Archbishop Williams shuts out Notre Dame Academy

In a battle between two of the topranked girls hockey programs in the state, Archbishop Williams skated past Notre Dame Academy, 3—0, on Wednesday.

The Bishops, the topranked team in Division 2, benefited from standout play in the net by Evelyn Lacey and a pair of goals from Maggie Lynch to earn the victory over the Cougars, who came in as the second-ranked squad in Division 1.

“This was two heavyweight teams, two teams that hope to make a run in March,” Bishops coach Doug Nolan said. “It’s fun to see a battle out there, obviously to win and get two points is awesome for us, but the game itself was great.”

Despite the success the Bishops have had to start the season, Nolan did see that an adjustment was needed. He moved Abby Dunn, who had been on the top defensive pair all season, to the second line center position alongside wingers Shea Nolan and Caroline

Batchelder. This move paid dividends, as it produced a key insurance goal in the middle frame.

“Abby Dunn is a hockey player, I could put her in net and she would be awesome,” Nolan said. “She’s a competitor with everything she does.”

The first period was scoreless and the second period stayed that way for the majority of the frame. The Cougars had lots of great looks, notably from Reese Engel and Emily Coughlin, but Lacey was consistently able to neutralize the chances. Coach John

Findley said that this was a missed opportunity for his team.

“We need to score goals,” Findley said. “You have to be able to get pucks to the net and force the goalie to do something besides blocking it into the corner or making a glove save.”

The effort from Lacey led to a break for the Bishops when Lynch crashed the net and fired a Grace Mottau rebound past Cougars goalie Ava Larkin.

“We needed a goal to get going,” Lynch said. “Grace got the shot on and I knew we had to bury it.”

Moments later, Shea Nolan made a back-door pass to Batchelder, who fired a quick snap shot into the net, showcasing the ability of the newly-formed line.

“Playing with Shea and Caroline is so much fun” Dunn said. “Our chemistry has been off the charts, we’ve been working hard and I love playing with them.”

The Cougars pressed in the third period, but a Lynch empty-net goal sealed the fate of the game with less than a minute left.

“If you want to be the best you have to beat the best,” Lynch said. “The energy was high in the locker room and we wanted to get it done on the ice.”