Melrose
U-14 Girl's Hockey Defeats
Everett 5-3 to Advance to District 10 Finals
The stage was set last Sunday night at Somerville ' s Veteran's Memorial Skating
Rink to what amounted to be one of the most exciting girl's hockey games yet
this season. The Melrose Under 14 Girl's Hockey team defeated a formidable and
talented Everett team 5-3 to advance to the District 10 final match up with
Medford, February 23rd at Hockeytown in Saugus .
In the first period, Melrose came out firing on all cylinders, putting Everett
on their heels and quickly gaining a one goal lead. Meredith MacLeod started off
the scoring for Melrose with a nifty move to the Everett goaltenders right and
buried the puck in the net, she was assisted by her line mates Kelsey McBride
and Anna Morgan.
In the second Melrose was relentless in pursuit of the puck and it paid off,
when early in the period Makayla Lucey made it 2-0, assisted by Melissa &
Samantha "Sam" Giordano. The rest of the period belonged to Everett. Everett
peppered Melrose goalie Anna Kleis with a multitude of shots, and was able to
sneak 3 unanswered goals by her. Despite giving up the goals, Kleis was
unflappable . She remained composed and stopped a late period break-away that
left the Everett coach shaking his head in dis-belief. By the end of the second
period, Everett had jumped out to a 3-2 lead.
By sheer determination and a willingness to overcome the apparent challenges of
the Everett players and fans, Melrose came back in dramatic fashion in the third
period with three unanswered goals of their own . MacLeod tied it up with her
second of the night, assisted by Charlotte Mays and Allison Foley. Later,
Defenseman Hallie Thorp, with help from the Giordano's, followed with a
blistering wrist shot from the point surprising the Everett goaltender, putting
Melrose up by one goal. Not to be out-done Lucey tallied her second of the
night, assisted by Sam Giordano and Haley Gorman.
The outstanding defensive core of Thorp, Justine Johnson, Erin Carney, Liz
Giacchino and goaltender Anna Kleis frustrated the persistent Everett offense.
They blocked shots, cleared the zone, held the blue line, kept their cool under
pressure and played smart hockey. Due to their exhausting efforts, Everett was
held scoreless in the first and third periods, which left the Melrose players
and fans with a sense of exhilaration, pride and a 5-3 win!
Melrose is looking forward to their next Middlesex Yankee Girl's Conference
League games, before moving on to the District 10 final against Medford and
beyond.