PEABODY — Peabody-Lynnfield-North Reading’s (PLNR) girls hockey team beat the Medford-Malden Mustangs on Wednesday evening, 6-0, at McVann-O’Keefe Rink. Four days earlier, the Tanners (9-2) won 5-0 against the Mustangs, and have now won five straight.
The Tanners got off to a strong start – scoring three goals in the opening period and constantly putting pucks on net. The first two goals were results of crashing the net – something head coach Michelle Roach has been preaching.
“Crashing the net is something we worked really hard on in the last two weeks,” Roach said. “That is something we focused on in practice.”
The third goal of the period – a highlight-reel one at that – came from freshman Angela Fabbo who deked around a Mustang before firing a shot towards the goalie, leading to a tap-in rebound off her own shot.
Roach, once again, was left satisfied – this time in the department of starting fast.
“That [starting fast] is something we knew we needed to work on, so we’ve been conscious about it. We know [that] against other teams we cannot sit back – we have to start fast and strong if we want to be where we want,” Roach said.
PLNR did exactly that. The Tanners didn’t get complacent after going up 3-0 after one, and continued to play with the same passion.
Even being without eight players, and having different lines, everyone continued to fight.
“We ran different lines. This is a group of kids that don’t see as much ice time, but one of the things that makes us a strong team is our depth,” Roach said.
“One thing I like about this team is their ability to adjust to different things, and being able to play different positions and into different lines,” Roach said.
Penny Spack, who normally plays defense, found herself with the puck in the Mustangs’ zone. Spack dribbled around three Mustangs before scoring just two minutes into the second period – extending the lead to four. PLNR continued to control the puck and scored two more goals in the second period.
The third period was scoreless, and the final score favored red-hot PLNR 6-0.
This win was Roach’s 95th of her career. The Tanners look to continue their win-streak and get Roach her 100th win sooner rather than later – that starts Friday when they host Masconomet with puck-drop set for 5:15 p.m.
Goals:
Ella Chase
Ava Buckley (2)
Fabbo
Spack
Jenna DiNapoli
Assists:
DiNapoli
Fabbo (2)
Buckley
Spack
