CONCORD, Mass. — Much of the region was subjected to the slog that was New England football on Sunday afternoon, but for those of us at Valley Sports Rink 2 in Concord, we were treated to a game full of current girls prep hockey stars and future women's college hockey standouts.
The East Coast Wizards U19s took down Assabet Valley, 6-3, in a game filled with goals, penalties and college commits.
Morgan McGathey (Braintree, Mass.) scored a hat trick for the Wizards, and Molly MacCurtain (Reading, Mass.) had a goal and two assists. Emi Biotti (Cambridge, Mass.; one goal, one assist) and Kennedy Walker (two assists) also had multi-point games. For Assabet, Peyton Kennedy (Sudbury, Mass.), Molly Boyle (Scituate, Mass.) and Tina Scalese (West Boylston, Mass.) each found the back of the net.
True Thompson opened the scoring with a one-timer on a 5-on-3 power play just five minutes in.
Kennedy tied it two minutes into the second, but MacCurtain scored a highlight-reel goal less than a minute later to retake the lead. McGathey scored twice in short order on wristers from the left dot to make it 4-1 for the Wizards.
Boyle cut the lead in half from the slot with less than a minute to go in the second, and Scalese made it 4-3 with a power-play tip-in six minutes into the third. Biotti answered on the power play to make it 5-3 less than two minutes later, and McGathey completed the hat trick with a late empty-netter.
Each player mentioned above had strong showings Sunday, and all have college commitments secured.
But what about the uncommitted players on each roster? Here are five who impressed.
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Sadie Bellissimo
East Coast Wizards/Cushing, 10/2006, G, catches left, 5-7
Despite the high-scoring final, things weren't as one-sided for the Wizards in the early going. She was easily one of the best players on the ice in the first half of the game before coming out for Annika Jonas (Weston, Mass.).
Bellissimo made some solid positional stops early in the first, but she really set the tone for her outing when she flashed the glove to rob a heavy one-timer from Maggie Averill (Wayland, Mass.) in the high slot. She twice robbed Emily Mara (Winchester, Mass.), including a glove save on a heavy wrister from the left dot that was labeled for the top corner in the first. Off the next face-off, she reacted quickly to shrug off a close-range rocket from Sarah Powers (Lynnfield, Mass.).
It never felt frantic for Bellissimo, who remained calm and poised, even under duress. She also did a great job of steering rebounds toward the boards as well.
Laney Mead
East Coast Wizards/Nobles, 8/26/06, D, right shot, 5-8
Mead (Bedford, Mass.) handled forechecking pressure really well on puck retrievals and breakouts. She made some slick reverses behind the net in the first, two of which sparked dangerous counter-rushes the other way for the Wizards. She did a really good job using her body to protect pucks, whether in the defensive zone or along the boards at the offensive blue line. On one penalty kill in the first period, Mead fended off two forwards along the boards thanks to her frame and reach before winning the battle and getting a clear. She had a solid day laying pucks into open space for forwards to skate into through the neutral zone or leading them through open seams on breakout passes.
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Madi Soderquist
Assabet Valley/Cushing, 02/2007, F, left shot
Soderquist (Woburn, Mass.) played a speedy, determined game for Assabet. She had a couple strong rushes, including one in the first period where she won a footrace, curled around the net and got a solid shot out of it. She stuck with the play and established good body position in a net-front battle, even in a much bigger matchup, before getting a redirect on net. Despite her smaller stature, Soderquist was strong on her skates and tough to move off her spots in battles around the net and below the goal line. She had another great effort in the third, leading the rush at the end of her shift and drawing a slashing penalty.
Maggie Averill
Assabet Valley/Phillips Andover, 9/9/2008, D, right shot, 5-11
Averill (Wayland, Mass.) will surely have plenty of college interest come June 15 next offseason, and the Andover sophomore proved why on Sunday, making an impact both offensively and defensively. In her own end, Averill was great at using her long reach to kill plays. She made two strong stick-checks back-to-back on Walker on a second-period penalty kill. First, she stepped up in the rush and got a clear, then she read Walker perfectly at the half-wall, poked the puck away and got an easy clear. Averill had a terrific one-time chance in the high slot after pinching along the boards, working the puck down low and rotating into open space.
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Maude Niemann
Assabet Valley/St. Paul's, 12/14/06, F, left shot, 5-7
Niemann (Weston, Conn.) saw the ice well on Sunday. She set up one of Assabet's better rushes in the first when she made a great stick lift to win the puck along the boards in the defensive zone before picking her head up and finding Elizabeth Allen (Brookline, Mass.) with a good stretch pass through the neutral zone. Niemann had a couple solid scoring chances late, too. She led the rush and surveyed the ice as she entered the zone before putting a good shot on net for a rebound that Assabet couldn't convert. She then found open space and made herself available to redirect a shot-pass from Boyle to the right of the net.
