LYNN, Mass. — Regulation and overtime weren't enough for St. Mary's and Archbishop Williams on Wednesday, as the two Catholic Central League rivals battled to a 1-1 draw.
Seventh-grader Emma Doucette (Wakefield, Mass.) scored for the No. 7 Spartans (11-0-2), while Emily Fleming (Hull, Mass.) scored for the Bishops (7-5-1).
After a goaltending duel between SMH sophomore Avery Sico (Nahant, Mass.) and Williams junior Maggie Shea (Braintree, Mass.) through the first two periods, Fleming broke the stalemate early in the third.
Freshman McKenzie Lima-Tower (Holbrook, Mass.) put a shot toward goal off freshman Cam Katapodis' (Halifax, Mass.) entry, and Fleming buried the loose puck amid the chaos around the net.
Doucette answered with six minutes to go in regulation. The youngster flew into the attacking zone, cut toward the left dot and picked the top-right corner with a wrist shot.
Neither Sico nor Shea blinked the rest of the way.
Let's dive into 11 standouts from the game before getting into takeaways.
Izzy O'Brien
Archbishop Williams, Class of 2028, F, right shot
Hometown: Holbrook, Mass.
O'Brien recently returned to the lineup from a collarbone injury, and you'd never know it. She dominated on the first line alongside Kate O'Toole (Quincy, Mass.) and Catherine Lacey (Braintree, Mass.), especially early on. O'Brien was everywhere. She was difficult to contain, created havoc below the dots and forced turnovers out high. She set up a great look for O'Toole on the power play with a fantastic pass out of the corner in the first. In the second, she sent Lacey into the slot alone after making a steal in the high slot. O'Brien got her share of chances, too. She nearly roofed one from a sharp angle after a solo forecheck on the penalty kill in the second. In the third, Sico managed to deny her as she dangled in alone.
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Avery Sico
St. Mary's, Class of 2028, G, catches left
Hometown: Nahant, Mass.
Sico was busy from start to finish and made huge saves throughout the game. Sico battled in the crease, standing tall in scrambles and coming through in key spots. She stoned Maddie Markarian (Quincy, Mass.) on a breakaway early in the second. Few saves were bigger than the stop on O'Brien in the wake of Fleming's goal. It could have been the nail in the coffin for the Spartans. She came through again on Katapodis' one-timer in the slot off a feed from Emma Tomalonis (Abington, Mass.).
Emma Doucette
St. Mary's, 9/12/2012, F, left shot, 5-8
Hometown: Wakefield, Mass.
It's still hard to believe how young Doucette is, considering her size, skill and sense. She excelled at maintaining possession in 1-on-1s in the neutral zone and off the rush, and she drew a couple of penalties. She also did a good job of creating space for herself down low on the power play with her frame and explosiveness. Doucette's goal was a beauty. She entered the zone with speed and drove wide after seeing she had no lane to the net. Her wrister was perfectly placed over the glove. She nearly ended it in OT, too, getting Shea to bite hard on a backhand-forehand move, but she got hauled down.
Emily Flemming
Archbishop Williams, Class of 2027, F, right shot
Hometown: Hull, Mass.
As good as O'Brien and the first line were, Fleming matched them on the second trio with Lima-Tower and Tomalonis. Fleming excelled at winning battles in all three zones, thanks to her ability to get inside body positioning and her strong stick, even in size mismatches. She constantly dug pucks free and bumped opponents off their spots in the dirty areas. She was a gamer. It paid off on her greasy goal, picking up the loose puck and burying it off Lima-Tower's initial shot.
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McKenzie Lima-Tower
Archbishop Williams, Class of 2029, F, left shot
Hometown: Holbrook, Mass.
Lima-Tower's quick feet and blazing speed are always impressive whenever I see Archies. That was the case once again. She constantly speeds up the defense in transition, backing them up and creating chances off the rush. The freshman was strong on her skates on Wednesday, pushing through contact with ease as she kept her feet moving. Lima-Tower nearly scored the go-ahead goal late, burying a loose puck off Katapodis' one-timer, but the officials had already blown the play dead.
Cam Katapodis
Archbishop Williams, Class of 2029, D, left shot, 5-7
Hometown: Halifax, Mass.
