ANDOVER, Mass. — Give Phillips Andover an inch, and the Big Blue will take a mile.
Leading Governor's by two entering the third period, No. 4 Andover piled on, scoring four in the final frame, as they pulled away for a 6-0 win.
Sarah Powers (Lynnfield, Mass.) and Caroline Averill (Wayland, Mass.) each had two goals and an assist for the Big Blue (6-1-1). Jacqueline Louie and Lilly McInerney (North Reading, Mass.) also scored, and Marie Lee (Southboro, Mass.) got the win in net.
Liz Luong (Framingham, Mass.) started in net for Gov's, which fell to 7-2-1.
Powers opened the scoring with seven minutes to go in the first, scoring on a breakaway after flying the zone off a stretch pass from Kimee Duplessis (Framingham, Mass.).
Averill doubled the lead early in the second when the puck tumbled in as she drove to the net. She struck again just 26 seconds into the third, dangling to her backhand in the slot off a give-and-go with Powers entering the zone.
Powers made it 4-0 with 12 minutes left in regulation, picking up a drop-pass from Averill and driving through the middle before scoring five-hole.
Louie made it 5-0 with two minutes to go as she dug away at a loose puck in a scrum, and McInerney scored with 1:18 left for the 6-0 final, picking the top right corner off a feed from Keira Bruen (West Roxbury, Mass.).
Let's dive into nine standouts from the game before getting into four takeaways.
Caroline Averill
Phillips Andover, 1/14/2007, F, right shot, 5-8
Hometown: Wayland, Mass.
NCAA: Princeton
Averill's vision, playmaking and ability to slow the game down in the offensive zone were huge factors throughout the game. As funky as her first goal was, her second was a thing of beauty. She carried the puck into the zone and dished off for Powers, who sent it right back to her. Averill cut into the slot, pulled to her backhand and floated a perfectly-placed backhander over Luong's glove, off the right post and in. She also showed great strength as she fended off Caroline Justicz's (Harvard, Mass.) forecheck and dropped off for Powers, who sped the other way for her second goal.
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Sarah Powers
Phillips Andover, 8/30/2007, F, left shot, 5-7
Hometown: Lynnfield, Mass.
NCAA: Boston College
Powers is a beast. Simple as that. She flipped the momentum in the first period when she got a breakaway, trying to go low glove. On her first goal, she caught Governor's in a change, hanging high in the neutral zone for a home-run pass from Duplessis before breaking back in and going low-glove again. This time, she went off the post and in. After several Grade-A looks around the net in the second, Powers showed off her speed in transition for her second goal, quickly getting up to speed after Averill dropped it off for her. She overpowered Luong with a heavy wrister.
Sienna DeAngelis
Phillips Andover, 10/21/2008, D, right shot, 5-7
Hometown: Holmdel, N.J.
DeAngelis has solid hands and vision, along with a strong ability to escape pressure and create space for herself through her skating. It was on full display throughout the game as she consistently had tight turns and cut-backs to shake free from forecheckers and jumpstart transition. She also had a good play at the point in the second, dangling around the high forward and getting leverage as she protected the puck and cut back in for a shot. DeAngelis had a great look in the first, too, jumping into the play and going hard to the net, where she nearly banged in a feed from Powers off the rush.
Caroline Justicz
Governor's, 10/19/2006, F, right shot, 5-6
Hometown: Harvard, Mass.
NCAA: Wilkes
Justicz was always in the right places in defensive situations. She was everywhere on the backcheck. She broke up a home-run pass for Powers from Averill early in the first, recognizing the play, getting into the lane and intercepting it. Later, Justicz was there to pounce on a loose puck in the offensive zone after Ashley Reilly (Burlington, Mass.) forced a turnover, and she slipped a pass to Ella McDonald (Winchester, Mass.) for a great look between the dots. In the second, Justicz came through with a big block in the defensive zone before beating out an icing. Later, she got into a lane again to intercept Averill's centering feed for Powers off the rush.
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Vanessa Hall
Phillips Andover, 1/19/2010, D/F, left shot, 5-5
Hometown: Saugus, Mass.
Naturally a defender, Hall played big minutes up front, and she consistently made an impact alongside McInerney and Bruen. She had an excellent backcheck in the first when she got back and swept the puck away from the forward, allowing the defense to quickly regroup. In the second, Hall set up a McInerney one-timer with a fantastic pass through a seam as she curled back to the right dot. She and Bruen combined for some good looks in the third, too, including one off the rush as Hall drove to the far post for a dish from Bruen. Luong made the save.
