PEABODY — The No. 11 Peabody-Lynnfield-North Reading girls hockey team (13-2-1) celebrated Senior Night in style with a 3-0 win over Gloucester (8-9) Saturday at McVann-O’Keefe Memorial Ice Rink.
But on this Senior Night, it was freshman Sydney Zizza in the spotlight, scoring the game-winning goal, her second game-winner in as many games.
“It was a super emotional game with the seniors. It’s a celebratory night, but it’s also bittersweet,” said PLNR Head Coach Michelle Roach. “This is the one class I have known the longest. They’ve come up in the youth program and I’ve known some of them for 10 years. Overall, it was a really good effort and we just had to keep pushing and because we did, we were able to cash in on those three goals.”
The game was evenly-played for the most part until PLNR took control about halfway through the first period, unleashing a relentless barrage of shots the rest of the way at Gloucester goalie Kaydin Cusumano, who Fishermen head coach Rob Parsons estimated made more than 30 saves.
“She tends to be pretty fantastic, so it was nice to see her play well tonight,” he said.
PLNR finally broke through at the 7:43 mark of the second period with Zizza’s goal, one Roach described as a “beautiful backhander.” Defenseman Chloe Gromko picked up the assist. Gromko also came up with a huge defensive play with about two minutes left in the period when she hustled back to break up a Gloucester breakaway.
“Another thing I really liked tonight was seeing the D corps. They are seasoned veterans. And also, the backchecking of the forwards when they did have that rush on us, we always had a forward coming back to pressure. They were able to chip it back to the D and then we were up and gone.”
PLNR’s offensive pressure paid off early in the third period. Daniella White picked up a loose puck just outside the crease. She spun around to get the puck on her stick and then, with her back to the net, slipped it past Cusumano to double the lead to 2-0 with 11:54 to go. Senior captain Erin Dee and freshman Grace Allen were credited with assists.
“That was huge – just huge,” Roach said. “Daniella got in on her stick and again, another backhander into the net.”
Senior Vanessa Steinmeyer added an insurance goal with about two minutes left in the game, collecting a puck skipped toward the net from junior Mikaela O’Donnell from the right point.
“What’s best about Vanessa is she works so hard and is a three-zone player, so she doesn’t always show up in the goals section. But the plays she is making are so critical to the game,” Roach said. “So, to see her get onto the scoresheet was great.”
Roach said an adjustment her team made after the first period was the difference.
“We made sure they were keeping the shots low to be able to get some rebounds,” she said.
Prior to the game, PLNR (13-2-1) honored its 10 seniors. They are, from Peabody, captain Leah Buckley, captain Ava Buckley and White; from Lynnfield, Gromko; and from North Reading, captain Alexa Pepper, Dee, captain Mia Lava, Shirley Whitmore, Steinmeyer, and goalie Alyse Mutti, who notched her seventh shutout of the season.
Roach said the team’s patience and poise were also keys to victory.
“It was really good to see that we were spreading out and passing to each other. We also were looking for open lanes, but if we didn’t have the lane that we wanted, we had a lot of patience,” Roach said. “That was a testament to the seniors, their tenure here, and their leadership. They are just calm and poised under pressure.”
The Fishermen, ranked No. 30 in Division 2, are back in action Monday at Talbot Rink with a non-conference contest against Stoneham-Wilmington (5 p.m.).
“As of right now, we are on the cusp of being a tournament team, so we’ll try to maintain that,” Parsons said. “One good thing about playing a very powerful team like Peabody is that even in a loss, it works out in the power rankings. Our goal has been to make the tournament. We made it last year for the first time in team history, so that’s what we’re going for.”
PLNR (13-2-1) is back on the ice Wednesday against top-ranked Malden Catholic at the Malden Valley Forum at 6 p.m.
“They are a really good team,” Roach said. “We have to be able to play our top game. We know it’s going to be a tough, physical game and it’s on the road.”
