CANTON – Phenom goalie Evelyn Lacey left massive skates to fill on the Archbishop Williams ladies hockey crew when she transferred after final yr.
In the Bishops’ season opener Saturday evening, although, junior Bella Buonopane laced them up for an ideal match.
By stopping all 16 photographs she confronted in a frantic third interval, during which No. 5 Archbishop Williams (1-0) wanted to kill three separate penalties, Buonopane (32 saves) paired with a gritty protection and two first-period objectives to stave off No. 6 Bishop Feehan for a 2-1 Catholic Central League win in her first profession varsity begin.
One of these saves seemed just like the puck snuck in for the game-tying aim within the closing minutes, however officers dominated the play over earlier than it crossed the road, and the Bishops finally held on regardless of an onslaught of strain.
“It was kind of stressful because last year we had Evelyn Lacey and she was a beast,” Buonopane stated. “But I know I can play, I’ve been playing for a few years. So I feel like I just played with confidence and it just went my way. And I feel like my team stepped up when they needed to.”
It wasn’t the prettiest of victories to kick off a title-hopeful marketing campaign – committing 5 penalties, failing to transform 5-on-3 benefits within the first and second durations, and dropping the shot battle, 33-17. But nice groups discover a manner, and the younger Bishops – with 18 underclassmen – handed their first check.
The Shamrocks (0-1) confirmed off their skilled assault immediately by producing 4 photographs within the opening minute and by drawing a penalty simply 2:15 into the sport. Alison Stiles orchestrated a possibility by sending a go again to Chloe Bryda on the level, then positioned herself to redirect Bryda’s shot for a aim and an early, 1-0 lead.
Archbishop Williams struggled to generate many clear possibilities all evening, however utilized its elite velocity in response to shortly flip the momentum again in its favor. Eight-grader McKenzie Lima-Tower skated to a breakaway aim for a 1-1 tie lower than 5 minutes in, and junior Caroline Batchelder wanted simply 42 seconds afterward to take the lead on her personal breakaway.
“Team speed is great at this level,” stated Bishops head coach Doug Nolan. “Hockey’s a game of mistakes. It’s not about the mistakes you make, it’s about how you respond, and I think some of those younger players, they responded well and we’re pretty happy to have them.”
From there, it was a battle between defenses.
The Bishops couldn’t get many photographs on web throughout any of the 4 benefits they drew within the first two durations, however Fallon Smith (15 saves) took care of no matter received via. The Shamrocks had been principally restricted within the second interval within the meantime, with simply seven photographs throughout an evenly-matched body.
It wasn’t till the third interval that any offensive motion heated up once more, with Bishop Feehan drawing three penalties – together with a five-minute main during the last 2:59 of play. But Buonopane was lights-out apart from the close to aim that was referred to as off, and Nolan was impressed with the grittiness of the crew to discover a manner via.
“(Bishop Feehan) probably deserved to win that game, our goalie played awesome (and) we had some character play from some of our role players that killed penalties to end the game – Catherine Lacey, Kate O’Toole,” he stated. “To beat a good team like that with your best players not going, it says a lot about the character. … It’s pretty encouraging for us as coaches.”
“It’s probably going to boost our confidence,” Buonopane added. “If we played not our best but we still won against a good team, imagine what we can do when we play our best.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com