LYNN — Not all wins are going to be fairly, however a messy one from an officiating standpoint Monday evening wasn’t any much less notable for the St. Mary’s of Lynn women hockey staff.
Forced to navigate by means of 11 mixed penalties and a wealth of nixed offensive possibilities, the Spartans (15-1-1) used balanced scoring and one other stout defensive effort to prime fellow Div. 1 energy Peabody/Lynnfield/North Reading, 3-1, at Connery Rink.
All three targets got here from totally different gamers, scoring twice within the second interval regardless of one other large effort from PLNR’s Alyse Mutti (35 saves). Even extra notable is the one objective St. Mary’s allowed after committing six penalties, limiting exercise on Gianna Tringale (15 saves) by maintaining the puck within the offensive zone over lengthy stretches.
After committing simply two penalties over their final three video games mixed, it was a signature efficiency from the Spartans to push by means of the problem.
“It’s always a good game,” mentioned 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 very best defenses within the state was on full show within the first, as every group sharply restricted the opposite aside from just a few offensive sequences. Mutti and Tringale mixed for 14 saves in a scoreless first.
St. Mary’s, which dedicated two penalties in all three intervals, thrived on the penalty kill whereas ramping up the offensive strain. It wasn’t till the ultimate jiffy of the body that PLNR acquired its three pictures in a 16-3 shot disparity, because it dedicated three of its 5 penalties within the body.
The Spartans took benefit of two. Vanessa Hall ripped a shot by means of visitors on the primary one, giving St. Mary’s a 1-0 lead three minutes into the interval. Twice PLNR noticed power-play alternatives rapidly adopted by penalties to pressure 4-on-4, and Deirdre McCarron sniped a 2-0 lead 16 seconds after PLNR killed its remaining penalty of the interval.
“(McCarron) really kind of sparked us and extended that lead,” Pagliuca mentioned. “We like to see (scoring) distributed. … It’s good to balance that out.”
Mutti was stellar for PLNR with a number of stops on St. Mary’s breakaways, maintaining the deficit at 2-0 by means of a lot of the third. The Spartans’ vaunted blue line saved the puck out of their zone within the meantime, resulting in a protracted stretch of scoreless hockey.
Bella Freitas ultimately turned on the jets on one other energy play to search out the again of the online for a 3-0 lead, and a five-minute main arrange Alexa Pepper’s response for PLNR three minutes later to deliver it again to 2 scores late. But contemplating three of the sport’s 4 targets got here on energy performs — inside a uncommon, 11-penalty sport — protection and goaltending was notable regardless of a bevy of high quality possibilities.
“Credit to them, their defense played well and (Mutti) played great,” Pagliuca mentioned. “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.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com