PEABODY — The Peabody/Lynnfield girls hockey team dropped the puck on its 2021-22 season with a 7-1 win over the Gloucester Fishermen.
Jenna DiNapoli racked up two goals and an assist for the Tanners, while Sarah Powers had one goal and three assists. Catie Kampersal also recorded one goal and an assist and Ava Buckley tallied two assists.
Peabody/Lynnfield showed quality forechecking and controlled the zone time in the first period with some impressive puck distribution. Kampersal opened the scoring with a powerful shot that put Peabody/Lynnfield up 1-0 1:49 into the game. The scoring continued in the first period as Shirley Whitmore doubled the lead just over two minutes later.
Peabody/Lynnfield head coach Michelle Roach was pleased with her team getting off to a fast start.
“We’ve been working really hard the past two weeks so I saw a lot of positives tonight,” she said. “We know that we have to start from the moment the puck drops and I was very happy to see that when we started tonight. I was really happy with the way we played, our neutral-zone regroups (and) our d-zone coverage. I thought we moved the puck really well. I think this is a good point to be at for the beginning of the season.”
The Fishermen got an opportunity to put some pressure on their opponents as Buckley was sent to the penalty box for interference with 9:05 left in the opening stanza. Gloucester registered its lone shot on net but failed to score with the man-advantage. The Fishermen finished with 14 total shots on goal.
Peabody/Lynnfield found the back of the net once more in the first period as Lily Piscatelli snagged her first goal of the season, with assists coming from Powers and Buckley.
The Tanners also did a quality job on the backcheck as they entered the first intermission. Roach believes that the game starts from the net up and that her girls need to play a strong defensive game.
“We try really hard to put together stuff offensively but we know that it starts at our home and protecting our house,” she said. “They need to be backchecking just as much as they are forechecking if we want to be successful.”
The second period saw Peabody/Lynnfield light the lamp four more times. Jenna DiNapoli started the second with a beautiful goal to give the Tanners a 4-0 lead 35 seconds into the period. A great self-pass off the boards as she entered the zone saw her get by the Gloucester defender and DiNapoli snuck the puck short side into the net. Ella Chase and Penelope Spack also assisted on the goal.
Roach said that she wants her team to utilize whatever opportunities that are presented to them, including using the boards to their advantage.
“Something that we really talk about is ‘how can we use our time and space most efficiently to move us up (the) ice,'” she said. “Even if that means we have to go back first to go forward, we are going to do that.”
While Powers had plenty of assists, she also got to show off her puck-handling skills as she was all alone in front of Gloucester goaltender Kaydin Cusumaro and gave Peabody/Lynnfield a 5-0 lead five minutes into the second period. Kampersal and Daniella White assisted on the goal.
After DiNapoli scored her second goal of the game with 7:32 left in the second period, the Tanners lit the lamp on the man-advantage as Madeline Monkiewicz scored the final goal of the game for Peabody/Lynnfield under 30 seconds later with Powers and Buckley assisting on the goal that put the Tanners up 7-0.
The Fishermen eventually managed to get on the scoreboard in the third period as Keagan Jewell scored with 10:31 left in the game. Mya Jewell and Jenna Connelly assisted on Gloucester’s lone goal.
The Fishermen did a good job of pressuring Peabody/Lynnfield goaltender Audrey Buckley in the third period, but it was too little, too late. Buckley ended up with 13 saves on Friday evening.
Peabody/Lynnfield is now 1-0 and faces Beverly/Danvers on Saturday (7:40).
“(Saturday) is going to be a big test for us,” said Roach. “Beverly is a tough league opponent and I’m very interested to see how we match up.”
