WATERTOWN — Good teams take advantage of their breaks. Championship teams create their own.
Top-seed Notre Dame Academy of Hingham did both late Wednesday night at John A. Ryan Arena, using 2-on-1 breaks to score both its goals to end Peabody’s season, 2-0, in the Division 1 quarterfinals.
The No. 9 seed Tanners (18-5) saw their trouble scoring goals against good teams come back to bite them again. Peabody managed only 15 shots on Cougar goalie Ava Larkin and was blanked for the third time in its five losses this winter (they scored just one goal in the other two).
Junior goaltender Alyse Mutti did everything she could to get the Tanners in it, making a season-high 33 saves. Throughout a busy first period, she was excellent with her skates and leg pads in the blue paint and made 13 stops. She then flashed the leather a few times over the final two periods, denying close to a dozen shots from inside the dangerous scoring areas.
“She’s one of the best goaltenders in the state,” said Peabody coach Michelle Roach. “She’s amazing. She plays with so much poise, she’s so calm. I have no hesitation putting her right there with any goalie in the state.”
Watching Notre Dame Academy (17-4-2) celebrate with the MIAA’s Final Four banner was a tough pill for Peabody to swallow. The Tanners graduate only two seniors from their primary 13 skaters, though, and hope to crack through next year after making back-to-back Elite Eight appearances.
“We lost four 20-point scorers from last year’s team … a lot of people questioned whether we could get to this point again this year and we found a way,” said Roach, “So absolutely we plan to be back here again.
“This group is talented, they’re fierce and they’re strong. They want to go even farther and I’m really proud to be their coach.”
Notre Dame advances to its third straight Final Four, facing No. 4 seed Malden Catholic on Saturday for a spot in the state title game to be played on St. Patrick’s Day at TD Garden.
Those odd-man rushes put the Tanners behind the 8-ball in the second period. Early in the frame, a turnover in the neutral zone produced a 2-on-1 chance that saw Notre Dame’s Sarah White pass across to Devon Moore, who made a gorgeous feed back to White for the game’s first goal and a 1-0 lead.
Even though the Cougars carried play for large stretches of that middle period, outshooting the Tanners 11-7, it appeared the Northeastern Hockey League champs would escape trailing by just one goal.
Instead, another 2-on-1 break with a mere 17.5 seconds left in the second period doubled the lead. Mutti got her leg pad on Emily Coughlin’s initial shot, but the rebound sat in the crease where Caroline Hartnett put it home for what wound up being a back-breaking goal.
Despite some good puck management by defensemen like Leah Buckley, Eleni Spack and Maura Flaws, the Tanners just couldn’t get significant time in the offensive zone. The disciplined Cougars, who allow under a goal per game, didn’t give them any clean zone entries; when Peabody dumped the puck in, Notre Dame skaters typically won the race to the loose disc. Since the Cougars didn’t turn the puck over much, either, it all added up to very little possession for the Peabody-Lynnfield-North Reading co-op.
“Notre Dame was big, fast and physical. They didn’t give up any time or space,” Roach said. “They closed up any chances we might have had and they really cleared everything away in front of the net.”
Senior captain Catie Kampersal had a nice rush up the ice for a shot saved by Larkin deep in the third. Winger Erin Dee also had a decent scoring bid and the line of Mia Lava centering Shirley Whitmore and Vanessa Steinmeyer had Peabody’s best offensive shifts of the night.
The power play provided Peabody’s best scoring chances in the first period. The Cougars made a bad change and were whistled for too many players on the ice and the Tanners put four of their six first period shots on net during that two minute advantage. Whitmore nearly beat Larkin at the post but couldn’t and Ava Buckley also had a good bid denied. Defenseman Daniella White also had a blast from the point that nearly evaded Larkin but was gloved down.
The Tanners wound up 0-for-3 on the advantage, though, and had a last-ditch chance cut short by a penalty of their own that made it 4-on-4. Notre Dame was 0-for-2.
“I think about eight years ago … we were fighting for points to get into the tournament, fighting for one tournament win,” said Roach, who has led the Tanners to three quarterfinal berths and seven straight playoff appearances. “Now, we win 18 games and we win a league and we walk off somewhat disappointed. It’s a real credit to all the kids that came before, and to our seniors this year, that we’ve built the program up to the this level. They’ve been a part of building something special.”
Notre Dame Academy 2, Peabody 0
Division 1 quarterfinal at Ryan Rink, Watertown
Peabody 0 0 0 0
NDA Hingham 0 2 0 2
Scoring summary
First period: No scoring.
Second period: NDA, Sarah White (Devon Moore, Chase Harmon), 2:52; NDA, Caroline Hartnett (Emily Coughlin), 14:43.
Third period: No scoring.
Saves: PLNR, Alyse Mutti 33; NDA, Ava Larkin 13.
Records: PLNR, 18-5-0; NDA, 17-4-2.