sangster with 12:02 to go.

Both teams killed off short-handed situations midway through the final period, but the Rams didn’t need a man advantage to close the gap to 3-2.

After another Ram rush that Sangster saved, the face-off came to his right where Conor MacLean drew it back to Jay Matthews, who wristed a shot past the screened netminder to make the game interesting.

Momentum was clearly on Marshfield’s side, as the Rams almost got the equalizer 20 seconds later when their shot appeared to beat Sangster. However, the net came off its mooring and the officials ruled the play dead.

Duxbury’s defense held the fort the rest of the way, as Sangster made a great save on a screened shot, and his teammates fended off an extra skater situation when the Rams pulled their goalie with 35 seconds to go.

“We need to play for three periods if we are going to win anything,” said Blake. “The talent level isn’t extraordinary. But if these guys want to out-work the competition shift after shift and period after period we’ll be okay.”

The team will be back in action on Saturday night at 5 p.m. at The Bog when it takes on Archbishop Williams.