Woburn girls hockey routs Belmont

WOBURN –  Angelina DiGirolamo and her Woburn girls hockey team showed Saturday why they are tops in the loaded Middlesex League’s Liberty Division.

DiGirolamo had two goals and two assists as the Tanners (11-1-1) won their sixth straight with an 8-3 defeat of Belmont (9-2-3) in a league game at the O’Brien Rink, sweeping the season series against the Marauders.

“I think what really sets her apart from other kids that might be as skilled is her real competitive mentality,” said Woburn coach Steve Kennedy.

DiGirolamo’s mindset was called into action early, when Belmont scored within the game’s first 20 seconds. Even though Woburn won the opening faceoff, Emma O’Donovan gained possession of the puck quickly after and scored to put the Marauders up 1-0. Woburn and Belmont played an even rest of the first, and with five minutes left in the frame, DiGirolamo shot top shelf to get the Tanners on the board.

The game stayed 1-1 for much of the second period. Frustration resulted in a few Tanners’ penalties, but their penalty kill was tough. Marauders goaltender Bridget Gray kept the Tanners at bay, making eight saves in the first seven minutes of the frame in the midst of a 32-save outing.

Woburn’s pressure soon proved too much for the Belmont defense, and Mackenzie Russo scored to put Woburn ahead with 6:27 left in the second. Belmont answered with Maggie O’Connor dishing the puck behind Woburn goalie Amanda Essigmann to knot it up again.

The game was only tied 2-2 for 30 seconds. Kelsey Ficociello shot into the right corner to give Woburn a lead they would not relinquish. ML Pineros earned a power-play goal with a minute left in the period, and DiGirolamo added a breakaway goal to give Woburn a 5-2 lead to carry into the second intermission.

“During the second, we really picked it up,” said Essigmann, who made 10 saves on the night. “We made some good passes, picked up our speed and it really started working.”

It didn’t take long for Woburn to get scoring again in the third, with Lucia DiGirolamo tipping in a Jackie Lees’ blast and Bella Shaw notching a goal to go along with her two assists to put them up 7-2 . Belmont put a stop to the Tanners’ trend, with O’Donovan’s second tally of the night, but a Lily Anderson slapper put the game away for Woburn with 7:06 remaining.

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