Beats Winthrop, St. Mary’s; plays in quarterfinals Thursday

Published March 7, 2019

WATERTOWN — One game wasn’t enough for the Peabody/Lynnfield/North Reading girls’ co-op hockey team in the Div. 1 tournament.

The 11th-seeded Tanners already made history on Feb. 27 when they defeated No. 22 Winthrop 2-0 at McVann-O’Keefe for the program’s first postseason. They followed that up by defeating familiar foe St. Mary’s of Lynn in the first round, 4-0 on Monday night at John Ryan Rink in Watertown.

JESS ROBERT brought this puck to her backhand and beat St. Mary’s goalie Lauren Vaccaro for a shorthanded goal. It was Robert’s second goal of the first period, helping the Tanners set the tone for a big 4-0 win in the first round against their rivals. (Mark Grant Photo)

Lynnfield’s senior goalie Abby Buckley might be the most locked-in netminder in the state right now as she kicked off her postseason run with two shutouts. Behind Buckley’s steady presence (25 saves) against Winthrop, the Tanners leaned on another senior captain, Kat DiGiulio of Peabody who scored both of her team’s goals, one in the first period and one in the second, as the Tanners took complete control and their penalty kill got the job done in the third.

On Monday night, PLNR showed no fear against a Saint Mary’s team who had already beaten them twice in the regular season by a combined score of 9-1. (4-1 on Dec. 12 and 5-0 on Jan. 9).

It was apparent from the puck drop that Peabody was playing with a hop in their step as the majority of play in the first period was in the Saint Mary’s zone. Lauren Vaccaro, the St. Mary’s goalie, made a few amazing saves to keep the game tied 0-0 after one.

SAMMIE MIRASOLO (8) celebrates a goal with fellow Hornet Paige Thibedeau (25). Mirasolo scored two goals in the third to cement an historic 4-0 victory over St. Mary’s on Monday for the Peabody/Lynnfield/North Reading girls’ hockey team. (Mark Grant Photo)

The second period started off the same as the first with PLNR skating even faster and getting stronger on the puck. North Reading senior captain Jessica Robert, who got an assist against Winthrop, finally got the Tanners on the scoreboard when she managed to slip one past Vaccaro on a feed from Lynnfield’s Carolyn Garofoli at 12:36 of the period. With 32.3 seconds remaining in period two, Robert stole the puck while shorthanded and beat Vaccaro on a beautiful goal to put PLNR up 2-0 heading into the third.

The third period was a continuance of the first two as PLNR played tight on defense and aggressively on offense. North Reading’s Sammie Mirasolo scored her first goal at 7:44, assisted by fellow Hornet Maria Pierce. Mirasolo’s second goal came unassisted at 11:05 to account for the final score 4-0. Buckley earned her second consecutive playoff shutout, this time with an incredible 38 saves.

It was certainly a big moment for the program who decided they weren’t about to wait another season to get their second playoff win. The victory was extra sweet coming against Peabody head coach Michelle Roach’s alma mater, and the team that knocked PLNR out of the playoffs last season.

UPDATED DIV. 1 GIRLS’ HOCKEY BRACKET

The Tanners are on to the quarterfinals against No. 3 Methuen/Tewksbury (19-1-1) on Thursday at O’Brien Ice Rink in Woburn at 5:30 p.m. Methuen’s only loss of the season came to No. 4 Andover who is also still alive in the D1 tournament as they play No. 5 Franklin in the quarterfinals on the other side of the bracket.

The Winner of the PLNR-Metheun/Tewksbury clash will move on to the semifinals to face the winner of No. 15 Shrewsbury vs. No. 7 Longmeadow. The date, location and time of the semifinals is to be announced.