HAVERHILL — Both the Masconomet and Gloucester girls hockey teams skated into Wednesday’s matchup at Haverhill Valley Forum in search of their first wins of the season.
But from the opening faceoff it was all Fishermen.
Gloucester would come away with a dominant 4-1 victory over the hosts to even their early season record at 1-1. The Fishermen strung together a great defensive effort, holding Masco to just the one goal, which came late in the third period.
“(Goalie) Kaydin Cusumano was great tonight, holding them to one goal late,” said GHS coach Rob Parsons. Cusumano finished with 39 saves.
“It was nice to get the empty netter at the end to get the three goal win.”
Senior captain Keagan Jewell — a talented defenseman who has also contributed on the attack in big spots — had a terrific game for the Fishermen to lead the charge. She finished with two goals on the night with Joss Twombly assisting her final tally on an empty netter to officially seal the deal. Jewell’s other goal came just minutes into the opening period when she rifled one home, unassisted.
“Sometimes the first win is the toughest, you don’t want to get it in your fifth game of the year,” Parsons said. “This was a good response to a tough loss against Beverly (and) I’m proud of how the girls came out in their first road game.”
The second period was all Gloucester, as the visitors netted two unanswered goals to give themselves a commanding 3-0 lead. They had the look of a team determined to leave with a victory, and that’s exactly what unfolded.
Captain Elliana Parsons got the party started by finishing off some nice passing from Lexi Francis and Emma Krawczyk. Melanie Earl then lit the lamp about eight minutes later on assists from Fiona Black and Elizabeth Gentile.
It was a total team effort from the jump, something that certainly pleased coach Parsons and his staff.
“Everybody looked strong and I am really happy with our performance tonight,” said Parsons. “I thought we dominated zone time; their goalie made a lot of saves.”
Masco would show signs of life in the third period when Ella Bevilacqua took it herself for their lone goal of the game, but it was too little, too late. That score came with just 3:27 to play.
After starting the season with a competitive, high-scoring, 7-5 setback to the Panthers, Gloucester flipped the script in swift fashion to get on the board.
“We had a tough one against Beverly to start the season,” added Parsons. “It was nice to see the girls come out, score a few, and play pretty good defense.
“Hopefully we can stay about .500 the rest of the way.”
Parsons also highlighted the play of freshman Emma Brown in the win, who “shined with speed on both wing and defense over the course of the game as personnel was adjusted.”
Gloucester narrowly missed out on a Division 2 state tournament berth last season, finishing with an 8-11-1 record and the No. 33 ranking (top 32 automatically qualify). This year, they return the majority of their team and will now hope to ride some of the momentum from Wednesday’s first triumph.
Gloucester 4, Masconomet 1
at Valley Forum, Haverhill
Gloucester 1 2 1 | 4
Masconomet 0 0 1 | 1
Scoring summary First period: G, Keagan Jewell (un.), 11:00.
Second period: G, Elliana Parsons (Lexi Francis, Emma Krawczyk), 12:08; G, Melanie Earl (Fiona Black, Elizabeth Gentile), 4:27.
Third period: M, Ella Bevilacqua (un.), 3:27; G, Jewell (Joss Twombly), 1:37.
Saves: G, Kaydin Cusumano 39; Gabby Chiulli 21
Records: G, 1-1; M, 0-2.