PEABODY — A solid group effort across all phases combined with freshman Jenna DiNapoli’s first career hat trick fueled the Peabody/Lynnfield girls hockey team to a 7-1 Northeastern Hockey League win over Winthrop Saturday at McVann-O’Keefe Rink.
DiNapoli scored all three goals within the first 17 minutes, guiding the Tanners to a 4-1 lead at the start of the second period. Peabody never looked back from there.
“We actually switched our lines up so these were new lines that we rolled out (Saturday),” Tanners coach Michelle Roach said. “I’m very impressed with the way Jenna played. She got us on the board and we walked into the end of the first period up 3-1. I think that was crucial. I thought it was a total team effort.”
Jennifer Flynn, Catherine Sweeney, Sammie Mirasolo and Reilly Ganter netted one goal each. Paige Thibedeau dished three assists. Mirasolo and Hannah Gromko distributed two assists each, while Ganter and Avery Bird each recorded one assist.
Peabody’s offense was on its A-game from start to finish.
“I’m happy with the way we’re going,” Roach said. “We’re really concentrating on that puck movement and making sure we’re first to the puck, we’re playing in our systems and everyone’s doing their jobs. We saw that (Saturday). It’s very telling to how successful we can be when we put that kind of effort in.”
Julia Holmes scored Winthrop’s (4-2) lone goal on Mia Martucci’s assist. The Vikings, who suffered their first loss of the season last week to St. Mary’s, drop into a 2-game skid.
“This is what I like to call ‘the St. Mary’s hangover,'” Vikings coach Butch Martucci said. “I try to play St. Mary’s later in January because we have a 3-game hangover when we play them. It’s happened the last few years. I’m hoping it’s only a 2-game but I give all the credit to Peabody. They played really well. They have a lot of fast players, they attack, they come to the net and they work really hard.”
Mirasolo found a wide-open DiNapoli in front of the net less than two minutes into the first period. The freshman did the rest, giving Peabody a quick 1-0 edge. Holmes knotted the score at 1-1 via power play less than a minute later. Then Peabody bounced back and took full command.
After Winthrop goalie Summer Tallent saved Mirasolo’s one-on-one attempt, Peabody’s offense found its rhythm. Goals from Flynn and DiNapoli (on a nifty wraparound) put the Tanners ahead 3-1 at the first intermission.
“We always talk about how it doesn’t matter what that mistake was,” Roach said. “Hockey’s a game of mistakes. We are going to make mistakes. We talk about how we’re going to respond to that. We got on the board early, they responded to that so we had to respond. I think the kids did a really good job at that.”
DiNapoli sealed her hat trick with 13:36 to go in the second period. Sweeney found the back of the net 10 minutes later, leading Peabody to a 5-1 advantage at the second intermission.
Third-period goals from Mirasolo and Ganter closed Peabody’s scoring.
The Tanners, 6-2 on the season, host crosstown rival Bishop Fenwick in a non-league battle Wednesday (5:15).
“I think we’re in a great place,” Roach said. “We’re just starting January. We’re 6-2, so we’ve played a lot of games in a short period of time. We’ve had Masconomet and St. Mary’s as our two losses. St. Mary’s, right now, is the top team in the state so to lose 3-0 to them, it was a good pulse check for us. We know what we need to work on. We know what we’re doing well. We have to smooth that into our game and play three consistent periods of hockey.”
Winthrop hosts Longmeadow Tuesday (6).
