English girls hockey defeats Algonquin

LYNN – Perhaps one of the best-kept secrets in the city is the Lynn English girls hockey squad, comprised of players from English, Classical, Winthrop, and Revere. The Bulldogs took an unbeaten record into Saturday evening’s affair with Algonquin, and remained so afterwards, defeating the Tomahawks, 4-1, at Connery Rink.English showed how tenacious it was right from the opening faceoff, continually attacking the Algonquin (1-2-1) end throughout (the Bulldogs outshot the Tomahawks, 53-19). Winger Rachel Mailhot had the team’s first good attempt within the first minute with a 25-foot slap that was gloved by goalie Caitryn Murphy. Yet English didn’t waste any time in netting the game’s first score.Left wing Amanda Cordes positioned herself to the right of the Tomahawks’ net, and it worked perfectly, as she took a feed from teammate Kelly Deveney, knocking the puck past Murphy just over two minutes in for a 1-0 lead.”We work on positioning all the time (in practice),” said English coach Anthony Martucci. “Amanda was at the right place at the right time.”The Bulldogs (3-0) had ample opportunities to increase their lead, but were thwarted constantly by Murphy. Defenseman Taylor Brown was stopped on a point-blank slap midway through the stanza, and teammate Madison Molea was robbed moments later after she skated down the right side and fired a strong wrist shot that was gloved by Murphy.Bulldogs goalie Katie Burt was just as effective, as she halted winger Amanda Yee on a breakaway shortly after the English goal. Late in the period, she stopped a point-blank blast by center Kathleen Clark that was labeled for the top left corner.”It’s good to know that we have a goalie back there that’s unflappable,” Martucci said of Burt. “She made several strong stops, and played solidly.”As it did in the first period, English came out strong for the middle stanza, taking the play to Algonquin, resulting in a goal. Molea beat Murphy just 50 seconds into the period with a slap from the left point after taking a pass from teammate Ashley Fiandaca, increasing the lead to 2-0.The Bulldogs had chances minutes later to add to their advantage, but Murphy robbed Cordes and Mailhot on consecutive chances from in front. Murphy also halted a slap from winger Adriana Russell later in the period to keep English at bay.”We’ve been in the high 30s in shots (in the previous two games), and we had quite a number of them tonight,” said Martucci. “Some weren’t quality, but we had many good ones, and we also ran into a tough goalie (Murphy).”One shot that Murphy couldn’t stop came late in the period. Right wing Lindsay Barker picked up a loose puck in the Bulldogs’ end, and skated down the right side of the ice into Algonquin territory. She moved in on the Tomahawks’ net, and stuffed the puck past Murphy for a 3-0 advantage.”We always work on carrying the puck, and Lindsay did a great job doing so, using her speed as well on that goal,” Martucci said.Center MacKenzie Clark scored just 42 seconds into the final period for a 4-0 English edge. Late in the period, English found itself in a 5-on-3 disadvantage for 70 seconds, and the team killed it successfully.The Tomahawks broke the shutout bid late in the contest, with winger Andrea Fahey beating Burt from in front.