Girls’ Hockey Downs Dedham, Stays in First in Herget

Thursday, January 14th, 2010
Article by: Norwood Record - Mike Stoller

Norwood also bows to Braintree for first loss

Photo by Zalina McGuire

Okay, the win streak is over, and the Norwood girls’ hockey team is no longer undefeated after Saturday’s 3-1 loss at Braintree. But it’s the game before we want you to know about, the one the Mustangs won in a battle for first place in the Bay State Conference Herget Division. Norwood edged visiting rival Dedham, 3-2, before a packed house at Canton Ice Rink At the time, the ‘Stangs improved their record to 6-0.

“This was a great team effort and a big win for the team,” Norwood head coach Bill O’Donnell said. “The students and fans brought a lot of energy into the rink [and] the team seemed to feed off the energy, especially in the third period.”

That’s when the Mustangs won it, folks. With the score tied at 2-2, Heather Folan rushed the puck out of the Norwood zone, crossed the Dedham blue line, and dumped the puck into the corner to the right of the Marauder net. The ‘Stangs were able to swing it back to the right point for Katie O’Brien, who ripped a shot that was redirected by Jenny O’Donnell and by the goalie to the far post at the 5:57 mark.

The goal held up as the game-winner after the Marauders fought back from a 2-0 deficit.

“It was great to see the team battle back after Dedham tied up the game,” O’Donnell said. “It says a lot when you can overcome challenges, especially when things weren’t going our way at the end of the second period and into the third period.”

Once again, you can thank freshman phenom Christina Frasca for the saving the night. With just one minute left in the game, Frasca kept the equalizer away with a terrific kick-out save and then made another stop after the Marauders pulled their goalie in favor of the extra skater.

The latter stop resulted in face-off to the left of Frasca with 12 seconds left. The Mustangs won the draw to the corner, but Dedham kept the puck from going out of the zone. As time ran out with the Mustangs defending their goal in front of a scramble of Marauders, Norwood’s bench emptied to salute Frasca.

Frasca also delivered big time in the first period, when she and Dedham netminder Sarah Mosca set the tone with their strong play. Dedham’s top line of Captain Kelly Celata, Samantha Parr, and Meaghan Dwan peppered Frasca with good chances, but Frasca stopped them all. Meanwhile, Mosca also was sharp, particularly with a blocker save on Ali Maloof at the eight minute mark, followed by a glove stop on Hayley O’Rourke, who won a face-off draw and fired on net.

The Norwood defense came up big on two shorthanded occasions, first with 6:02 left in the frame, then with 2:50 remaining. Maloof, O’Brien, Taylor Donners, and Alison Ryan all held the Marauders at bay. Soon after, Maloof intercepted the puck at the Dedham blue line, streaked in as she cut to the right, and unleashed a 25-foot wrist shot into the top right corner with 23 ticks left to give Norwood a 1-0 advantage. To preserve the lead Frasca stopped a 20-foot shot by Dwan with 1.2 seconds remaining.

“Ali’s goal, especially after killing two penalties, really gave the team a lift and some momentum going into the second period,” O’Donnell said.

The Mustangs added to the lead in the second stanza, when O’Rourke swooped in on a rebound of a Kaitlyn McCarthy shot and tucked it away at the 13:03 mark. The play started when Jenny O’Donnell intercepted a Dedham pass near the right boards and backhanded a pass to McCarthy.

Norwood continued to pour it on, as Mosca went onto face 25 shots for the game. She turned away Lisa Coskren’s backhander as the Mustangs tried to extend their lead in the second period. Meanwhile, Frasca did her part in the frame, making a pair of stellar saves as time wound down. But the Marauders tallied their first goal with 1:05 left, as Parr finished a rebound of Dwan shot from in close.

Dwan tied the score in the third period, after Celata and Parr worked the puck out from behind the Norwood net. Dwan, camped five feet out from the goal, slammed it in at the 10:55 mark.

The Mustangs then held off Dedham on its second power play of the period, before rallying for the eventual game-winner.