SALEM — The Marblehead girls hockey team kicked off its regular season Thursday night at Rockett Arena with a 3-0 win over Medford/Malden.
Hannah Tsouvalas, Ava Vautour, and Maddie Graber each scored one goal for the Headers, while Hadley Wales had one assist. Goalie Lily Francouer stopped all 21 shots she faced, for her first shutout of the season.
Head coach Brittany Smith was pleased with the win, but still believes the team can improve.
“It just showed that we are a good team (and) we have a lot of skill on the team,” Smith said. “I think we can absolutely do better. We came out really strong in the first (period). We got two quick goals and then kind of let up, kind of went down to their (Medford/Malden) level of play a little bit. I think once we learn how to play all three periods at the same intensity, it’ll be a better team, but we started off pretty strong and I’m glad we got the win.”
It didn’t take long for the Headers to take the lead, as 34 seconds into the first period, Tsouvalas, a junior, blasted a shot past Medford/Malden goalie Erin Alves off of an assist from Wales. Five minutes later, Vautour lit the lamp with a blast from the point to double Marblehead’s lead.
The Headers dominated zone time and racked up 12 shots in the first period alone. Still, in the first period and throughout the game, Francouer made big saves when called upon. Smith was impressed with the work of her netminder.
“It’s hard when you don’t get a lot of shots in the first period and then by the third period she was getting a lot more shots so she stood on her head by the end of the third and we were happy she got the shutout,” said the head coach.
In the second period, Marblehead was stonewalled by Alves. The Medford/Malden goaltender faced a barrage of 16 shots, but none got by her.
The second stanza was also filled with a lack of discipline as four players headed to the box, including Medford/Malden forward Isabella Sasso and Vautour, who went to the sin-bin after a scuffle in front of Francouer’s crease. Sasso went to the penalty box once more with 3:30 left in the game and shortly after was sent to the locker room after another scuffle in the waning seconds of the game.
In total, six penalties were called on the night but Marblehead was unsuccessful on its power play opportunities. Smith said the unit needs a lot of work.
“We noticed that last weekend during our jamboree tournament,” she said. “We changed up the power play this week in practice and I think we just need more time working on it.”
Grace Stein also ended up in the penalty box with 1:34 left in the period after she checked a Marblehead player.
Down 2-0 with less than 30 seconds left in the game, the Mustangs pulled their goaltender and forward Maddie Graber took advantage, scoring the empty-netter to ice the game away with 28.7 seconds left.
Marblehead is now 1-0 and plays Masconomet Saturday morning (9:50) at Valley Forum in Haverhill.
