Late goal helps Stoneham shock English

LYNN – It was the perfect scenario in a tie game late in the third period if you were the Lynn English girls hockey team and coach Anthony Martucci: all-conference center Vanessa Caruccio with the puck on a breakaway.But the hockey gods can be cruel sometimes as Caruccio hit the right post with her shot. Moment later, Colleen O’Quinn scored a goal with 18 seconds left to give Stoneham a surprising 3-2 win over the No. 9-ranked team in Massachusetts.”Obviously, when you need the win and you lose like that, it hurts,” Martucci said. “It was the perfect scenario for us, Vanessa with the puck and a breakaway in the last seconds. We figured, as coaches, the game was over and she made the right move.”The co-champions of the North Cape League had done everything but throw the kitchen sink at Stoneham in the third period. But backup goalie Jill Harrington came up with a countless number of spectacular saves during a three-minute stretch that saw English keep Stoneham trapped in its own end.”We just couldn’t buy one,” Martucci said about the third-period chances.Things didn’t exactly start well for the Bulldogs on Senior Night as the Spartans’ Jess Muolo scored a power-play goal just 51 seconds in to stake the visitors to a 1-0 lead.But English stayed the course and began to control the play as the period went on. And at 6:03, Caruccio got the Bulldogs back even when she scored off assists from Rachel Mailhot and Lindsay Barker just after a power play had expired.Late in the period, Mackenzie Clark had a chance to put English in front, but Emily McCular came up with a glove save on her 2-on-1 chance to keep the game tied after one period.”We looked a little tired for some reason at the start, but we turned it on after the first period,” Martucci said.The Spartans (5-10-4) had a chance to take the lead early in the second when they had a 26-second 2-man advantage. But English’s defense killed that opportunity off.English then jumped in front at 6:09 when Barker picked up a Taylor Brown rebound and scored on a backhander to make it 2-1.That lead lasted all of 18 seconds, as Lynn Kozlowski was able to score on a Danielle Phalen rebound to knot the game again at 2-2.Harrington replaced McCular in net midway through the second and was able to keep the Bulldogs at bay heading to the third.The Bulldogs came out flying in the third, outshooting Stoneham 11-3. But Harrington came up with several unbelievable stops.Defenseman Taylor Brown was the victim of two of the stellar saves before Mailhot was absolutely robbed by Harrington on a breakaway bid with 6:30 left.Harrington’s play gave Stoneham a chance to hang around, and it went on a power play with 1:06 left. But Caruccio found herself with a breakaway and a chance to win.She beat Harrington, but the shot rang off the right post with 35 seconds left. Less than 20 seconds later, O’Quinn picked up the puck at the left point and scored through a screen to win the game.