Katapodis got better as the game went on, and she was excellent in the third. She set up the zone entry ahead of Fleming's goal, making an aggressive read on a loose puck at center ice. She drove into the zone and dropped it off for Lima-Tower before going to the net and battling. Katapodis later had a one-time bid in the slot, making herself available and getting a lot on the shot. In OT, she did a good job of gapping up and preventing a shot for Keira Twomey (Melrose, Mass.) off the rush.
Maggie Shea
Archbishop Williams, Class of 2027, G, catches left
Hometown: Braintree, Mass.
As good as Sico was at one end, Shea was just as good at the other. She bailed Archies out on some chances for Effie Parsons (Gloucester, Mass.) off turnovers in the first. She had Alyssa Norden's (Peabody, Mass.) number in the second. First, Shea made an unbelievable save as she slid to her right on a 2-on-1 before denying Norden driving down the slot. She also held her ground on Victoria Swim's (Melrose, Mass.) one-timer in the slot early in the third.
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Kaylee Dinkel
St. Mary's, Class of 2029, D, left shot
Hometown: Salem, Mass.
Like Katapodis, Dinkel came alive for the Spartans toward the back half of the game. Her skating made her effective both defending and leading the rush. Early in the third, she picked up a loose puck in the slot in the defensive zone and sped the other way, blowing by everyone to get a quality shot in the slot. Later, Dinkel took advantage of all sorts of time and space down the right wing on a regroup. She set up a solid sequence for SMH on a centering feed from the circle. In OT, Dinkel was poised defending a 1-on-1 with Lima-Tower, making it look easy with a poke-check.
Kate O'Toole
Archbishop Williams, Class of 2026, F, left shot, 5-4
Hometown: Quincy, Mass.
O'Toole did a terrific job as the "bumper" in the slot on Archies' top power play. She found soft space in coverage for several chances, like the one O'Brien found her on out of the corner. O'Toole also rang the post with a clever redirect off a shot-pass from Lacey in the third. O'Toole was also fantastic on the forecheck, cutting off pucks coming out of the zone and disrupting breakouts.
Effie Parsons
St. Mary's, Class of 2031, F, right shot
Hometown: Gloucester, Mass.
Parsons created a handful of Grade-A looks for the Spartans, but she just couldn't break through Shea. The seventh-grader did a good job on the top line and was a strong F3 on the forecheck, getting into lanes high in the zone. She intercepted a pass up the middle and walked in for a shot in the slot early in the first. Later, she got a similar chance when she won the puck in the defensive zone and went off to the races on a 2-on-1 with Norden. She had her spot picked both times, trying to go high-glove, but barely missed. On another 2-on-1 with Norden in the second, Parsons opted to pass, setting up a great chance that wouldn't go.
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Cam Driscoll
St. Mary's, Class of 2028, D, left shot
Hometown: Peabody, Mass.
Driscoll was smart and effective with the puck on breakouts. She didn't rush decisions and settled things down behind the net a few times with SMH under siege. Her skating helped her avoid pressure, including late in regulation when she curled away from a forechecker and found Doucette with a perfect stretch pass. Had the latter handled it cleanly, she would've split the defense for a breakaway. Driscoll also played most of, if not all of, overtime. She came up with a huge shot block in the slot, which sent Doucette the other way.
Leftover thoughts...
- Archbishop Williams is better than their record shows, and there's a reason we ranked them No. 3 in the preseason. St. Mary's hardly had an answer for O'Brien's line, and there's little drop-off to Fleming's line. The Bishops have been able to tread water for most of the season while dealing with key injuries, like O'Brien. They're also still without first-liner Julie Murphy (Canton, Mass.) for the time being, as she works her way back from a broken hand. At No. 9 in the most recent MIAA D1 power rankings, Archies isn't a team I'd want to run into if I were a higher seed in the postseason. They play hard and up-tempo up front to go along with an experienced, active blue line.
- At this point last season, St. Mary's was 5-8-1 en route to a 9-11-2 finish. Now undefeated through 13 games, the Spartans are among the D1 favorites once again, sitting No. 2 in the power rankings. You'd never know they have as many youngsters as they do (the same goes for Archbishop Williams, by the way). Even under heavy pressure at points against Williams, SMH was never frantic or scrambling. They never felt out of it, and the chances eventually came. It's not often you see that with teams as young as this. The Spartans play beyond their years.
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