Olivia Avellar leads the way as Nauset ousts Sandwich

ORLEANS >> Something special is brewing on lower Cape Cod.

Just a day after the Nauset boys’ hockey team advanced to the quarterfinals of the Div. 3 tournament, the Nauset/Monomoy girls hockey team followed suit with a 4-0 victory over rival Sandwich in the second round.

The victory was not as dominating as the score may indicate. The Lady Knights controlled play for much of the game and head coach Billy Ferreira lamented that his team played extremely well and that a lack of scoring was the only issue.

“That was not a 4-0 game by any stretch,” Ferreira said. “In March, you need puck luck. There was nothing more we could have done besides put the puck in the back of the net.”

Warriors coach Zach Wells said the win showcased his team’s ability to handle the high-pressure environment the tournament provides.

“Right now, it’s just a game-to-game mentality,” Wells said. “You survive and advance. Every team is going to give you their best. Every game is going to be competitive and it’s do-or-die.”

Senior goaltender Olivia Avellar earned her seventh shutout of the season and stopped a flurry of Sandwich chances late in the game.

“We’ve had two close games against Sandwich, and I knew coming in that it would also be a close game,” Avellar said. “We just had to stay calm and the only thing I could do was keep the puck out of the net and give us a chance to win.

The Warriors’ opening goal came from Julia Kipperman, who finished hard on a loose puck before Sandwich goaltender Maggie Welden could cover it up.

Minutes later, a Lady Knights penalty set up a

Warriors power play, and senior captain Sienna Reeves capitalized with a coast-tocoast rush that ended in a goal and a 2-0 lead.

“Honestly, I didn’t even know it went in until the crowd started cheering,” Reeves said. “It was a big leap for us, 2-0 is a much better position than 1-0, and I think it really got our team going.”

Sandwich really picked up the pace from here, but a shorthanded goal from Sophie Boucher in the second period extended the lead to three and an empty netter from Gaby Basset in the final minute would be the extent of scoring in the game.

With a matchup against Algonquin now on the horizon, Reeves said the Warriors need to stay focused and ready for the challenge ahead.

“We just need to stay the course here,” Reeves said. “Everybody on the team knows that the job is not done, and we just need to get to work.”