EXETER, N.H. — No one was stopping Paisley Meyer on Friday night.
The junior Yale commit posted her second straight four-goal performance, leading Phillips Exeter to a wild, 5-4 win over Cushing.
Clara Cary (Danvers, Mass.) also scored for the Big Red (6-0-2), and Eva Mai Whyte (Natick, Mass.) earned the win in net. Erin Sears (Cornwall, Vt.) and Maria Gray each had two assists, too.
Stella Hunter (Auburndale, Mass.) had a goal and an assist for Cushing (7-4-1). Bella Freitas (Everett, Mass.), Lyla Rahn (Stratham, N.H.) and Madi Soderquist (Woburn, Mass.) scored for the Penguins as well.
Meyer (Greenland, N.H.) opened the scoring with 3:34 to go in the first, knocking Brooke Harb (Atkinson, N.H.) off the puck before dangling to the net and roofing a backhand. She cashed in again 23 seconds later, one-timing a loose puck in the slot as the trailer after Erin Sears (Cornwall, Vt.) set up Maria Gray off the rush.
Cary tripled the lead with 40 seconds to go in the first, shoveling home a loose puck in tight off a turnover.
Freitas got Cushing on the board with a beauty just 2:11 into the second, dangling Claudia Navrat (Cumberland, Maine) before picking the top corner from the right circle.
Moments later, Meyer extended the lead to 4-1 with a beauty of her own, shorthanded, pick-pocketing Emersyn Fisher Bailey (Duxbury, Mass.) in the attacking zone before going forehand-backhand against Lucy Holiday, who entered in relief of Ines Khamis after the first period.
Rahn pulled Cushing back within two 42 seconds later with a redirect in the slot on the power play off Hunter's shot from the point.
Meyer got her fourth of the night when she made it 5-2 with a backdoor one-timer on a quick feed from Sears off Gray's rebound.
The Penguins clawed back in the third, though. Hunter cut it to 5-3 just 56 seconds into the frame, going bar down after dangling into the slot from the point.
Soderquist made it a one-goal game a minute later, going top shelf after driving to the middle for a feed off the rush. It was all Cushing could muster in the comeback bid, though.
Let's dive into eight standouts before getting into five takeaways from the game.
Paisley Meyer
Phillips Exeter, 08/2009, F, left shot, 5-7
Hometown: Greenland, N.H.
NCAA: Yale
Meyer absolutely dominated on Friday night. She had several monster shifts in the first period, forcing turnovers, outmuscling opponents in 1-on-1 and getting quality looks before finally breaking through. She showcased elite hands and strength with the puck and took full advantage of skating lanes to the slot. Her hat-trick goal in the second was a highlight-reel bid, lifting the stick and stealing the puck before deking to her backhand for a wide-open goal. She also got two strong looks in the third after some more steals.
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Bella Freitas
Cushing, 8/12/2009, F, right shot, 5-7
Hometown: Everett, Mass.
Freitas dragged Cushing into it in the first two periods. She had a terrific chance to open the second, driving between the dots for a drag snap shot. Moments later, she broke through with her own highlight-reel tally. She walked Navrat to get an open lane and wired a quick wrister top-shelf. Freitas consistently led strong rushes up ice from deep in her own end, including one late in the second after she threw a shoulder and deked a forechecker down low to open the lane.
Clara Cary
Phillips Exeter, 4/24/2009, F, right shot, 5-6
Hometown: Danvers, Mass.
Cary was a big part of a good night for Exeter's second line, along with Dominique Reiher and Emma Shu (Westwood, Mass.). Cary had a knack for getting open in the dangerous areas, leading to her goal and another good look in the first. She found open space in the high slot early, getting a pass from Camryn Wild and putting a backhand on. Later, she was in the right place at the right time after her linemate forced a turnover, driving to the net and burying it as it popped right to her at the right post.
Madi Soderquist
Cushing, 02/2007, F, left shot
Hometown: Woburn, Mass.
NCAA: New Hampshire
As much as Freitas got Cushing going in the second period, Soderquist was at the forefront of the third-period comeback bid. Her goal to make it a one-goal game was a beauty, making for a pretty finish to a pretty sequence off the rush. She and Harb were excellent together on a late 4-on-4 that bled into a power play, establishing critical zone time for the Penguins and getting chances. One of those chances looked destined to tie it as Soderquist drove to the net after dropping the puck for Harb at the right circle. Harb put a shot on for a rebound, and it went right to Soderquist in tight. Somehow, Whyte made the pad stop.
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Stella Hunter
Cushing, 6/26/2008, D/F, right shot, 5-4
Hometown: Auburndale, Mass.
