HAVERHILL — No goals were scored in regulation between the Peabody girls hockey team and host HPNA on Wednesday afternoon.
Goaltender Julianna Taylor put up a brick wall in front of her net to make sure it stayed that way in overtime.
Taylor made six of her 37 total saves in the five-minute extra session, and two of the state’s stingiest teams battled to a 0-0 tie in a state tournament tune-up at Veterans Rink.
“Julianna was spectacular,” said HPNA coach Gary Kane, whose team ends the regular season 14-2-5 and was ranked No. 4 in the latest Division 1 power rankings. “There was one shot Chloe Gromko took in overtime that, from where I sat, looked like it was going. And Jules flashed the shoulder and made the save.”
Peabody (15-3-2) got 20 saves at the other end from senior Alyse Mutti, who posted her tenth shutout of the season and 30th of her career. The Tanners have allowed the fewest goals in the state (16) and were happy to play their most complete game of the season against one of their toughest opponents.
“It felt like a lot of the things we’ve been working on the past few weeks clicked. We put it all together against a great team that we respect a lot and that we love ending the season against every year,” said Peabody coach Michelle Roach. “This is where we need to be heading into the state tournament.”
Taylor made some ten bell saves over the second half of the third period and into overtime. She robbed freshman Grace Allen on a tight shot with about 8:00 left, quickly slid across the crease to deny a Shirley Whitmore bid with around 4:00 to play and somehow tracked a seeing-eye shot by Eleni Spack that Mia Lava nearly deposited at the near post. There was another tip by Vanessa Steinmeyer that found Taylor’s belly instead of the back of the net as well.
The 37 shots were one of the highest totals of the year for Peabody in non-league play. Ranked 12th in Division 1 as of Tuesday, the Tanners will hope the draw against a top squad is enough to vault them into the ten ten, or perhaps top eight.
“In the later stages of the game, PLNR took over a little bit. I told the girls they played like they needed the win more than us and we have to match that by wanting that win,” said Kane. “It looked like (PLNR) just had a little bit more jump in their game.”
Not that HPNA was without its scoring chances. Senior defensive ace Paige Nottingham had a few up-ice rushes that resulted in tough saves for Mutti, and senior Quinn Bennett also flashed dangerously on a few occasions. There were no penalties called over 50 minutes of action, either, so neither team could trot out the power play to try and steal a goal.
“You’ve got two great goaltenders and you could tell the teams were kind of feeling each other out. No one wanted to make the big mistake,” said Kane. “A lot of these girls know each other and there’s a lot of respect, so this is always a great game for getting used to that playoff style of hockey at the end of the year.”
Freshman winger Sydney Zizza had one of her best games for Peabody, said Roach, and she forced Taylor to make her best glove save of the night on a tip off an Ava Buckley shot in the second. Defenseman Mikaela O’Driscoll also created a rebound that Taylor smothered for another quality chance.
“The way Sydney comes up with the puck, fights on the wall and creates chaos always helps us,” said Roach. “I thought Leah Buckley was also outstanding for us on defense and Grace Allen played a great game up front.”
There wasn’t a ton of room through center ice to generate speed for either side. The dump-and-chase game somewhat favored the Tanners and their speedy forecheckers, which in part led to their edge in shots on goal over the final 20 minutes.
“I liked our layers,” said Roach. “We had good support all over the ice and we did a really good job of making sure someone was giving that second layer anytime they had a chance to rush it up the ice.”
Peabody 0, HPNA 0
at Veterans Rink, Haverhill
Saves: PLNR, Alyse Mutti 20; HPNA, Julianna Taylor 37.
Records: PLNR, 15-3-2; HPNA, 14-2-5.