WESTBORO – On an evening its gamers obtained to see their longtime banner at NorthStar Ice Sports formally unveiled with their first Div. 1 state championship on it, the Shrewsbury women hockey workforce opened the season Thursday with very a lot of what it used to grind out the trophy final yr.
Freshman Allie Martel’s first profession purpose was the second of two for the Colonials (1-0) within the second interval, ultimately standing because the game-winner of a 2-1, comeback win over Billerica/Chelmsford (0-1) in MVC/DCL Large motion.
Both objectives got here within the soiled space, overcoming a sensational effort from Lindians goalie Hailey Graybeal (38 saves) whereas the Shrewsbury protection allowed simply 10 photographs on Risa Montoya regardless of various threatening moments.
It was a typical end result inside probably the greatest leagues within the state, and far of what Shrewsbury head coach Frank Panarelli anticipated towards B/C. But with former captains on the rink to tug the masking off the banner, it wasn’t precisely a typical recreation.
“The first five minutes of the first period, I think we kind of were basking that (reigning title) a little bit,” Panarelli stated. “Obviously we’ve never won a state championship, so the banner reveal was kind of cool. The way we lowered it and everything. … The first five minutes, I said to them, I said, ‘Alright let’s wake up a little bit.’”
Once the Colonials shook off the jitters and the rust, they managed a lot of the play to vastly lead the shot battle.
The blue line did an excellent job of combating off the pace of B/C star Giovanna Gulinello, although she did draw a short-handed penalty to finally put the Colonials at a second-period deficit. Kara Gambale completed off an influence play on the left publish for a 1-0 lead simply 5 minutes into the body.
But after an entire first interval of the Lindians stopping exercise in entrance, Shrewsbury lastly obtained simply that to flip the rating. Junior Mia Ryder arrange a shot from the purpose for freshman Paige O’Donnell with 5:30 left within the body, and Blaire Fay tipped it in for a 1-1 tie. Three minutes later, senior Bridget McLaughlin’s wrap-around was kicked by Graybeal proper to Martel for a rebound purpose.
Shrewsbury bombarded Graybeal with 17 photographs within the third with the assistance of two B/C penalties, limiting alternatives for the Lindians to tie it again up for a high-quality win.
“Every league game is (hard) like that, no matter who is up or who is down it’s always going to be a battle,” Panarelli stated. “When we went down 1-0, it was nice character coming back. … (Graybeal) wasn’t going to give up an easy goal. Our goals, they were two dirty goals.”
“I feel like this just keeps the energy alive,” McLaughlin added. “It was a pretty tight game, but stepping up on the power plays and then just not letting any goals go in after getting down – I think we kept our composure and stayed strong.”
Much of the which means on this win doesn’t solely are available beating an opponent that was a Div. 1 state semifinalist itself final yr, but in addition within the contributions from the youthful gamers.
Two freshmen got here away with factors so as to add onto sturdy efforts from the upperclassmen, and O’Donnell earned participant of the sport.
“With the new freshman coming on, they’re getting into all the action and seeing what it’s like to be state champions,” McLaughlin stated. “It’s really good, we don’t have to worry about having anyone being a weak link. We just have a full team and we can rely on everyone.”
“Them getting exposed to a game like this, where it wasn’t an easy game, it was a such a tough game – their first high school career game – I loved it,” Panarelli added. “They each stepped up
Source: www.bostonherald.com