Hunter had plenty of offensive flashes from the blue line. She nearly made Exeter pay for a turnover in the first, getting a good shot off a giveaway in the slot. Later, she put a good low shot on goal for Rahn's tip-in tally. Hunter's goal early in the third was spectacular, too, and it set the tone for a big push from Cushing. After getting the puck at the point, she made a slick move to get into the slot and beat Whyte with a perfect shot.
Violet Dittman
Cushing, 08/2009, F, right shot, 5-7
Hometown: North Hollywood, Calif.
Dittman played with a ton of pace and energy, and she did a good job filling in on the top line with Harb and Soderquist after Julia Lambert (Wilmington, Mass.) went down with an injury. She made good plays coming out of the zone, including one in the first where she kept her feet moving to power through a forechecker before getting the play going through the neutral zone with speed. Earlier, she forced a turnover at center ice before breaking into the attacking end. Dittman also set up a good one-timer for Harb at the left circle in the second with a clever drop pass off the rush.
Maria Gray
Phillips Exeter, 8/7/2007, F left shot, 5-6
Hometown: Monona, Wis.
Like Meyer, Gray was a monster on Exeter's top line. The same goes for Sears. Gray consistently took pucks to the net, earning a handful of quality chances. One came shorthanded in the second ahead of Meyer's hat-trick tally, driving hard to the net and trying to jam one home. Gray also had a tremendous effort to set up Meyer's fourth goal, putting a hard backhand toward goal as she fell. Sears tapped the rebound to Meyer at the right post for an easy goal. Gray was crucial to a late penalty kill, as well, blocking a shot at the left dot and making the clear. Her two assists put her over the 100-point threshold in her prep career.
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Eva Mai Whyte
Phillips Exeter, 7/5/2008, G, catches left, 5-5
Hometown: Natick, Mass.
Look, giving up four goals might not seem like a great night for Whyte, but don't let the box score fool you. She was fantastic. The postgrad made a ton of quality saves against quality chances, keeping Cushing at arm's length through the first two periods. She bailed Exeter out a few times in the first off giveaways, whether it was closing the five-hole against Harb cutting into the slot, shrugging off Lily Winckler's shot in the slot or Hunter's bid.
Whyte made a pair of ludicrous stops, too. The first came when she sprawled to glove down Molly Bardol's (Walpole, Mass.) rebound bid in tight after Natalia Maserati's initial shot. The second was an insane pad stop to deny Soderquist's rebound opportunity in tight off a well-placed shot from Harb. It was a perfectly executed play, and Whyte looked to have no chance. But she burst out to the top of the crease and somehow denied what would have been the equalizer.
Leftover thoughts...
- I can't say enough about Exeter's top line. After a good start for Cushing, the Big Red's big three completely flipped the momentum, starting with a chance for Meyer in the slot off a nifty pass from Sears off the wall. It forced Khamis to make a big stop. From there, Gray-Meyer-Sears completely dominated every shift until the third period.
- Props to Cushing for a tremendous response in the third period after things had snowballed in the first two frames. The Penguins looked to be out of it, until they weren't. Exeter might've thought the final 18 minutes were going to be easy, but Cushing came out firing. The two quick goals from Hunter and Soderquist were a wake-up call for both sides, and the drama ensued. Moral victories only go so far, but I have to imagine the Penguins are pleased with the way they responded down the stretch.
- I can't help but wonder how differently things would've gone had Cushing not lost Lambert to injury early on after she took a hard spill into the boards. She caught Grace Riley out of position in the neutral zone and broke in for a 1-on-1 with Whyte, who made a big pad stop before Lambert tumbled into the boards. The tough luck took the wind out of the sails for Cushing, who was already without defenders Caroline Harrington and Blake Metcalf (Scarborough, Maine) entering the game.
- Give Exeter credit for imposing its will at times throughout the game, especially in the third. The Big Red played tough and physical on the forecheck and defensively. They also gave Cushing absolutely nothing on a key penalty kill with regulation winding down, thanks to some key defensive plays from Gray and Riley.
- It's hard not to keep constant tabs on the JSPR algorithm and the Elite 8 race, even when there's still so much that can change over the next few months. It's a key win for Exeter, which now sits seventh in the JSPR, while Cushing dropped to 14th. The Penguins hardly get a reprieve from their upcoming schedule, too, with St. Paul's, Berkshire, Phillips Andover, Loomis Chaffee, Nobles and Rivers among the matchups on deck over the next month. The Big Red, meanwhile, aren't out of the woods either. Deerfield, Nobles, Rivers, and Dexter Southfield are among the key matchups over the next month.
