The Duxbury boys’ hockey team was just two wins away from qualifying for post-season play after Saturday’s 5-2 win over Scituate left them with a 6-5-6 record.
With five games left on the regular-season schedule, it would make it a lot easier for the Dragons if they could have wrapped it up with wins over Concord-Carlisle and Pembroke this week, rather than facing the pressure of having to beat some of the Division 1 powers during the Cape Cod Classic during school vacation week.
Taking one game at a time was the object for Coach John Blake’s team and they did a good job of it Saturday at The Bog.
The Sailors came in at 9-4-1, so it wasn’t going to be an easy night for the Dragons, who fell behind less than three minutes into the contest when Scituate’s Michael Hassett fired a shot from the right side that eluded goaltender Derek Williams for a 1-0 lead.
Although the Sailors seemed to dominate the action early, the Dragons kept their feet moving and tied the game at the 9:58 mark when freshman Nick Marrocco was stationed perfectly by the post and knocked home a pass from behind the net by Bobby O’Brien. Sophomore James Marcello was also credited with an assist.
After getting back in the game and ending the first period tied, the Dragons faced two shorthanded situations in the first half of the second period. But killing off the second one seemed to work to their advantage, as senior captain Bobby Barry took a pass out of the corner from fellow captain Nick Buonvicino and beat goaltender Matt Gentile for a 2-1 lead with 6:16 showing on the clock.
The Sailors were determined not to let this one slip away. Three minutes later the game was tied at 2-2 when Scituate’s Dan DelGrosso was behind the Duxbury defense and picked off a clearing pass that led to the tying goal.
It didn’t take long for Scituate’s celebration to end, as 27 seconds later they found themselves behind on a careless cross-ice pass that was picked off by Will Siefert, who found Evan Jackson heading for the net and hit him with a pass that put the Dragons back in front, 3-2, as the period came to a close.
Despite the one-goal lead, Duxbury was a mistake away from seeing a potential win go up in flames with nine minutes to go. Fortunately the pressure disappeared when junior forward Tim Harrison burst through center ice after taking passes from Siefert and Jackson and beat Gentile for a 4-2 lead with 8:51 left in the game.
Harrison would score his second of the evening with 1:20 remaining to ice the win.
“I thought Scituate kind of controlled the first period, but we regained our composure and took over in the second and third. But I’m still not seeing a complete 45-minute effort that we are going to need,” said Blake.  “It was nice to hang in there and pop a few. That was the most offense we’ve had all year. It’s not going to be easy getting those final two wins, but we’ll take it one game at a time because we realize where we are at.”
On Wednesday night the Dragons will continue their quest for a tournament berth when they take on Pembroke at Hobomock Arena at 6:10 p.m.