Melrose eliminates Bulldogs in overtime

WINTHROP – All the talk leading up to the Lynn/Saugus/Winthrop girls? hockey team?s preliminary-round matchup with visiting Melrose was of two extremely similar teams who figured to stage a battle on Wednesday evening at Larsen Rink.
True to those high expectations, the teams required an overtime period to decide a winner, with the No. 21 Red Raiders prevailing, 3-2, ending the No. 12 Bulldogs? season on home ice.
Samantha Kroon delivered the dagger, on the power play, just 38 seconds into the extra session, beating sophomore goaltender Gretchen Howard (16 saves) with a seeing-eye shot from the slot following a feed from Jill Mercer.
?We just didn?t have it tonight. Our effort wasn?t enough to win,” said Bullodgs coach Anthony Martucci, whose team scored late in the second and third periods to erase one-goal deficits.
?This was an extremely tough way to go out but I wish Melrose the best of luck going forward.”
The hosts were penalized six times in the game, including a questionable tripping call on senior Kasey Harris with just 17 seconds remaining in regulation.
?We?d like to have a few of those (calls) back but that wasn?t the reason we lost,” said Martucci. “We never really got things going offensively and that was the difference in the game.”
For Red Raiders coach Samantha Tetreau, the special team?s success is the product of her unit?s season-long commitment to refining its craft.
?That?s an area we?ve definitely progressed at as the year went on,” she said.
?As opposed to other teams, I think we focused on our power play a lot more. It?s a very young unit that we send out, but for them to maintain their composure after a couple of big kills from (the Bulldogs) speaks a lot about their focus.”
A 5-on-3 power play spanning the opening 1:03 of the third period proved fruitless for the visitors who did well to offset any kind of change in momentum.
Goaltender Hannah Aveni (25 saves) was immense for Melrose, which took a 2-1 lead at 5:57 of the third period on a Julia McLaughlin wrister from virtually the same spot as the game winner.
Rachel DiFraia and Mercer were credited with assists.
The lead held until Howard was called to the bench for an extra skater with under less than 90 seconds remaining. Shortly after, junior Olivia Shkliew found the back of the net from heavy traffic at the top of the crease.
Eighth-grader Sophie Leray and junior Gabby Kenniston added assists on the play.
After a scoreless opening 15 minutes, the Red Raiders (10-9) broke the ice 9:40 into the middle frame on a tally from Katie Perry whose shot from the blue line found its way through.
Kroon and Jess D?Entremont picked up assists.
It took the Bulldogs a little over four minutes to respond as senior Caroline McKinnon tipped in a shot from Kenniston at the point with Shkliew factoring into the equation as well.
McKinnon, who finishes her career with 105 points, headlines a trio of seniors the Bulldogs (11-6-2) will lose to graduation, along with fellow co-captains Harris and Annie Mahoney.
?The three of them have meant so much to us,” said Martucci. “Those are some big shoes to fill but we?ll do our best to fill them with the youthful talent we have coming back. Hopefully we?ll be able to build off our successes from this season. We?ll be hungry for sure.”Matt Fraser can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MattFraserDI.