PEABODY — It was a record night Saturday at McVann-O’Keefe Rink for the Peabody/Lynnfield girls hockey team.
Behind a relentless offensive attack that had visiting Oakmont pinned its defensive zone for most of the game, the Tanners defeated the Spartans 3-0 on Senior Night to pick up their ninth win of the season and qualify for the Division 1 tournament for a record second straight year.
Sophomore Jeny Collins earned the shutout win.
As if the night wasn’t already special enough, there was even more.
Sophomore Sammie Mirasolo scored a goal and an assist to set a Tanners’ record for most points in a single season (32). She currently stands at 21 goals and 11 assists and, with three games left in the season, Mirasolo will have plenty of opportunities to add to her total.
“That’s a huge two points for us that we needed to qualify for the tournament so that’s a huge accomplishment for us,” said Peabody coach Michelle Roach. “It feels really good to not have to need one point in the last game of the season like we did last year, and to do it early this year. It was a also special night for our five seniors, who all played great tonight. Alycia Gillen got the start tonight did really great out there. Sammie, setting a new record, was another huge accomplishment for our program.”
Truth be told, the Spartans were outskated, out hustled and outplayed from start to finish. But for the outstanding effort of Spartan senior goalie Bridgette Martin, who kept it close several spectacular saves, this game would have been over early.
“Their goalie had a good glove hand,” said Roach. “We got off to a slow start, but put a lot of pressure on her, yet she was great between the pipes. I don’t know how many shots Sammie, Jen (Flynn) and Paige (Thibedeau) put on her but it was a lot. We were really moving the puck well and dominated possession but we need to work on following those rebounds and finishing them.”
Martin kept the Tanners off the board until Mirasolo scored the only goal the Tanners would need with 1:46 left in the first period. It was a bit of a fluke, as she had little to no angle, shooting the puck from the top of the left faceoff circle. But the puck took a fortuitous left turn into the net after being deflected.
After a scoreless second period, Flynn (from Sammie and Cassie Mirasolo) doubled the lead to 2-0 at the 12:32 mark. Mirasolo put a perfect drop pass right onto Flynn’s stick as she was swooping in from the left side of the net. Martin stopped her wrister, but the puck slipped through her pads over the goal line.
After that, things got chippy when the Spartans let their frustrations to get the best of them. The Tanners refused to get drawn in.
With 10 minutes left, Sammie Mirasolo poke checked the puck off the boards away from a Spartan defender, who went down and Mirasolo was flagged for tripping. An Oakmont player retaliated, body slamming Mirasolo to the ice, and was sent off for roughing. She later was ejected after her fourth penalty after a post-whistle hit.
The Tanners refused to get drawn in, however, and instead responded with their sticks.
With 6:09 to play, Flynn added an insurance goal. Cassie Mirasolo won a faceoff, and found Flynn, who flicked a backhander off the inside of the far post into the net.
“It did get a little chippy but when stuff like that happens we respond by putting pucks in the net,” Roach said. “We don’t retaliate, we respond in other ways. Tonight, we responded on the scoreboard.”
Roach singled out the play of her forwards.
“Sarah Buckley played a great offensive game today,” she said. “Paige played a really strong game too, along with Jess (Robert), Jen, Sammie and Cassie. They continue to produce for us and we will need that as we roll into the rest of our schedule.”
Prior to the game, the Tanners honored their seniors – Gillen, Cassie Mirasolo, Mae Norton, Kaydee Purcell and Buckley.
With the win, the Tanners improved to 9-5-2, another program best for the number of games the team has been above the .500 mark.
