PEABODY — Whenever city bragging rights are on the line between the Peabody-Lynnfield-North Reading (15-3-1) and Bishop Fenwick (3-15-1) girls hockey teams, it’s usually a pretty safe bet that both teams will leave it all on the ice, regardless of records.
Such was the case Monday in the annual Carlin Cup clash at McVann O’Keefe Memorial Ice Rink.
Behind two goals from PLNR senior captain Ava Buckley, PLNR hoisted the cup for a third consecutive year, defeating a pesky Crusaders squad 2-0 in an extremely close game.
But it was the goalies who stole the show in this one. PLNR’s Alyse Mutti (19 saves) and Fenwick’s Ella Tucker (41 saves) combined to make 60 saves, earning each of them team MVP honors.
“Both of the goalies were so strong today,” PLNR head coach Michelle Roach said. “Coming into this game, one of the biggest things we knew was we have a strong goalie and they have a strong goalie so it was going to be a duel of goalies. I was very happy to see them both get MVPs.”
“I think our goalie played great,” Fenwick head coach Kylie Currier said. “We played hard, a well-structured game. A few bounces could have gone either way. We’re a really young team, so there’s a lot to be said for that. We are going to continue to grow and develop and we’ll get ’em next year.”
Both goalies were quick to credit their teammates.
“I thought we played great today and worked really hard,” Tucker said. “When we move the puck and do our systems we play well. The pucks just didn’t fall right for us today.”
“It was definitely an honor to be named the MVP, but that isn’t happening without my team in front of me,” Mutti said. “Yes, it was great to be recognized, but that’s only because my teammates are there for me.”
Neither team scored in the opening period. PLNR spent six minutes of an eight-minute stretch in the penalty box, but successfully killed off all three penalties.
“We weren’t quite happy with how we came out. Then we took the penalties, so we reset between the first two periods,” Roach said. “We needed to adjust to that kind of space and speed, so you saw much-different second and third periods than in the first. We needed to settle down and put those penalties behind us.”
PLNR finally broke through three minutes into the middle period. Freshman Sydney Zizza threaded a shot from the left side on Tucker, who made the save only to see the rebound pop onto the stick of senior captain Ava Buckley, camped alone on the far post, who buried it.
“That was a really great goal,” Roach said. “We changed our lines the last couple of weeks so that goal was Sydney Zizza coming down the wall and she sent the puck over. We knew that Ella is an excellent goalie who is going to make the first save so we had to get some of those rebounds and use the back door to get her out of position. There was a rebound out front and Ava was right there to put it away.”
PNLR ramped up the pressure in the third period and made it 2-0 with a power play goal 4:11 into the period. Senior Chloe Gromko blasted a shot from the right point, which was tipped in by Buckley. Junior Eleni Spack also picked up an assist.
“Our power play looked really good. I thought they got a lot of good looks and shots,” Roach said. “That’s something we had specifically been working on, so I thought that looked really strong.”
Currier highlighted the play of senior captains Penny Levine-Stein, Molly Sullivan, and Tucker and freshman Bella Marcinowski.
“Penny played hard and had a great game,” Currier said. “Molly did a great job, too, and Ella is just a great goalie. Bella played a 100-foot game. She played really hard both defensively and offensively and her structure was great, so she played really well.”
While Fenwick has won only three games this year, it might be the best-three win team you’ve ever seen.
“That is not a three-win team, whatsoever,” Roach said. “They’re a very strong team the way they move the puck with their structure. They work hard every second. I was very impressed with the way they played, especially in that first period.”
PLNR is back in action Wednesday at 4 p.m. against HPNA at Veterans Memorial Rink in Haverhill.
“They’re very strong,” Roach said. “It’s going to be a battle and could go either way. We’re going to go and play hard. Regardless of the outcome of that game, we know it’s a strong game and a strong way to end the regular season going into the tournament. I expect it will be a tournament-like game.”
Fenwick’s next game is Wednesday against Marblehead on Senior Night at Essex Sports Center (8:40).
“We beat them 4-1 earlier this year so we just have to be sure to pressure hard and force them to make mistakes,” Currier said. “Today, we just needed to stay out of the penalty box.”
