If your hockey team is going to have a fresh start, you might as well do it with fresh legs.
The fresh start comes as Chris LeBlanc takes over as Beverly’s third head coach in three seasons. As for the fresh legs, the Panthers put a renewed focus on conditioning and their skating in the weeks between the beginning of practice and their first game.
“There’s been times when we’d kind of run out of steam in the third period. We want that third period to be a strength,” said LeBlanc. “It was maybe more conditioning than they’re used to — but it’s allowed us to roll two lines in tight games and still have high energy.”
Indeed, Beverly (3-0) has owned the third period in all three of its wins. The second was by far the most satisfying: the program’s first win over defending NEHL champion Peabody in 17 tries going all the way back to February of 2017.
Getting the final two goals of the night in the third Tuesday in a win over defending D2 state champion Medfield, and holding the visitors scoreless over the last 12 minutes, was equally impressive.
On home ice at Bourque Arena, Beverly has forechecked with the vigor of a club out to prove something. Their energy never dipped and they held their opponents under five shots on goal in the final 15 minutes, even while defending a 6-on-4 power play.
“This is what coach said those two weeks of skating were for,” said senior captain Morgan Linskey, one of the North Shore’s absolute best two-way defenseman. “As a team, we all work really well together and I think all that work we did helped us out a lot in the first two games.”
Linskey, Ashley Freitas (arguably the region’s best defensive defenseman), rugged winger Meredith Johnston (39 career goals), creative winger Meg Ryan (goals in each of the first two games), defenseman Addison Shephard and winger Kirsten Cole are the five seniors on what has to be described as a veteran club.
Beverly returned five of its six double-digit scorers from last year’s state tournament qualifier, including gifted centers Asuka Keough (a junior) and Avery LeBlanc (a sophomore). The Panthers also brought back five defenseman who saw major minutes last season. Thus stability and fine-tuning are much more the focus of the new coaching staff than building from the bottom.
“Setting goals for early in the season has been huge for us,” said Freitas, who’s been on the varsity since her 8th grade season. “We knew we had the team to be really competitive, especially in the league, and we set the goal to show that right away.”
With the depth to skate three lines to wear opponents down and the stamina to cut down to two when needed, the Panthers are a handful for their opponents. Though smooth skaters like Keough, Linskey and LeBlanc are all capable of rushing the puck from end-to-end, they’d like to create their offense by punishing foes on the forecheck.
It’s an attitude that’s led to quite a few rebound goals in the early going. Snipes from the tops of the circles will sometimes miss the net, hit a post or get gloved down by the goalie, so muscling to the net front and jamming in rebounds is a reliable way to create offense when the shots aren’t falling.
“I’m always looking for a shot that can be tipped or creates a rebound, unless I’m really all alone on a rush,” said Linskey. “Especially shooting low, when you know you can create a rebound, that’s what you want to do.”
Getting back defensively is another hallmark of the way Beverly want to play this winter.
“It’s more about getting our shape so the forwards can come back when they need to,” Chris LeBlanc said. “It takes all five girls on the ice and just playing good team defense to do that.”
One of the newest Panthers is eighth grade goaltender Avery Mason, who stopped 14-of-15 shots in her second career start last weekend against Peabody. A well-rounded athlete, she’s technically only been on skates for three weeks. You’d never know that by watching the way she moves about the crease. She’s taken to the position like a fish to water and is eager to learn.
Another plus for Beverly defensively is the team’s fearlessness in its own zone. No one wearing Orange-and-Black is shy about throwing herself in front of the vulcanized rubber.
“Definitely blocking shots is something that we emphasize,” Freitas said, “a lot.”
With Sarah Belford, Libby Sherr and Pheobe Allen joining the defensive rotation with Linskey and Freitas, Beverly excels at closing down both time and space.
“I was always taught that you get the stick or you get the body,” Linskey said. “You pick one … and if you miss one, you make sure you get the other.”
The Panthers have a pair of non-league bouts with Wakefield before getting back into NEHL play as they turn the page to 2026. Embracing change and still retaining the program’s hard-working, high character identity have been huge in a strong start that they’d like to continue — and improve upon.
“It’s all started with the girls’ attitudes,” said Chris LeBlanc. “They’ve been so willing to work, so ready to learn. They’re been great to work with and we’re going to keep working.”
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A little piece of trivia: the goal scored by Peabody’s junior forward Sarah Mitchell last week to beat Medford was the program’s first-ever overtime goal.
The extra session had largely eluded the Tanners since being instituted statewide a few years ago, playing just two overtime games (both ties) in the previous 89 games. That all came to an end when the junior winger from Lynnfield scored with a minute left in extra time to win it, 3-2, assisted by Sydney Zizza.
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Another ironic twist? Peabody’s former head coach, Michelle Roach, also won her season opener at Arlington Catholic in overtime. What are the odds that both she and the Peabody-Lynnfield-North Reading co-op would both get their first overtime wins in the same week after not doing so in 10 years together?
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Safe to say Bishop Fenwick freshman goalie Stella Madarese has been just as good as advertised in the early going. She’s allowed just three goals in three starts while stopping 92 of 95 shots (that’s .968).
The Crusaders (2-1) have a pair 2-1 wins and a 1-0 loss … so if they can get hot offensively, they’re going to be awfully difficult to play against.
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Great finish to the 2025 calendar year for Pingree, which grabbed three points on the final day of the Newton Country Day tournament last weekend. The Highlanders are better than their 3-7-1 record shows, playing tough competition in NEPSAC non-league circles.
Going into the holiday break with the momentum of a tie and an overtime will might be the elixir Pingree needs to hit its stride in January.
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Kick Saves, a column on North Shore girls hockey, has appeared in The Salem News during the winter since the 2007-08 season. You can contact Matt Williams at MWilliams@salemnews.com and follow along on Twitter/X @MattWilliams_SN