Girls' Hockey Skates Past Wildcats for 5-3 Record

Wilmington mounted an impressive third period that included one shorthanded goal and two total tallies, but unfortunately for the Wildcats, the effort came a little too late as visiting Beverly-Danvers was already comfortably ahead and went on to a 4-2 win at Ristuccia Arena on Saturday.

“I think [we] won the third period hands down. Beverly just made better of their chances,” said Wilmington head coach Joe McMahon. “Their basics were faster, they got rid of the puck faster. They rushed us and we were a little slow.”

Beverly's Claire Leathersich opened the scoring for Beverly-Danvers as she flicked a soft shot onto net that snuck through the legs of Wilmington’s goalie with 4:21 remaining in the opening period.

Despite heavy pressure, Wilmington goalie Bridget Santos kept the visitors off the board for the majority of the second period.

With 5:19 left before the second intermission Danvers' Allyson Spencer pushed the puck home on a wrap around shot to push the edge to 2-0. Then, with 49 ticks left, Beverly-Danvers struck again when Olivia Konaxis of Beverly skated into perfect position and scored without a defender around her.

Nicole Woods of Beverly extended the lead to 4-0 with 12:09 left in the final frame, but Wilmington came to life and responded just over a minute later. With 11:08 to play in the game, the Wildcats' Meghan Pickett scored on a wrister from deep to prevent the shutout.

Then, with 7:01 left, Michaela McLaughlin stole the puck at center ice and outskated every Panthers defender for a breakaway shorthanded goal.

“(Wilmington) just doesn’t give up,” said Beverly-Danvers head coach Fiona Rice. “They just keep coming at you. They have two solid lines that can move the puck and some girls that are big who can skate. They tend to go up the outside a lot, so they get some opportunities in deep. They just kept going.”

Though the Wildcats earned several power play opportunities, they weren’t able to climb any closer into the game.

Beverly-Danvers improved to 5-3 on the year, and Rice said her squad needs to continue its focus on the basics.

“We have to keep playing well and working on the fundamentals of hockey,” she said.