WINTHROP — When two of the top 10 teams in Division I girls hockey go head-to-head fans are in for a show. On Monday evening Winthrop (11-2-2) welcomed rivals Peabody-Lynnfield-North Reading (PLNR) (13-3) to its home and walked out with a 1-0 victory.
In the second period, PLNR thought it scored the opening goal of the game from an Abby McInerney shot, but the ref blew the whistle before the puck trickled in the back of the net. After a discussion between the refs, they decided to rule out the goal.
“The puck hit the goalie, no one was near the goalie so no one crashed the net, it hit her and rolled in,” PLNR coach Michelle Roach said. “The explanation I got was that he lost sight of the puck and blew the whistle which is a little confusing since it hit her and went in the net.”
The teams went back to the locker rooms with the score level at 0.
In the third period, the Vikings attacked early and were rewarded with a goal 1:37 into the period. The goal was scored by Reese Ferrara and assisted by Amelia Spencer.
“Reese is a hard-nosed player, more of a defensive player, but she wants to get into goal-scoring positions,” Vikings coach Butch Martucci said.
After the goal, PLNR continued to apply pressure, but couldn’t find the breakthrough.
“We were playing really well, especially after they got that goal in the third period we battled,” Roach said. “We kept throwing things to net hoping something [would happen], we had a couple of close ones, we just couldn’t crack the seal tonight.”
With 1:06 remaining in the period, PLNR was on the power play. Still trailing, Roach decided not to pull her goalie.
“It was a purposeful decision. With the way the power rankings are, unfortunately, one of the differentiators is the average margin. If we were to pull her and they have a goal go in, that would decrease our average margin which we didn’t want to mess with,” Roach said. “We had the power play and we were going to try and push through, unfortunately, we couldn’t get an equalizer. I still maintain it was the right decision to not pull.”
Winthrop killed the penalty and the game, to give them 11 wins on the season and Martucci’s 201st win.
Martucci was proud of his team, especially his young shot-stopper Riley Towse.
“My goalie is only a sophomore. It’s crazy how much experience she already has. That’s her 31st win of her career already and she’s close to the shutout record already too which is incredible,” Martucci said.
After the game, Martucci praised PLNR and its talented roster.
“Every time we meet those guys it’s an absolute war. They’re well coached and have a fantastic team on their side,” Martucci said. “She’s a very good coach and she has a really good staff and a fantastic goalie.”
Martucci mentioned his team wanting to get some revenge after PLNR beat them 2-1 earlier this year.
“It’s always about revenge I guess you could say,” Martucci said. “We know each other pretty well because a lot of the girls play together on the wings. Michelle and I are good buddies and coach together, so we know each other pretty well. Once the puck drops all bets are off, we wanted it and they wanted it.”
For PLNR, Roach was happy with how its special teams played and is looking forward to the next two league games to try and clinch the conference.
“With the 5-on-3, we had a few other penalties, I thought our penalty kill looked fantastic,” Roach said. “We have two more league games to pick up one point to clinch the league.”
PLNR will hit the ice on Wednesday when it hosts Marblehead at 5:15, while Winthrop will wait until Saturday when it welcomes Falmouth for a 1 p.m. puck drop.