Joey Calderara
Governor's, 2008, D, left shot, 5-5
Hometown: Windham, N.H.
NCAA: Elmira
Calderara was steady and smart on the back end for Gov's. She made some good plays defending the rush in the first, using her reach effectively to break up puck carriers and win pucks. She later had a nice stretch pass for Parker Roenick (Exeter, N.H.) on a regroup. Calderara had pressure in her face but knew where she was going with it, quickly sending it up to Roenick. She also came through in the second when she blocked Averill's shot at the left circle and quickly got the play going the other way, finding Lana Hardin (Tyngsboro, Mass.) on the far side.
Lana Hardin
Governor’s, 2009, F, right shot, 5-4
Hometown: Tyngsboro, Mass.
Hardin was at the center of some of Gov's better chances, and she was excellent on the forecheck, playing physically and winning battles below the dots. She won multiple 1-on-1s in the first, taking advantage of a miscue behind the net and throwing a couple of shoulders to get inside position and win the puck. Later in the second, she beat out an icing before outmuscling Sarah Lackley (Andover, Mass.) and taking it to the net for a short-side bid. In the second, Hardin made a great play to lift Averill's stick and outmuscle her as she drove to the net before the puck took a weird bounce and fluttered in.
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Megan Carlson
Governor's, 01/2009, D, left shot, 5-7
Hometown: North Andover, Mass.
Carlson's speed and agility with the puck made a difference in transition and on regroups. She knew when to take chances when jumping into the play, and she was able to create something out of nothing on several regroups, separating from forecheckers, skating herself out of trouble and opening passing lanes. Carlson combined for a few good looks with her twin sister, Brooke, in the second. One came when she flew up the middle for a stretch pass from Hardin before dropping off to Brooke for a shot in the slot.
Kimee Duplessis
Phillips Andover, 11/18/2008, D, right shot, 5-5
Hometown: Framingham, Mass.
NCAA: Delaware
I can't say enough about the pass Duplessis made to spring Powers on the breakaway for her goal. After Gov's dumped it in for a change, Duplessis wound around the net with speed and her head up and zipped it right to Powers' tape at center ice to send her in. The former came through with some key defensive plays later on, too, including a great effort to get back and poke check Brooke Carlson to prevent a late bid in the first. In the second, she dropped to the ice to block a heavy shot from Megan Carlson during a 5-on-3 kill.
Leftover thoughts...
- Averill and Powers dominated whenever they were on the ice, whether at even-strength, the power play or on the penalty kill. Governor's hardly touched the puck when the two of them were on the ice, even when Andover was on the kill. They were easily the two best players on the ice, seemingly always a step ahead and always on the same page.
- The Big Blue were without junior defender and Princeton commit Maggie Averill (Wayland, Mass.), who is set to captain Team USA at the upcoming IIHF U18 Women's World Championship next week. Andover's defense didn't miss a beat, though, which is a testament to the depth. Whether it was DeAngelis, Duplessis, Lackley, Maya Kou or Sienna Glass (Andover, Mass.), the Big Blue more than succeeded in moving the puck with pace and preventing sustained pressure. With and without Maggie Averill, Andover's ability to quickly regroup and generate speed through the neutral zone off quick outlets is one of its greatest strengths.
- Things snowballed for Luong and her teammates late in the third, and she'll want Powers' second goal back. But she still made some huge saves to keep Andover at bay for most of regulation. She read Powers perfectly on her first breakaway in the first, and she was under siege for portions of the second, facing a bevy of chances around the slot. She wasn't fazed, though, shutting the door with a pad stop on Powers in the slot and reacting quickly on a redirect for McInerney in the slot, too.
- It was always going to be an uphill battle, but I was still eager to see how Governor's fared against a team of Andover's caliber. For the most part, they held their own through the first two periods. Gov's started well, generating pressure and attacking zone time through the first few shifts before Powers shifted the tide. The top line of Hardin-Brooke Carlson-Roenick impressed again as a tone-setter, even if it didn't translate into a ton of Grade-A offense. There are "prove it" opportunities in the upcoming schedule, as well as chances to stack wins, most importantly. Gov's is still in the Elite 8 hunt, and they'll need to take advantage of those opportunities.
