Woburn girls end hockey repeat dreams of Methuen-Tewksbury

STONEHAM – In a couple of weeks, a new champion will be crowned in Division 1.

No. 4 Woburn ousted defending Div. 1 state champion and No. 13 Methuen/Tewksbury, 5-0, at Stoneham Arena yesterday afternoon in a big part to their juggernaut offense.

“We got some bounces and got some pucks scored in the back of the net, but that takes away nothing from the effort,” said coach Steve Kennedy about Methuen/Tewksbury’s tenacity throughout. “They fought tooth and nail like we expected them to the whole way through.”

After a slow start offensively, Woburn (17-2-2) blew it open with four goals in the second period with two goals within 1:23 of each other to start and end the period.

“It was really nice to see them put it all together and see a four-goal explosion,” Kennedy said. “That was really something. It was great to watch and it was something we had been waiting to see all season. A collective effort and not just an individual effort. A real collective, team effort. That’s what we got today.”

A great find in front for junior MacKenzie Russo for junior Bella Shaw made it 2-0 with 3:54 gone in the second. Just 56 second later, Jackie Lees scored with a shot from the point off an assist from sophomore ML Pineros.

“This game we worked really together as a team,” Russo said. “It just shows that not one person can do it all.”

Pineros added two more assists on two tallies from freshman Lucia DiGirolamo with 6:16 and 4:53 left in the period to build a 5-0 advantage after two.

To start off the scoring, Junior Lily Anderson saw a streaking Russo in the offensive zone and she wristed it home at the 13:06 mark of the first for a 1-0 advantage after one. The period saw a 9-6 shot lead for the Tanners.

In the third, senior Amanda Essigmann notched 11 of her 22 saves against Methuen/Tewksbury (10-5-6) and really has been a backbone for this team when the offense has struggled at times.

“Amanda was stupendous,” said Kennedy. “She didn’t get a ton of recognition last year. This a season where, despite the offensive output we’ve been getting, she’s been solid for us in the back end.”

Woburn advances to the quarterfinals later in the week against Monday’s St. Mary’s/Shrewsbury winner.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2T8GQLc