Warriors tie Burlington, 6-6
COURTNEY HILL had two goals and an assist during Wakefield’s 6-6 tie against Burlington on Saturday. (Donna Larsson Photo)
Published in the February 5, 2018 edition.
By DAN MARGARITA
BURLINGTON — The Wakefield High girls’ hockey team traveled to Burlington on Saturday night and kept their playoff hopes alive with a 6-6 tie against home team Burlington.
“It was exciting back-and-forth for both teams. It was a fun one to coach and we did what we needed to do tonight and kept ourselves alive for a playoff spot,” said Wakefield coach Kory Falite.
Burlington got on the scoreboard in the opening seconds of the game when Kat Nikolopoulos fed Emma McLean up ice with a pass for a breakaway. McLean was able to find the back of the net to make it 1-0.
Wakefield bounced right back with a series of shots from Hope and Sarah Melanson, Caroline Lilley and Courtney Hill.
Wakefield continued to outshoot Burlington in the period but it was Burlington that scored again when Maggie Milne, positioned at the side of the crease, tucked the puck home to make it 2-0, where it stood at the end of the period.
Wakefield came storming out of the gate in the second period. Brooke Lilley fed a pass from behind the net to Olivia Cameron who buried it for a goal to make it 2-1.
It was a mere 18 seconds later when Courtney Hill scored on a shot from the point to tie the game at 2-2.
Later in the period, Wakefield was able to take advantage of a power play and got a goal from Brooke Lilley to take the lead. That lead didn’t last long, however, as Burlington scored on a goal from Emma McLean, sending the teams into the second intermission tied at 3-3.
A Burlington penalty at the end of the second period gave Wakefield several scoring opportunities to start the third period. Caroline and Brooke Lilley and Courtney Hill all had shots on goal to no avail.
It was Burlington that was able to take advantage of a power play on a goal by Kat Nikolopoulos to give Burlington a 4-3 lead.
Wakefield tied the game when Caroline Lilley took a pass from Olivia Cameron to score and make it 4-4.
It was just a matter of second before Wakefield took a 5-4 lead on a goal from Courtney Hill.
Unfortunately for Wakefield, another penalty gave Burlington a power play opportunity, which they converted into a goal by Sydney Shinopoulos to make it 5-5.
“For a while there were penalties back-and-forth but yeah, we’ve got to stay out of the box. It is what it is,” said Falite.
Wakefield scored late in the game on a goal from Annabella Forziati to give Wakefield the lead, but they could not hold onto it for the last three minutes.
The Warriors could not clear the puck out of their end and it cost them when Emma McLean scored with 1:27 remaining to tie the game at 6-6 where it would stand.
“We had a few girls in the box from matching penalties that we would like to have had on the ice. They had a flurry of 30-40 seconds in our zone there where we couldn’t clear the puck and they scored,” Falite lamented.
