PEABODY — Good defense turned into good offense for the St. Mary’s girls hockey team on Saturday.
In the late stages of an extended second-period penalty kill that included 21 seconds of 5-on-3 time, Spartans goaltender Angela Catino stopped Peabody’s Chloe Shapleigh on a one-timer and then Jenn Flynn’s rebound from the right wing.
Kelsey Sullivan scored on a breakaway less than a minute later, marking the second of three unanswered goals — all in the middle frame — en route to the 3-0 St. Mary’s win at McVann-O’Keefe Rink.
“I think, ideally, both teams wanted to play 5-on-5, but we were able to take advantage of some opportunities and scored shorthanded,” Spartans coach Frank Pagliuca said. “Peabody slowed us down and played physical in the first period, but we got our legs back and generated some more chances as the game went along.”
St. Mary’s improved to 2-0-1 on the young season as it snapped Peabody’s 4-game win streak.
The teams played scoreless hockey over the opening 15 minutes, but it didn’t take the visitors long to jump on the board. Jenna Chaplain tipped home Haylie Grossman’s shot from the point just 1:24 into the second.
Catino, who is getting her first varsity starting experience this year, weathered Peabody’s storm on the power play with the aforementioned back-to-back saves. Sullivan then picked up a loose puck, skated through the slot and, at the period’s 4:31 mark, tucked a goal past Tanners goalie Jeny Collins, who kept her team in the game throughout despite St. Mary’s decided shot advantage.
“Kelsey is a very good puck handler,” Pagliuca said of his team’s second goal scorer. “She was very poised, didn’t rush her shot and scored a pretty big goal for us.”
Lexie Turner extended the Spartan lead to the final 3-0 count with 5:14 left in the period. She scored top shelf off Samantha Porazinski’s feed.
St. Mary’s finished the night with a shutout after killing off a double-minor penalty late in the second period and early in the third. Peabody’s Sammie Mirasolo coasted into the offensive zone for two breakaways over the final five minutes, but Catino stopped them both, including one with 11 seconds left and Collins pulled from the other net.
“We can very clearly pick out where we had breakdowns on the three goals so that we’ll be able to correct those mistakes,” said Peabody coach Michelle Roach, whose team has already played six games (4-2) and travels to Stoneham on Monday (1). “It’s a much different game if you take out that second period, so we have to work on our consistency and following through the whole game.
“I would have liked to see us produce on the 5-on-3, but we know what we need to work on and we’re going to make sure, like last year, that we’re playing our best hockey in March.”
St. Mary’s will also face a quick turnaround before Monday’s Middlesex/Catholic Central Showcase at the Essex Sports Center in Middleton. The Spartans take on Arlington (4:20) as part of the 14-team event to benefit the Joe Andruzzi Foundation.
“It was a slower start, but I’m pleased with how we finished and I thought Ang made a couple big saves in the third period,” Pagliuca said. “We had plenty of chances to extend the lead and just didn’t, so there are things for us to work on as well.”
