BURLINGTON – Head coach Rick Sheehan’s thoughts Wednesday evening was totally on the Burlington women hockey group shopping for into the thought it will possibly play with a severe Div. 1 contender.
Getting revenge on the one group that’s overwhelmed his Red Devils this yr will definitely do exactly that.
Behind a 20-save shutout from star goalie Isa Fischer and Shea McDonald’s game-winning objective within the second interval, No. 17 Burlington (8-1) flipped the rating of its first matchup towards No. 5 Malden Catholic (7-2-1) with a signature 2-0 win in nonleague play.
Defense in entrance of Fischer by means of three penalty kills performed a serious function, and Caitlyn Tremblay sweetened the victory with an empty-netter within the last minute.
Sheehan says his group wasn’t essentially energized over the prospect to avenge its solely loss, and extra so simply wished to show itself.
Mission achieved.
“It was a good win,” he stated. “I just told them, ‘You’ve got to play to yourselves, you guys can play with these guys.’ I wanted them to believe in themselves because they can play. … (This) kind of builds the confidence, it makes you battle tested.”
The opening six minutes regarded just like the playing cards have been stacked towards the Red Devils as they headed to the penalty field twice. But by permitting only one shot on internet over these 4 minutes of a drawback, Burlington set the tone early for a defensive showdown.
Fischer and Malden Catholic’s Megan Mullarky (15 saves) didn’t see a lot within the opening body, combining for simply six saves. Both teams heated up within the second to mix for 19 photographs on objective, however Fischer was unfazed to protect the shutout – together with a tricky glove save on a shot from the left circle, and stoning a breakaway bid.
Much of the remainder of her saves got here on photographs outdoors of the harmful areas, however she nonetheless was a serious catalyst in retaining Burlington in vary to take the primary lead.
“It does help when you’ve got someone behind you, she does make a difference,” Sheehan stated. “She made some good saves tonight.”
Mullarky was strong reverse her, and it wasn’t till an influence play within the last three minutes of the second interval {that a} objective got here. The Red Devils’ preliminary shot from the purpose was knocked down with a Lancers block, however McDonald dug out the puck from the soiled space to strike high shelf for a 1-0 lead.
“(Mullarky) is good, if you let her see the puck she’s going to make the save,” Sheehan stated. “So we needed some dirty goals. … (McDonald) was where she needed to be.”
Malden Catholic did an in any other case good job on particular groups by killing two of three penalties within the second. The Red Devils solely received 5 photographs on objective within the third because the Lancers gave a powerful effort towards a comeback.
But even with seven photographs within the third, Malden Catholic couldn’t internet the neutralizer regardless of some actually beauty. Fischer prevented rebounds and Burlington’s blue line successfully restricted exercise in entrance till Tremblay scored the empty-net objective with underneath a minute left.
Anna Viglione and seventh-grader Chloe Rabazzi have been two gamers Sheehan was impressed with alongside McDonald and Tremblay.
“We’re aggressive, we play aggressive because they can skate,” Sheehan stated. “We work on the defensive zone all the time. … We work on tying up, we work on getting the puck into the corners.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com