Doucette, Dalpe lead Mounties to win over BBV

Broncos suffer first regularseason loss in two seasons

WOONSOCKET – The Mount St. Charles/Cumberland co-op hockey team remembers the pair of beatings they took from local rival and last season's regular-season champion, Burrillville/Bay View co-op.

The Mounties' first chance to exact some revenge came Friday night at Adelard Arena. And, after Burrillville's Meg Buxton opened the scoring early in the second period, the home side played 18 cathartic minutes to hand the Broncos their first regular-season defeat in two seasons.

Senior All-State defenseman Kiki Doucette scored the game-tying goal late in the second period and she assisted on junior Elise' Curren's insurance tally in the third, while MSC senior Abbey Dalpe made 19 saves to earn a 3-1 Division I victory.

“It felt great. We worked together really well as a team and this is a big step for us,” Doucette said. “As the game went on, we started to come together more as a team. We started cheering each other on and we got more positive. We started connecting more on passes and going forward.”

“We didn’t talk about those games because every year is going to be different, but we respect their game and how physical they play,” Mount coach Anthony DiLorenzo said. “We’re trying to get back to that old Mount style of playing with speed and discipline. Our discipline broke down at the end where we were on the wrong side of the puck a few times. If we want to compete with great teams like that, we need to be more disciplined.”

Mount/Cumberland (2-0 Division I) was missing three important players Friday and they found themselves trailing by a goal just 4:18 into the second period when Bronco Cora Gaucher played a perfect pass to Buxton, who flew the zone. Buxton beat Dalpe to the puck and slotted it into an empty net.

The Mounties, who saw Doucette hit Alix Etheridge’s post early in the period, used their forecheck to even the score with just 1:31 left in the second period. A Mountie forward forced an errant Bronco pass, which fell to the stick of Doucette, who fired a shot past Etheridge from the right circle.

Burrillville/Bay View (1-1 Division I) came out the stronger team in the third period, but coach Cortney Lacey was forced to use a timeout to rest a number of her key players midway through the period. On the ensuing face-off, Hannah Squires connected with Macee Salley for the game-winning goal at 6:52.

The Mounties doubled their lead 1:08 later when Doucette raced into the Bronco zone and put a speculative shot that went wide of Etheridge’s net. Curren, a Cumberland defenseman, followed up for a goal.

“Coach always tells us ‘Red line and dump,’ so I skated over the red line and took a shot and Elise came off the back and scored a goal,” Doucette said.

Lacey pulled Etheridge with over four minutes left in favor of a sixth skater and the Broncos earned a two-man advantage when Squires was called for a penalty with 2:48 left in the contest. But, just as they did on two previous occasions, Dalpe, Doucette, Curren and the Mounties killed off the power-play.

Dalpe, a Mount junior, received the game puck from DiLorenzo.

“She’s a lot more focused this season and she embraces the job,” DiLorenzo said.

The Mounties are off tonight and won’t be back in action until Friday night when they hosts Cranston/EG co-op. The next night, reigning state champion South County comes to Adelard Arena.