Locals go in as underdogs
BURRILLVILLE – Cortney Lacey kept the mood light and breezy during Burrillville/Bay View co-op’s final preparatory workout before taking on top-seeded LaSalle/Moses Brown co-op in a Division I Tournament best-of-three semifinal set, slated to begin tonight at 7 at the R.I. Sports Center in North Smithfield.
“We really didn’t discuss much at practice; I didn’t want the kids to be nervous,” the head coach stated Thursday night. “I want them to know there’s absolutely no pressure on us. La Salle is the No. 1 seed, and we’re fourth, so it’s all on them. I want us to play relaxed and aggressive.
“We had a really fun time with a lot of laughs.”
BBV’s recent history against the Rams is hardly humorous in nature, as it lost all three of its regular-season games by scores of 2-1, 4-2 and 4-2.
The good news? All three were close.
“That third game, I thought we played really well,” Lacey stated. “We had a lead in most of it. We led, 1-0, then 2-0, but they came back to tie it each time, and I think they scored a power-play goal late to go ahead.
“If we’re going to win this one, we’re going to have to score three or four goals; we know that from the previous games,” she added. “We also have to stay out of the penalty box, which has been a real issue for us. We can’t be over-aggressive; we have to find that fine line, but, like I said, we can play more relaxed, just let it flow.”
When asked how BBV failed to sweep the South County Storm in Game 2 of the quarterfinal set – they sustained a 2-1 defeat – Lacey stated, “I think the girls were a little nervous; I don’t know if it was the pressure they put on themselves, or what it was. They played like they were nervous and uptight, but they were a completely different team in the third. They skated with confidence, which is something everyone has to do against La Salle.”
The Broncos will open the set with an 118-0 overall mark, while the Rams, as the No. 1 seed (16-1-1 league record), are rested after drawing a bye.
“The thing about them is that they’re really deep; they have really good lines and two good goalies,” she noted. “Every time we played them, they had (junior) Kaitlyn Oatley in net, and she’s solid.
“We just have to be smart in our defensive zone; we can’t let them just walk in and dictate the tempo,” she continued. “In the offensive zone, we have to take some shots and crash the net for the rebounds. In fact, we have to take a lot of shots, as the higher the number of shot attempts, the higher the success rate – at least that’s what we hope.
“The goal is to test their keeper, put pressure on her.”
No. 3 MSC/Cumberland vs. No. 2 East Bay
WOONSOCKET — Goal scoring hasn’t been a problem for the No. 3 Mount St. Charles/Cumberland co-op hockey team – except when the Mounties play second-seeded East Bay co-op.
In a pair of regular-season games against the Eagles, the Mounties managed a meager one goal, a Hannah Squires consolation effort at the end of a 4-1 defeat on Jan. 13. If the Mounties are to play in their first state final since 2012, solving goalie Ellee Kopecky is the first task.
“The second time we played them, I didn’t use the lineup I plan to use [tonight] and Saturday,” Mount/Cumberland coach Tony DiLorenzo said. “They’ve got two really good defensemen who skate the puck well and shoot the puck well in Maddie Cox and [Carissa Rego]. We didn’t do a good job in the second game in stopping them.”
East Bay (14-3 Division I) is tough to stop because the Eagles have so much offensive balance. Flaherty, a Barrington student, had a team-high 15 goals and 33 points, while freshman forward Katherine Barker had a team-high 18 assists. Rego, who goes to Mt. Hope, Cox, Sydney Parkhurst and Portsmouth’s Mary Arkins all produced at least 14 points.
While Flaherty is an All-State-caliber player, the best player on the ice is going to be Franklin Pierce-bound forward/defenseman Kiki Doucette. The Mount senior had 18 goals and 17 assists for a league-high 35 points during the regular season. She scored a hat trick in Game 1 of the D-I quarterfinal series against Warwick.
Doucette isn’t the only Mountie capable of scoring, as Squires, a freshman, had a team-high 17 assists and Cumberland junior defenseman Elise Curren added 12 goals and 12 assists. Curren and Doucette will likely see plenty of time against the Eagles’ top line.
“Based off of that game I know the pairings I will go with when we are shorthanded,” DiLorenzo said. “We’ll have Kiki playing with Curren. It’s a tough situation for Kiki because she is the No. 1 point scorer on the team, but we need to keep her within her game because she contributes more on defense than most people recognize with her backcheck.
“In the playoffs, hopefully the games are going to be tighter and we need to be better at transitioning from offense to defense.”
Game 1 of the best-of-three series is today at 4:30 at Portsmouth Abbey before the scene shifts to Adelard Arena tomorrow night at 7:15. If necessary, Game 3 will be back in Portsmouth Monday night.
Even though his team has been outscored 7-1 in the regular season by East Bay, DiLorenzo is confident his team can advance.
“I felt a little more confident based off the last game,” DiLorenzo. “Hopefully with the lineup and the lines we’re going to have for this series, hopefully we can do it.”