It may have gone down as a loss, but the Gloucester girls hockey team can take plenty of positives out of Saturday’s season opening clash with Beverly.
The Fishermen scored three third period goals to make things interesting, including two unanswered in the final couple of minutes in what went down as a high-scoring 7-5 setback.
“Just not quite enough at the end but we got close,” said GHS coach Rob Parsons. “It looked like it might be completely out of reach and then for a moment it looked like it might be in reach. We made a good push at the end and it was really nice to see.”
When Gloucester was generating offense late, it was getting pucks in deep and mucking it up in front of the net. That led to a pair of goals from Keagan Jewell (also had two assists) and another from Lexi Francis to close the gap.
“We looked the best when we had pucks in their zone deep and traffic around the net which is what we preach all the time,” added Parsons. “Small, smart hockey, dumping pucks in and swarming the net; rebounds were there.”
Jewell, who serves as a reliable defenseman and captain for the Fishermen, was moved up to forward down the stretch and delivered in a big way.
“We needed to generate a little offense so we threw her up front for a couple shifts and she ended with two goals and two assists,” said Parsons. “She’s still one of our top girls out there whether she’s on defense or not.”
Also scoring for the Fishermen was freshman Emma Krawczyk — “I gotta go find that game puck in my bag and give that to her; that’ll be a nice little treat,” said Parsons — as well as captain Elliana Parsons, who added two assists to boot. Other assists went to Joss Twombly, Claire Warde, Kaya Collins and Krawczyk. Gloucester trailed 7-3 before netting the two late goals to climb back within striking distance.
The GHS/Beverly girls matchup was the first of two season opening affairs at Talbot Rink on Saturday. The boys game followed as the nightcap, with a special tribute held to honor the late Christopher Dailey beforehand. Parsons’ entire team stuck around for that ceremony and surrounded the boards to cheer on the boys team during the game.
“As tragic and heart-wrenching as it is, people have really come together for Chris, for his family and for the hockey community,” said an emotional Parsons. “It’s just really special to grow up and play with the kids in town that you’re from, whether on the boys or girls team, it’s just nice to see them come together. It’s really something.”