St. Mary’s girls (15-1-1) take down Peabody
LYNN >> Not all wins are going to be pretty, but a messy one from an officiating standpoint Monday night wasn’t any less notable for the St. Mary’s of Lynn girls hockey team.
Forced to navigate through 11 combined penalties and a wealth of nixed offensive chances, the Spartans (15-11) used balanced scoring and another stout defensive effort to top fellow Div. 1 power Peabody/Lynnfield/North Reading, 3-1, at Connery Rink.
All three goals came from different players, scoring twice in the second period despite another big effort from PLNR’s Alyse Mutti (35 saves). Even more notable is the one goal St. Mary’s allowed after committing six penalties, limiting activity on Gianna Tringale (15 saves) by keeping the puck in the offensive zone over long stretches.
After committing just two penalties over their last three games combined, it was a signature performance from the Spartans to push through the challenge.
“It’s always a good game,” said St. Mary’s head coach Frank Pagliuca. “We’re not a type of team to be taking that many penalties. … We did enough to win, which is good.”
A battle between two of the best defenses in the state was on full display in the first, as each group sharply limited the other with the exception of a few offensive sequences. Mutti and Tringale combined for 14 saves in a scoreless first.
St. Mary’s, which committed two penalties in all three periods, thrived on the penalty kill while ramping up the offensive pressure. It wasn’t until the final few minutes of the frame that PLNR got its three shots in a 16-3 shot disparity, as it committed three of its five penalties in the frame.
The Spartans took advantage of two. Vanessa Hall ripped a shot through traffic on the first one, giving St. Mary’s a 1-0 lead three minutes into the period. Twice PLNR saw power-play opportunities quickly followed by penalties to force 4-on4, and Deirdre McCarron sniped a 2-0 lead 16 seconds after PLNR killed its final penalty of the period.
“(McCarron) really kind of sparked us and extended that lead,” Pagliuca said. “We like to see (scoring) distributed. … It’s good to balance that out.”
Mutti was stellar for PLNR with several stops on St. Mary’s breakaways, keeping the deficit at 2-0 through much of the third. The Spartans’ vaunted blue line kept the puck out of their zone in the meantime, leading to a long stretch of scoreless hockey.
Bella Freitas eventually turned on the jets on another power play to find the back of the net for a 3-0 lead, and a five-minute major set up Alexa Pepper’s response for PLNR three minutes later to bring it back to two scores late. But considering three of the game’s four goals came on power plays — within a rare, 11-penalty game — defense and goaltending was notable despite a bevy of quality chances.
“Credit to them, their defense played well and (Mutti) played great,” Pagliuca said. “We gave up some shots, but we’re trying to manage the puck well in the zone. At times, we did that. We want to protect the middle of the ice and force things out to the perimeter. … It was a good tournament-like game.”