After one period of Saturday’s girls hockey clash between Gloucester and Melrose, it was anyone’s game for the taking.
The visitors nursed a one-goal lead, but the Fishermen held the advantage in shots on goal and were skating well in their home rink.
And then, the momentum swung big time in Melrose’s favor.
In what was a dominant second period, the Red Hawks scored twice to increase their lead, then sent home two more unanswered shots in the third to put the finishing touches on a 5-0 road victory.
Gloucester played well in spurts, and wound up out-shooting Melrose for the game (24-22), but they simply couldn’t find the back of the net.
“It felt like, ‘OK, we’re down one let’s just come out and get the first one (in the second)’, and then we were just sluggish,” admitted GHS head coach Rob Parsons, his team now 2-7. “It felt like good energy in the locker room between the first and second, but it just didn’t translate on the ice for whatever reason.”
It was the sixth straight loss for the Fishermen after a 2-1 start to the year — and in each of those setbacks there’s been one obvious shortcoming: they’re not scoring enough goals.
The skid started with a competitive 2-1 loss to Bishop Fenwick, and GHS has managed just three total goals in the five games since: two against Beverly (5-2 loss) and one against Marblehead (3-1 loss).
“We’re just really struggling to score goals and you can’t score one or two and expect to really win games,” said Parsons. “It feels like it’s been a long time since we just won a single period. We’re losing battles on the defensive blue line, offensive blue line, and we’re leaving people open in front of our net in dangerous spots.”
Melrose’s Julia McNeely opened the scoring just under three minutes into the opening period when she punched home a rebound in front. It was the start of a sensational evening for McNeely, who finished with a hat trick plus two assists.
Gloucester battled from there until the first horn sounded, missing a one-timer just wide before Joss Twombly nearly tied things up on a breakaway chance later in the frame. The hosts held a 10-7 shot advantage after 15 minutes — but it went completely in the other direction in the second.
In a decisive stanza that saw Melrose rip off 12 shots to Gloucester’s one, both Grace Daniels and McNeely found the back of the net for a 3-0 lead. Daniels scored on a one-timer off a pass from sister Ella Daniels before McNeely picked up a scrappy tally on a puck that trickled its way home in traffic.
Sophomore Claire Warde dinged the crossbar on a shot for Gloucester in the frame while Elliana Parsons came up with a great hustle play to stymie a breakaway chance by Melrose at the last second.
The Fishermen picked things back up in the third in an effort to crawl back into it, but McNeely capped off her hat trick with another one-time shot to the open side of the net before dropping another one in on a similar play to seal the deal. The final strike came with under three minutes to play.
“Five points from (McNeely); you don’t see that a lot,” said Parsons, his team having no answer for the quick hit passes across the net that led to three of Melrose’s five goals.
“They had a nice little fast break that I haven’t seen much of in high school hockey over the past few years, or at any level,” continued the coach. “They ran a girl to the far post and just put it right on her tape. (Goalie) Kaydin (Cusumano) can’t stop that; there’s just no way.”
Despite the loss, sophomore Melanie Earl turned in a strong performance defensively for the Fishermen while middle-schooler Mary Viola strung together some valuable minutes in the back as well.
“Mary kind of got her first multi shifts of the year on defense; we tested her out and she came through,” Parsons said of Viola. “As an eighth-grader that’s asking a lot. She’s fairly new to the position and I thought she really held her own tonight.”
Parsons also highlighted the play from freshman Emma Krawcyzk, who was “buzzing” around the ice all night.
Now it’s back to the drawing board for Gloucester, which will look to put an end to its losing streak when it heads to Arlington on Monday for a late clash (8:10). The season is still young, and GHS was ranked 24th in the most recent MIAA Division 2 girls hockey power rankings, meaning they’re still positioning themselves for a playoff berth.
“Maybe we’ll get that one power play goal on a nice penalty that we shouldn’t have even got and it turns things around,” said Parsons. “It could be something simple like that. But we’ll work on everything in practice and go from there.”
Melrose 5, Gloucester 0
at Dorothy Talbot Rink, Gloucester
Melrose;1;2;2;5
Gloucester;0;0;0;0
Scoring summary
First period: M, Julia McNeely (Jessica Zulon, Anna Mathews), 2:40.
Second period: M, Grace Daniels (Ella Daniels, McNeely), 3:40; M, Ella Daniels (McNeely, Grace Daniels), 9:24.
Third period: M, McNeely (Mathews), 4:25; M, McNeely (Grace Daniels, Ella Daniels), 12:06.
Saves: M, Ruby Hansen 24; G, Kaydin Cusumano 17.
Records: M, 4-4; G, 2-7.