Defensive effort pays off for Notre Dame (Hingham) girls hockey

ROCKLAND — After years of dominance the past decade, last season was a transition period for Notre Dame Academy’s hockey program, as the Cougars attempted to adjust to a fully-revamped coaching staff.

Now in his second season behind the bench, John Findley is beginning to see the fruits of his labor paying off, as the defensive-minded game manager’s scheme begins to take hold.

Sophomore Caelan Stewart notched a pair of goals, and Notre Dame Academy (Hingham) absolutely suffocated a strong Matignon team, 4-0, at Rockland Ice Rink.

“She’s been working so hard in practice,” Findley said of Stewart. “Just a lot of puck luck tonight. She’s had so many chances to score, and there just wasn’t any puck luck. Tonight, I told the girls: ‘You’ve got to get into the dirty parts of the rink to try to score against any good team. You cannot have highlight-reel goals. They just don’t happen all the time.’ And the girls took my advice, they worked hard.”

The Cougars (7-4-1) dominated from the opening puck drop Saturday evening, out-shooting the Warriors by a stunning 28-7 margin. While Matignon had hung tough with premier teams such as Austin Prep, Wellesley and St. Mary’s (Lynn), the Warriors couldn’t crack the code better Notre Dame’s defensive front.

After both teams struggled to get much of an offensive tempo going early, the Cougars struck with 14 seconds remaining in the opening period, as freshman Lauren White fired a shot on net. The puck rebounded off the pad of Matignon’s Gianna McCusker, and right to Stewart. From there, the left winger tucked the puck inside the right post, putting the Cougars ahead, 1-0.

“We worked really well as a team together,” Stewart said. “And it was one of our best games, as a team effort. Feels really good to win.”

With 5:30 to play in the second, a scrum developed in front of Matignon’s net. Amid the chaos, the puck leaked out of the mess to freshman Maggie Donahue, who swopped in and fired a rocket into the twine to extend the Cougars’ lead to 2-0.

Then, just nine seconds into the final stanza, Stewart put a ribbon on her performance, as she potted her second to break things open at 3-0.

Eighth grader Jules Connors capped things off with a goal of her own during a 5-on-3 power play, as she slid one five-hole to put the Cougars up, 4-0, with 5:32 left in regulation.

Sophia Roukounakis, Christine Landry and Cam Bourassa all added assists in the effort for Notre Dame.

Matignon (5-9) was propelled by McCusker, who finished with 24 saves on the night.

“The defense was awesome, as usual,” Findley said. “I think they’ve only had one bad game. So they worked hard, and I was excited for them. I was happy for them tonight, because that was a good Matignon team.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2Rr8pyj