Phillips Andover got the last laugh, for now.
The No. 3 Big Blue rolled past No. 2 Loomis Chaffee, 5-0, in a key pre-playoff clash on Wednesday. The Pelicans had gotten the better of Andover in last season's Elite 8 championship as well as the last three Patsy K. Odden Invitational finals.
But Andover's top guns showed out. Caroline Averill (Wayland, Mass.) led the way with four points (three assists), while Sarah Powers (Lynnfield, Mass.) and Maggie Averill (Wayland, Mass.) each had three-point games. Marie Lee (Southboro, Mass.) pitched the shutout in net.
Caroline Averill opened the scoring five minutes into the first, sweeping in a loose puck in the crease after Powers tried to tuck it around Loomis goalie Adeline Roper (Kennebunkport, Maine). Powers doubled the lead with a highlight-reel goal with four minutes left in the first, dangling a defender and going forehand-backhand.
Maggie Averill made it 3-0 on the power play five minutes into the second, one-timing a cross-ice feed from Caroline. Vanessa Hall (Saugus, Mass.) cashed in with a backhand in tight with four minutes to go in the frame after Al Hartmann forced a turnover behind the net.
Maggie Averill added another with 7:55 left in regulation for the 5-0 final, burying a feed from Caroline in tight.
Andover improved to 20-2-1 with the win. Loomis fell to 21-3-0. Each has one regular-season game remaining.
Here are six takeaways from the game.
Andover's stars dominated
Andover's top players were buzzing from the start. Maggie Averill sprung Powers for a breakaway in the opening minute of the game. Powers eventually did everything but score before Caroline Averill cleaned up the loose change in front.
Once they broke through, they never looked back.
Powers set Maggie Averill up in the high slot midway through the first, too. Caroline Averill and Powers combined with Liz Averill (Wayland, Mass.) for chance after chance around the net before Powers broke through with a beauty, making it 2-0. Caroline Averill broke up a stretch pass before Maggie found Powers with a quick up. Powers flat-out walked the defender before finishing in alone.
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Caroline Averill's setup for Maggie's first goal on the power play was a thing of beauty as well. After Maggie Averill dished off to Duplessis at the point, she bolted for open space at the far post. Duplessis dished to Caroline, who zipped a pass on the money for Maggie to one-time. She couldn't have timed it any better.
A four-point night for Caroline Averill (Princeton) and three-point nights for Powers (Boston College) and Maggie Averill (Princeton). It's hard not to ask for much more from your best players. I'm sure the Big Blue will take more of that next week.
Gaudy outings like Wednesday's are nothing new, though. Caroline Averill has points in seven straight with 14 in that span. Powers has 12 points over a six-game streak. Maggie Averill has 15 points in 10 games since returning from the U18 Women's Worlds on Jan.24. The Big Three have gotten it done on a nightly basis. That's not to mention others like Keira Bruen (West Roxbury, Mass.), Lilly McInerney (North Reading, Mass.), Kimee Duplessis (Framingham, Mass.) and Sienna Glass (Andover, Mass.)
Hats off to Adeline Roper
Considering the 5-0 final, Roper had just about zero chance on every goal, between perfect passing and dekes. Before the barrage on the scoreboard, the senior, headed to Williams, kept the Big Blue at bay, bending but not breaking amid heavy pressure.
She came way out of her crease to deny Powers' early breakaway. After Caroline Averill broke through, Roper responded with a big glove save on Maya Kou's point shot through some moving screens. She then denied a heavy wrister from Maggie Averill in the high slot before stoning Liz Averill in tight off a feed from Caroline. Roper also stood tall against Hall off an unlucky bounce down low before denying Powers' back-door bid off a cross-crease feed.
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Roper made Grade-A stop after Grade-A stop between the first two Andover goals, and the pressure persisted the rest of the way, even after Loomis got to its game at the start of the second and early in the third.
Andover's layers were the difference
After Loomis beat Williston Northampton over the weekend, I wrote about the Pelicans' ability to quickly get the play back up ice, giving Williston hardly any time to breathe.
Andover executed to a T in that department. The Big Blue clogged passing lanes, broke up outlets and turned regroups around with pace. They looked like a different team compared to the first two periods of last week's loss to Nobles.
On the back end, the likes of Maggie Averill and Glass did a tremendous job in the neutral zone and at the offensive blue line of making aggressive reads and keeping Loomis hemmed in.
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The Big Blue's centers were key in that department, too, especially Bruen. One play that stood out was on a back-check in the first when she filled a lane up the middle, intercepted a pass and turned it the other way. That was the exact type of play that kept Loomis on its heels.
It led to a lot of one-and-done chances for the Pelicans as well as some instances of forcing stretch passes.
Andover's depth gets rewarded
So many of Phillips Andover's biggest names grab the most headlines (for good reason, too), but the Big Blue's depth shone on Wednesday. It got rewarded with Hall's insurance goal in the second.
It was a result of three skaters who made strong plays all game between Kou, Hartmann and Hall. Kou hustled to keep a loose puck in at the point, sending it in deep. Hartmann bolted behind the net on the forecheck. Her pressure forced a turnover, and she Hall for the score. It was the second Grade-A look for Hall in the game and a well-earned reward on the scoreboard for each.
In the first, Liz Averill came through with a key play along the wall to chip the puck into space for Caroline to skate into. It jump-started the quick rush the other way for Powers and Caroline Averill ahead of the opening goal.
Loomis' depth showed signs, too
Loomis Chaffee's depth skaters made an impact as well, especially Brooke Murphy. The junior was a menace on the forecheck, and it led to some pressure around the net.
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In the first, Lexi Buco (North Providence, R.I.) forced a turnover out high before she and Murphy went to work on the forecheck. The latter eventually powered to the front of the net for a bid in tight. Murphy created havoc on the forecheck again later in the first period on a shift with Sophia DiGoia (Milford, Conn.). She also drew a slash to make it 4-on-4 after she and Julia Stepnowski (South Glastonbury, Conn.) took advantage of a sloppy turnover from Andover's power play.
At the end of the second, Elyse Harris got a strong one-time look in front off a rush with Lindsay Stepnowski (South Glastonbury, Conn.).
Big implications in the JSPR
With the win, Andover stayed put at No. 2 in the JSPR. Barring any slip-up from current top seed Nobles, the Big Blue are projected to hang on to second.
Andover will close the regular season against Phillips Exeter on Saturday in one final test. The Big Red, who are tenth, will be fighting for one last push at an Elite 8 berth, or, at the very least, a high Large School seed.
Loomis, meanwhile, faces a different story after the loss. The Pelicans fell to fifth, where they're projected to stay.
Loomis will wrap up at No. 7 Deerfield on Saturday. The Big Green are currently sixth in the JSPR, but projected to finish seventh. After losing to Williston, 5-1, on Wednesday, Deerfield will surely be hungry as it fights for seeding at the back end of the Elite 8. Loomis isn't out of the woods just yet.
