BEVERLY — Snowfall and bending tree limbs didn’t cause any power outage Sunday afternoon at Bourque Arena — in fact, the power plays for the Beverly and Masconomet girls hockey teams were downright electrifying.
All five goals came on the advantage with host Beverly converting all four of its chances for a 4-1 victory over the Chieftains. Freshman forward Clara Cary netted three of those, completing her first high school hat trick on a wraparound bid with 5:45 left to play.
“It feels pretty good. Mostly, I think the spot I am on the power play is a great scoring place and I have teammates that pass really well,” said Cary. “On the last one, I saw the goalie dropped her stick so I just kind of went for it.”
Beverly (6-3) earned its second win of the weekend after toppling Gloucester, 5-4, on Saturday. The Panthers are now in sole possession of second place in the Northeastern Hockey League, two points behind Peabody. It was a rebound goal by captain Halle Greenleaf with 1:04 to play Saturday that broke a 4-4 tie and sealed that victory.
“I felt like I just needed to get to the net. There were a lot of rebounds in the game and I felt like we might get another one,” said Greenleaf, who carried her scoring streak into Sunday’s action by finishing with a goal and two assists.
Cary got the first two power play goals on good shots that came from about halfway down the wall. Defenseman Morgan Linskey (three assists), Greenleaf (occasionally playing the point on the advantage) and Bradie Arnold collected assists. The first tally came with 5:29 left in the opening period and Beverly led 1-0 after one despite a hefty (9-2) edge in shots.
Masconomet (4-3) kept it a one goal game until Cary’s second conversion with 4:29 left in the second. Along the way, the Chieftains failed to cash in on three power play chances of their own and didn’t even record a shot on goal in those six minutes of advantage time.
“Never mind shots on goal, we’re not getting enough shots in general,” said Masco coach Ryan Sugar. “We’re not giving ourselves any opportunity.”
Greenleaf then sniped home her own power play goal (assisted by Cary and Linskey) to make it 3-0 before the end of the second.
“This was a gritty weekend for us,” said Beverly coach Matt Lampert. “We played with grit and discipline and had good communication. Those are the keys to success for us.”
As a penalty killing pair, Greenleaf and Arnold were immense for Beverly (as were defenders Ashley Freitas, Caroline Horn and Asuka Keough). The Panthers played with good anticipation, disrupted passing lanes with their sticks and made life simple for goaltender Megan McGinnity, who stopped 17 shots and helped her team kill off two 5-on-3 chances.
After the first 5-on-3 expired in the third, Masconomet got on the board with Hannah Coleman’s power play tally assisted by Madie Dupuis and Maddie Kenny. Charlotte Leiss nearly made it a one-goal game on a 2-on-1 chance, but McGinnity made a tough save to deny her bid.
A few minutes later, Cary finished off her hat trick to complete the scoring. Masconomet couldn’t do much damage on another 5-on-3 late in the third and wound up 1-for-9 on the advantage (though the last two abbreviated since they came with less than two minutes to go).
Beverly 4, Masconomet 1
At Bourque Arena, Beverly
Masconomet 0 0 1 1
Beverly 1 2 1 4
Scoring summary
First period: B, Clara Cary (Morgan Linskey, Halle Greenleaf), ppg, 9:32.
Second period: B, Cary (Greenleaf), ppg, 10:31; B, Greenleaf (Cary, Linskey), ppg, 13:46.
Third period: M, Hannah Coleman (Madie Dupuis, Maddie Kenny), ppg, 3:40; B, Cary (Linskey, Bradie Arnold), ppg, 9:15.
Saves: M, MacKenzie Cronin 29; B, Megan McGinnity 13.
Records: M, 4-3-0; B, 6-3-0.