STONEHAM — Lydia Barnes watched the movie. Malden Catholic boasted a high-octane scoring offense, and Methuen/Tewksbury’s ace netminder was ready to face a taking pictures gallery in Thursday’s Elite 8 women hockey matchup towards the Lancers.
Behind a contact of showmanship, Barnes handed the take a look at with flying colours. Making 39 saves in objective, No. 6 Methuen/Tewksbury skated previous No. 3 Malden Catholic, 4-1, in entrance of a raucous crowd at Stoneham Area to advance to the Div. 1 Closing 4.
Methuen/Tewksbury (19-1-3) will draw the winner of No. 15 Bishop Stang (16-5-1) and No. 7 Bishop Feehan (17-5-2) for a visit to Causeway Avenue.
To set the desk for MJ Petisce’s first-period tally, Barnes stopped a barrage of 17 photographs within the opening stanza.
“I just got to stick to my fundamentals and support my team the way I can and know that they have my back,” Barnes stated.
For a second, it seemed just like the Lancers broke the ice. However Malden Catholic’s (16-3-4) internet entrance objective on the 8:03 mark was nixed, and Methuen/Tewksbury took benefit of the reversal.
The Purple Rangers lit the lamp on their third shot of the interval as Petisce flew into the attacking zone earlier than firing a wrist shot on objective. The puck trickled previous the objective line with 4:44 to play within the first.
Petisce stated there was an emphasis on placing rubber on the cage, triggering her to shoot as she glided over the blue line.
“So I just flipped it on net and it magically went in,” she stated. “It definitely helped with the teammates and getting it in there … I think the first goal was super important.”
Methuen/Tewksbury continued to be below siege in its defensive finish. However Barnes protected the 1-0 cushion between the pipes, stopping 5 photographs — together with a point-blank kick save within the slot off the tape of Brianna Donegan — to flee the opening stanza unscathed.
“The first period was the whole game,” stated Purple Rangers head coach Dave O’Hearn. “They’re a good skating team, and they were relentless. They had a lot of horses in the stable and it felt like it was just one wave after the next. Our girls just withheld it.”
The Lancers barraged the Purple Rangers with 13 photographs within the second, however Barnes stored every part in entrance of her to nurse Methuen/Tewksbury’s 1-0 lead into the third.
Malden Catholic potted the equalizer with 7:28 left within the interval on a shot by Aviana Panacopoulos, however Sarah Marano jammed house a rebound on the facility play to retake the lead. Sammy Ryan and Ella Duffy added empty-netters to seal the win.
“We’ve worked so hard to get here, and it feels like honestly a little bit of a relief because it’s been such a great season. I’m so proud of my girls,” Barnes stated.
