MIDDLETON — The Bishop Fenwick girls hockey team made plays when it mattered Wednesday afternoon and skated to a 3-1 win over St. Joseph’s Prep at Essex Sports Center. With the win, Fenwick earns a berth in the upcoming state tournament.
“That’s always the big goal heading into the season, so we’re very happy about reaching that milestone,” Fenwick coach Doug Anderson said about making the tournament. “We just barely made it into the tournament last year at 9-9-2, so this is already the most wins we’ve had in a season. But I don’t want to get ahead of myself, because we still have a long way to go.”
The Crusaders were led in part by sophomore Gabby Davern, who had one goal and one assist in the win. Freshman Lauren Diranian and sophomore Eve Weiss each had one goal, while senior captain Lexi McNeil had two assists. Freshman Grace Morey added one assist, while freshman goalie Madison Davis and junior goalie Daphne Jalbert combined for 11 saves.
The two teams spent the first several minutes battling for possession, with most of the action happening around center ice. St. Joseph’s was eventually able to get some pressure on Fenwick in the offensive zone and drew a penalty with just under three minutes to go, but the Crusaders stood firm and didn’t allow anything to get through. Finally, once they got back to even strength, Fenwick broke through when Diranian knocked home a rebound in front of the net to take a 1-0 into the first intermission.
The second period was much of the same. St. Joseph’s outshot Fenwick in the period, but Davis stood tall in net and made a number of solid saves. Then, with just over five minutes to go in the second, Weiss took a pass from Davern and snuck a goal through traffic to put the Crusaders up 2-0 after two periods.
While the third period was the best period that Fenwick played overall, it didn’t start off too well. St. Joseph’s was able to get on the board less than three minutes into the action when Sofia Guarino slapped home a one-timer from McKenna Wech to make it 2-1. But from there, the Crusaders took control. Anderson swapped out Davis for the more experienced Jalbert in net for the final minutes, which turned out to be a great decision as Jalbert made a pair of crucial saves down the stretch to keep Fenwick ahead.
“Madison did a really good job out there in her first start, but I just felt that I needed to put Daphne in for that last stretch there,” Anderson said. “She made a couple of great saves for us, so I guess it worked out.”
With just over two minutes to go in the game, Davern sealed the win for Fenwick after taking a pass from Morey and burying a wrist shot to make it 3-1.
Now at 10-5-1, the Crusaders are looking to hit their stride and play their best hockey as they head into the state tournament. With some tough games ahead, including against Auburn and Peabody, Anderson knows his team will have to be fully focused.
“We always play really close games against all of the teams we have left, and Peabody is one of the best teams in the state, so we know we have our work cut out for us,” said Anderson. “We’re just going to keep working on things and keep trying to get better everyday, because we’re going to need to be playing our best hockey as we go into the tournament.”
Fenwick hosts Auburn at Essex Sports Center Saturday (12).
