Burr and Burton girls skate to 4-4 tie against Spaulding
Toolbox
By KYLE MARTEL Correspondent - Published: December 23, 2007
BARRE – Untimely penalties proved to be the Achilles heel for the Spaulding girls hockey team Saturday.
Burr and Burton was able to capitalize its power play, recording two goals with Spaulding players in the penalty box to key a 4-4 tie.
Spaulding held a 4-3 lead with four minutes left to play but a player behind after a checking penalty. Initially it looked as though the Crimson Tide would come out with a successful penalty kill, the Bulldogs battled back and with just under a minute remaining in the power play, Dunja Jovicic placed a wrist shot into the upper corner of the net to tie the score.
"We obviously would have liked to win it has a been a tough season for us so far," Spaulding coach Dave Lamarre said. "We were playing hard and then we took that penalty late in the game. I thought it was a good call, we had a girls playing hard trying to fight for position. That is what happens, but we never gave up, we had great chances we just couldn't get them to come through"
In overtime the Tide's offense aggressively bombarded the Bulldog defensive zone and saw numerous opportunities on crosses and with the Burr and Burton goalie out of position, however, there was no one there on the other end of the passes and Bulldog defense was quick to recover.
"I thought it was great girls hockey game," Lamarre said. "It was up and down with the score going back and forth. I thought the only thing we gave up gave up two power-play goals and that ended up being the difference today. We had a couple of defensive breakdowns and made some mistakes. I thought offensively we looked good, we skated well and saw some nice things, it was a good game for us."
Burr and Burton started out the game strong when Jennifer Coppin scored the game's first goal after two minutes of play. Spaulding tied the score at 1 five minutes later when Julie Morris pushed the puck past Bulldog netminder Kristen Palmer (23 saves).
Louise "LuLu" Wheeler scored her first of two goals with four minutes left to play in the first period to give a the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead. Burr and Burton didn't hold its second lead for long either as Spaulding answered to Wheeler's goal just seconds later. Abbi Bailey found the back of the net. Alicia Laquerre recorded a third goal for Spaulding in the first period giving the Tide a 3-2 edge.
Burr and Burton's Wheeler recorded her second goal of the night to tie the game in the middle frame.
The Tide withstood the Bulldogs aggressive play and over the course of the period Burr and Burton's players wore themselves out. Eventually, even while shorthanded, Spaulding spent most of the later part of the game in the Bulldog's defensive zone.
After many shots on goal, Spaulding's Georgia Woodworth scored the Tide's final goal with five minutes left in the second period to take the 4-3 lead.
Spaulding (1-7-1) hosts Mount Mansfield on Saturday.
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