WOBURN — Two girls hockey rivals met yesterday in a battle for Middlesex League Liberty Division bragging rights.
Winchester (5-0-0) showed up in a big way, executing on their opportunities and netting the game’s first three goals on its way to a 3-1 victory over Reading (3-2-0).
“I think that they outplayed us a bit at least territorially,” said Winchester head coach Craig Seabury. “But we capitalized and went up 3-0 and it’s tough to come back, that’s huge for us because I knew that defensively we could hold that lead.”
The Sachems broke open the scoring 11:28 into the first, when Niki Micciche (goal, assist) turned and whipped a wrist shot from the high slot beating Reading goalie Maggie Fenelley (9 saves) to her glove side.
Winchester extended their lead just 1:37 into the second frame, executing a perfect 2-on-1 rush as Franny O’Brien sauced a backhander across the ice to Juliana Bray who promptly put the puck into the top shelf of the Rocket goal.
“O’Brien made a great pass to Julianna on the backhand, that’s a tough play to make,” Seabury said. “But she put it right on her forehand which allowed [Bray] to get a lot of wood on it, that’s good execution on an odd-man rush and that goal gave us a good cushion going forward.”
The Sachems tacked on some insurance with 5:08 remaining in the second on the power play, when O’Brien (goal, assist) banged home a rebound amidst a mad scramble in the Rocket crease, to make it 3-0.
Reading surged in the third period, but Winchester goalie Baile Lazarus (22 saves), stood on her head, turning aside 10 shots in the third, including five on a crucial 5-on-3 disadvantage.
“She played great, she was completely under siege,” Seabury said. “She made all the saves and cleared the rebounds away from her crease…She was, I think, our best player today.”
The Rockets finally solved Lazarus with 7:05 remaining, when Chloe Doherty broke away and was able to snap one past the blocker to make it 3-1.
“That’s a good team over there,” Seabury said. “It’s always nice to play well against teams in your division and that was a hard fought win for our team.”
WINCHESTER 3, READING 1
Reading (3-2-0) 0 0 1 — 1
Winchester (5-0-0) 1 2 0 — 3
1st Period:
WI — Niki Micciche (11:28), ast. by Madison Micciche and Tara Doherty
2nd Period:
WI — Juliana Bray (1:37), ast. by Franny O’Brien
WI — PPG: O’Brien (10:53), ast. by M. Micciche and N. Micciche
3rd Period:
RE — Chloe Doherty (7:55), ast. by Mari Verrier
Power Plays:
Winchester 1/2
Reading 0/4
Saves:
WI — Baile Lazarus: 22
RE — Maggie Fenelley: 9
