PORTLAND — With the playoffs rapidly approaching, St. Dominic Academy is looking to get some momentum coming down the home stretch.
The Saints may have something brewing.
After disposing of Brunswick on Tuesday at Bowdoin College, the Saints scored a goal in all three periods in a 3-1 victory over Cheverus on Saturday at William B. Troubh Ice Arena
“It’s getting toward playoffs and the girls have a lot of pride,” St. Dom’s coach Paul Gosselin said. “I think we’ve stepped it up a bit. We also kind of have a little rivalry with Cheverus, so I think there was an added incentive there. The girls came to play today.”
The Saints (6-8) got a little help from the goal posts against the Stags. With St. Dom’s leading 2-1 in the final minutes, Cheverus’ Jill Hannigan clanged a shot off the far post, a mere inch or two from forcing overtime. Two minutes later, St. Dom’s Tia Rotolico added the insurance empty-net goal, sending a shot the length of the ice that just snuck inside the post.
“It was really a game of bounces,” Cheverus coach Amy McNally said. “I think if we played them ten times it would be even. We’re pretty evenly matched, which is nice. It’s nice to see.”
The Saints got off to a fast start as Jessica Boulet staked St. Dom’s out to a 1-0 lead with 8:42 remaining in the first period. Linemate Tia Rotolico found Boulet in front with a pass from the side of the cage and the senior lifted a shot that ricocheted off Cheverus goaltender Taylor Courtois’ facemask before hopping over her and past the goal line.
Courtois faced six shots in the opening frame and four of them careened off her facemask. That wasn’t the game plan, Gosselin said.
“I was telling the girls to shoot low because she had a hard time moving her pads and we kept bouncing them off her mask,” Gosselin said. “I don’t know, it was just a weird thing.”
Cheverus (5-10) tied the game mid way through the second period. After the Stags controlled puck possession throughout the first half of the stanza, Jill Hannigan was able to bury a puck past St. Dom’s goaltender Payton Winslow. Hannigan skated through the middle of the offensive zone before veering to the right circle and firing a shot across her body far post.
Alexa Kesaris helped St. Dom’s recapture its one-goal lead going into the second intermission. Kesaris gave the Saints a 2-1 lead with 52 seconds remaining in the second period. She won the preceding faceoff to the right of Courtois, skated in on net and lifted a backhand into the net.
“The previous shot I had my coach told me I should have cut in and went in on my backhand,” Kesaris said. “I took his advice and went for it and it ended up going in.”
The third period was mostly played in St. Dom’s defensive zone as the Stags tried desperately to square the contest. The Saints’ defense limited Cheverus to just one shot on its only power play chance of the game. All six Cheverus shots on net in the period were blocked aside by Winslow, who finished with 18 saves.
“Payton did great,” Gosselin said. “She got lucky a few times with the posts, but she made some great stops. They have a talent number thirteen (Hannigan). She’s really good. (Winslow) stoned her a few times, more than once.”
Courtois finished with 13 saves.
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