LYNNFIELD — Make no mistake about it; sometimes it’s the little things that make the biggest difference.
Little as in diminutive Medford/Malden 8th grade goaltender Erin Alves. Saturday against Peabody/Lynnfield/North Reading at McVann O’Keefe Skating Rink, Alves was peppered with more than 70 shots according to PLNR head coach Michelle Roach. Roach said PLNR fired off 54 shots in the first two periods alone – then stopped counting in the third.
Yet, for 25 minutes, the tiniest player on the ice was the biggest one. She made every stop but one during that stretch, the one coming from an Erin Dee goal in the first two minutes of the game. PLNR’s Yasmine Giacalone got another one by Alves with about five minutes left in the second period to send the teams into the final 15 minutes with PLNR on top, 2-0.
That’s the good news for Medford/Malden, still winless this season at 0-9.
The bad news was that, once the PLNR (8-1 overall, 8-0 league) figured it out, it was lights out with four goals over the last 13 minutes to close out a 6-0 win.
“The kids keeping the stats thought it was 84 shots. I think that was a little high but I’m pretty sure that it was at least 70,” Roach said. “I think we played well, but they (Medford/Malden) definitely hung in there. The biggest thing for us was the shot selection. We needed to be doing things with a purpose as opposed to just doing things. We needed to look at the goalie and know where to shoot the puck and do we move her in a way that is advantageous to us. The third period was a much different period once they figured that out.”
Roach said that between periods leading into the third, she told the team they needed to “push more pucks to the net.”
Senior captain Yasmine Giacalone and junior assistant captain Ava Buckley had big games on offense with Giacalone netting two goals and one assist and Buckley scoring once with two assists. Senior captain Catie Kampersal and Dee also had multiple-point games. Kampersal notched two assists while Dee had a goal and an assist. Alexa Pepper and Shirley Whitmore also scored, while Leah Buckley and Abby McInerney had one assist each.
‘We finally broke through in the third, especially Yasmine who had a huge game. She plays with Abby and Erin, who also had big games,” Roach said. “Maura Flaws played great on D. It was a good game for us. We know we just need to keep pushing through to get the results we want.”
Roach gave a shout-out to the fourth line – seniors Addi Mikulski and Jewel Mahnfeldt and freshmen Ava Louanis and Sarah Mitchell, who rotate shifts.
“Normally we run three lines, but today we ran four,” she said. “The fourth line did great. They all worked super hard and it’s great that we have the depth to do that.”
Roach also gave a shout-out to Medford/Malden.
“Those Medford/Malden girls kept up for a long time,” she said. “When we were in front, they just converged on those rebounds. They did a great job of clearing us out to get to those rebounds.”
Medford/Malden assistant coach Olivia Tufts, standing in for head coach Brittani Lanzilli, said that while Alves may be tiny in stature, the 8th grader is anything but when it comes to keeping opponents off the scoreboard. And she agreed with Roach’s assessment.
“Erin’s a great player who has been with us since the sixth grade and she kept us in the game, for sure,” Tufts said. “The defense is very good at moving players out to give Erin a clear shot. They don’t let her get blocked as she needs to see the shot. They did very well today considering we had only three defensemen due to some kids being sick.”
Both teams have almost a week off before their next game on Saturday. PLNR plays at home at 4 p.m. against Masconomet, who PLNR beat 5-0 last Wednesday. Medford/Malden is back on the ice against Newburyport at LoConte Rink (2 p.m.).
