Warriors drop 7-4 contest to Wilmington

SENIOR CAPTAIN Julianne Bourque scored two goals and assisted on another in Wakefield’s 7-4 setback in the Middlesex League Freedom division finale yesterday afternoon at the Stoneham Arena. (Donna Larsson File Photo)

SENIOR CAPTAIN Julianne Bourque scored two goals and assisted on another in Wakefield’s 7-4 setback in the Middlesex League Freedom division finale yesterday afternoon at the Stoneham Arena. (Donna Larsson File Photo)

Published in the February 19, 2016 edition.

By JIM SOUTHMAYD

STONEHAM — The good news is that the Wakefield Memorial High girls’ hockey team ended its two-game scoring drought.

The bad news is that the Warriors let up seven goals and dropped a 7-4 contest to Wilmington in the Middlesex League Freedom division finale yesterday afternoon at the Stoneham Arena.

Wakefield and the Wildcats wrapped up league play with identical 2-14-0 records in the M.L. Freedom division and finished in a two-way for fifth place in the league standings. The Warriors are 3-16-0 overall and Wilmington is 2-17-1.

The Warriors were going for the season sweep after pulling out a 4-3 triumph over the Wildcats in the first meeting on Jan. 6 at the Kasabuski Arena.

The rematch went back and forth with the contest tied at 2-2 after one period and 3-3 after two frames. Wilmington the lit the lamp three times in the first 6:04 of the final period and that proved to be the difference.

“I don’t think we played our strongest game,” said coach Jack Foley. “We weren’t clicking and made some mistakes with the puck in our own end. The girls worked hard for the whole game. The effort was there.”

Wilmington broke the 3-3 tie with three goals in the first six plus minutes of the third period.

Cayman Hardy, a senior forward, collected a loose puck in front of the net and flicked the rebound over a sprawled Megan Horrigan and into the net at 1:22. Sophomore forward Olivia Wingate and junior defenseman Samantha Grasso earned the assists.

The Wildcats made it a 5-3 game at 5:34. Danielle Silva, a sophomore forward, skated in back of the net and dished off a pass to Wingate in front. Wingate flicked a wrist shot by Horrigan, who made her second straight start in goal for the Warriors.

Wilmington upped its lead to 6-3 at 6:04 as sophomore defenseman Jillian Miele stuffed the puck at the right post.

The Warriors quickly got a goal back 30 seconds later at 6:34. On a 2-on-1 break, senior forward Julianne Bourque, a senior forward, skated down the left side. Bourque fed freshman forward Brooke Lilley on the right side. Lilley deposited the puck into the back of the net by senior goalie Jamie Spinazola to cut the lead to 6-4.

But Wilmington scored its final goal at 13:21 to squash any hopes of a comeback by Wakefield. Miele took a Silva pass and, from the left post, fired a shot into the net.

The Wildcats outshot the Warriors, 12-9, in the final period but Wakefield had the slight edge for the game, 30-29.

The contest started off pretty well for the Warriors as they took a 1-0 lead at 1:45 of the first period. Bourque collected a loose puck and went top shelf with her shot for the goal.

Wilmington scored the next two goals at 3:25 and 6:28 to take a 2-1 advantage.

Wingate took a pass at center ice from freshman forward Lia Kourkoutas and skated in past the Wakefield defense. She fired a wrist shop into the left corner to tie the game at 1-1.

Grasso took a shot from the left circle that Horrigan made a valiant bid to stop with her pads. But the puck trickled over the goal line. Ellen Farrell, a junior forward, earned the assist on the goal.

Wakefield tied the game at 2-2 after killing off a tripping penalty assessed to Bourque. Bourque came out of the box as the Warriors cleared the puck and brought into the Wildcats’ offensive zone. On a rebound of a Spinazola save, Bourque was there to knock the puck at 12:00 to tie the game at 2-2 where it stood after the first 15 minutes had been played.

The game remained deadlocked for much of the second period despite some good scoring bids by both teams.

Sophomore defenseman Courtney Hill ripped off a shot that Spinazola made a nice glove save on. Then, eighth grade forward Annabella Forziati fired a high shot that bounced off the top of the net.

Hardy couldn’t get a stick on a bouncing puck on a Wilmington 3-on-2 rush.

Wakefield took a 3-2 lead at 10:47 of the second period. Lilley, situated at the left post, took a pass from eighth grade defenseman Hope Melanson and fired the puck into the net.

Wilmington tied the game at 3-3 at 14:24 with a power play goal. With senior defenseman Gabrielle Nadolny in the penalty box for high-sticking, the Wildcats capitalized with the equalizer. From the right circle, Lauren D’Angelo, a sophomore defenseman, blasted a wrist shot by Horrigan. Kourkoutas and Wingate assisted on the goal.

“Wilmington has some good players, 22, 9 and 5,” said Foley. “We let them skate around and dominate the game.”

As for Horrigan, she made her second start in a row in the goal. Horrigan made some nice saves in relief of eight grade goalie Cailyn Wesley who has missed the past two contests. She should be back next week for the finale against Lincoln-Sudbury.

“Megan was practicing for the past couple of weeks because we knew it was coming,” said Foley. “She has played goalie before in the fifth and sixth grade. Cailyn also has played forward in her youth league. It helps them to know how to play the different positions to get a different perspective. Megan made some nice saves and kept us in the game.”

Wakefield wraps up the season on Tuesday, Feb. 23 when it hosts Lincoln-Sudbury in a non-league game at 4:50 p.m. at the Kasabuski Arena. L-S has a 6-10-3 overall record after 19 games.

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At Stoneham Arena

WAKEFIELD………..2  1  1 — 4

Wilmington………….2  1  3 — 7

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First Period — Wak, Bourque (un.) 1:45. Wil, Wingate (Kourkoutas) 3:25. Wil, Grasso (Farrell) 6:28. Wak, Bourque (un.) 12:00. Penalties — Wak, Bourque (tripping) 10:21.

Second Period — Wak, Lilley (H.Melanson) 10:47. Wil, D’Angelo (Kourkoutas) 14:24 (pp). Penalties — Wil, D’Angelo (body-checking) 5:32; Wak, Gadoly (high-sticking) 13:40.

Third Period — Wil, Hardy (Wingate, Grasso) 1:22. Wil, Wingate (Silva) 5:34. Wil, Miele (un.) 6:04. Wak, Lilley (Bourque) 6:34. Wil, Miele (Silva) 13:21. Penalties — Wil, Palmer (holding) 9:17; Wak, Gadolny (body-checking) 13:21.

Shots on Goal — Wakefield 10-11-9 — 30. Wilmington 11-6-12 — 29.

Power Plays — Wakefield 0 for 1. Wilmington 1 for 3.

Goalies — Wak, Horrigan (29 shots-22 saves). Wil, Spinazola (30-26).