Ryder lifts Shrewsbury past Methuen/Tewksbury in MVC/DCL girls hockey tilt

WESTBORO – A scrappy opposition kept the Shrewsbury girls hockey team from playing its typical game Monday night at NorthStar Ice Sports, but even through one of its uglier performances of the year, the undefeated drum beats on for the Colonials.

Behind a pair of goals from Taylor Ryder in an otherwise defensive grind from both teams, No. 2 Shrewsbury (8-0) got all the offense it needed to crawl past No. 12 Methuen/Tewksbury (4-3) for a 2-1 win in a key MVC/DCL matchup. Shots on goal were at a premium as defenses prevented much from developing on both ends, with the Colonials firing off just 16.

Nearly half of those came in the third period alone, which mostly developed during three Red Rangers penalties. Shrewsbury didn’t find the usual offensive success it flashes on special teams, but all they needed was one – Ryder’s second goal of the game – to convert for the winner.

“That wasn’t our game, but I told the girls, ‘It’s a long season and good teams got to win games like that,’” Shrewsbury head coach Frank Panarelli said. “They play very scrappy, they’re a tough, strong, little team. Hard to just get into a flow. … Playing a league game, the tenacity is there.”

Poor offensive execution was a theme all game, which isn’t a first for the feisty Methuen/Tewksbury defense to force.

The Colonials struggled through the opening minutes, allowing the Red Rangers to jump out to an early 3-1 lead in shots on goal as they couldn’t find much space in the zone and weren’t moving the puck well. Bad turned to worst near the end of the first period when goalie Risa Montoya (12 saves) committed a rare error during a penalty kill, mishandling Sammy Ryan’s shot right at her to let it slowly trickle behind her and just past the goal line for a 1-0 deficit.

That’s what it took for Shrewsbury to finally pump some life onto the ice, though, as Ryder neutralized the score just 30 seconds later. Maddie Mrva’s shot at the pads bounced right to her and the senior captain delivered a much-needed goal.

“Huge goal by Taylor Ryder,” said Panarelli. “She’s a senior captain. She came to the bench and I said, ‘That was just a huge goal.’ Going in after the first, we could’ve been down 1-0. … We calmed down, we played a little bit better.”

Scoring only got more difficult from there for both teams. Even with two power plays, Methuen/Tewksbury only got two shots on net. Shrewsbury tallied three. Every rush was quickly defused to send the puck back to the neutral zone.

The Colonials finally brought the heat in the third, hammering a couple of shots off iron and maintaining possession in the offensive zone for longer periods of time. One of those successful trips came after Shrewsbury got its break early in the frame, as Ryder capitalized on a Red Rangers roughing penalty to give it the 2-1 advantage with 12:15 to play. Pressure continued, but Methuen/Tewksbury goalie Taylor Bruno (14 saves) prevented anything else from passing her.

That helped transition into a great chance to force overtime, too. Shrewsbury committed a penalty with 1:01 to play, allowing the Red Rangers to play 6-on-4 by pulling Bruno.

Shrewsbury held on, though, letting out a breath of relief after scraping this one out.

“It was a good game, a win’s a win,” Panarelli said. “The benefit is, like I told them, ‘We know we can play better. We still won the game and we know we can play better.’ … We just couldn’t get pucks to the net and they did a really good job containing, keeping us outside.”

 

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/yRULHfi