PEABODY — One way plumbers get through a blockage is with some high velocity pressure.
That was sort of the approach taken by the Peabody girls hockey team in Monday afternoon’s home battle. Visiting Beverly came in with all kinds of tenacity, filling shooting lanes and getting sticks, bodies and pads on the puck to turn the game into a block party.
The unbeaten Tanners (4-0-1) skated in waves to keep the pressure up and scored three times in the middle period to come away victorious, 5-1, at McVann-O’Keefe Rink.
“I’d love to know how many shots Beverly blocked, because it was a lot,” said Peabody head coach Michelle Roach. “Finding lanes and sticking around if we need to is one thing we’ll work on coming out of this game, but overall I’m very happy with the way we played.”
Ten skaters earned points on Peabody’s five goals, two of which came in a 93-second span in the second period.
Senior defenseman Chloe Gromko made an rush through the neutral zone to create a rebound that captain Ava Buckley buried for her second goal of the night. Just over a minute later, junior defenseman Eleni Spack’s knuckling puck from the blue line hit home to turn a tight game into a 4-0 lead.
“Getting the defensemen involved in the offense is always good,” noted Roach. “We seemed to have really good line changes, coming off fast and getting back into the play quickly. That helps sustain possession and keep that pressure up, which was huge in this one.”
Beverly (0-5) had eight of its 14 shots in the second period, and the visitors were threating to make it a one-goal game when Peabody extended its lead. The Panthers had some outstanding spurts of 1-on-1 defense with timely stick lifts by captain Bradie Arnold, great physical play and positioning by defensemen like Caroline Horn and Ashley Freitas, and good puck management from Morgan Linskey, Asuka Keough and Meredith Johnston.
A quick shot by Horn from point in the third period got Beverly on the board. Arnold controlled it at the crease and sent it over to Avery LeBlanc, who scored her second of the season to spoilt the shutout for Tanner goalie Alyse Mutti (13 saves).
“Every game we’ve played has been a battle, and I think we’re getting better in the defensive end. Everybody was blocking shots all night and I thought our backchecking was really good,” said Beverly head coach Kristen McCarthy, whose team goes for its first win on the road Saturday at Gloucester.
“We have to keep up this intensity. We know we can compete with one of the strongest teams in our league. We have to bring that same effort no matter the name of the team we’re playing.”
Junior goalie Victoria Willington had 29 saves for Beverly, including 8-of-9 in the opening period and 9-of-10 in the third.
Ava Buckley opened the scoring in the first for Peabody, roofing a 2-on-1 chance feed by senior Daniella White (2 assists). Shirley Whitmore extended the lead with the game’s only power play tally, which came with just one second left on the infraction in the second.
Gromko rounded out the scoring in the third with an assist from captain Mia Lava. Freshman Sydney Zizza also had two assists.
“We weren’t totally happy with our effort Saturday (a narrow 2-1 win at Woburn). We wanted to come with more layers and better pace today and I think we did that,” Roach said.Peabody 5, Beverly 1
at McVann-O’Keefe Rink, Peabody
Beverly;0;0;1;1
Peabody;1;3;1;5
Scoring summary
{span class=”print_trim”}First period: PLNR, Ava Buckley (Daniella White, Erin Dee), 9:54.
Second period: PLNR, Shirley Whitmore (Eleni Spack, Sydney Zizza), ppg, 1:39; PLNR, A. Buckley (White, Chloe Gromko), 9:25; PLNR, Spack (Grace Allen, Zizza), 10:58.
Third period: B, Avery LeBlanc (Bradie Arnold, Caroline Horn), 11:33; PLNR, Gromko (Mia Lava, Vanessa Steinmeyer), 13:57.
Saves: B, Victoria Willington 29; PLNR, Alyse Mutti 13.
Records: B, 0-5-0; PLNR, 4-0-1.