RallyNorth.net

Masconomet Chieftains Girls Ice Hockey '17-'18

Tue, Feb 20, 2018 03:00 PM @ Masconomet
Team 1 2 3 Final
Methuen 1 1 0 2
Masconomet 1 1 0 2

Red Rangers lose to Masco in shootout

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NEWBURYPORT — It’s not often that the Masconomet co-op team’s Clipper contingent gets to play at its own Graf Rink.

So it was quite the happy homecoming for the Newburyport High students who skate for the Chieftains Tuesday when they advanced to the Newburyport Bank Classic final by edging Methuen-Tewksbury in a shootout.

The game officially goes down as a 2-2 tie with Masco (13-4-2) extending its unbeaten streak to six and the Red Rangers’ own streak moving to 14 as they go to 17-1-2 overall.

A shootout was then staged to determine which team would face Winchester in Thursday’s championship game. Masco’s Charisse Flanagan scoring the only goal and Molly Elmore kept all four tries out of her net.

“It feels like coming home because I played here all through youth hockey. Being in the Newburyport Bank tourney is always really fun,” said Elmore, a Newburyport High sophomore who made 18 saves. “We were really excited for his game because they’d beaten us earlier this year (2-0 on Dec. 27).”

Elmore and Methuen/Tewksbury’s Kaia Hollingsworth, also a sophomore, traded saves throughout the final minutes. Both squads created chances both off the rush and through rebounds but neither could light the lamp.

“It turned into a goalie battle. Kaia was incredible and I’ll take any point I can get at this stage of the season,” said Masco coach Ryan Sugar. 
Elmore’s best stop was a back door denial of sniper Kelly Golini, who scored earlier in the game and has more than 150 career goals. At the other end, Hollingsworth stayed square on a 2-on-1 break to stop Abby Gendron and later made a flashy glove save to rob Flanagan on a similar rush.

“I saw the other goalie coming up really big and I wanted to do the same thing,” Elmore said. 

Masco had the lead twice in each of the first two periods only to see the Rangers strike back. Freshman Erin Irons opened the scoring by slipping a backhand inside the post late in the first. That lead lasted only 78 seconds before Golini sniped her team’s first goal top corner.

Senior Sami Kelleher, another Newburyport student, scored early in the second.
Lydia Pendleton evened the score 2-2 when Golini’s rebound found her at the far side of the crease with 1:59 left in the second.

Methuen/Tewksbury will face St. Peter Marian in Thursday’s consolation at Graf (5 p.m.) while Masco faces defending champ Winchester in a rematch of last year’s final (7 p.m.).

Game Statistics:

Goals: M — Erin Irons, Sami Kelleher; MT — Kelly Golini, Lydia Pendleton

Assists: M — Mikayla Vincent; MT — Carolyn Curley 2, Golini

Saves: M — Molly Elmore 18; MT — Kaia Hollingsworth 19

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