'New level of play.' Algonquin-Hudson girls hockey blanks Auburn after boys fall in 2 OT
MARLBOROUGH – The Titans needed something to go their way.
Within a half an hour – at rinks eight miles apart – the Algonquin boys hockey team suffered a grueling double-overtime loss and Emily Johns, the top scorer in Central Mass., was thwarted on a penalty shot.
But the Algonquin-Hudson girls team responded with rapid-fire goals to salvage a split on a night where both ARHS programs netted six goals.
Bryn Domolky was one of five players with a goal and an assist to lift the No. 5 Titan girls to a 6-0 victory over No. 28 Auburn at New England Sports Center to advance to the MIAA Division 2 Sweet 16.
The evening began for Algonquin at Northstar Ice Sports in Westborough, where the boys rallied in the final seconds to pull even, 6-6, with Whitman-Hanson before Luke Tropeano netted his fourth goal of the game. The Panther senior captain converted with 3 minutes and 10 seconds remaining in the second OT to cap a furious evening of offense.
When Domolky was told the outcome after her team’s victory, her eyes opened wide.
“Oh ... my ... 7-6? Thirteen goals in a hockey game? That sounds like a tough loss.”
No doubt. But Algonquin’s girls made sure their game was never out of reach.
With a 1-0 lead after one period, Maddy Glynn and Courtney Shifrin potted power play goals a minute and 25 seconds apart. To start the third, Brooke Cutler and Johns found the net with just seven seconds between them to build a 5-0 lead. Defenseman Lauren O’Malley finished the scoring from long distance and Addy Cagan (22 saves) posted the shutout in goal to advance the Titans (14-6-1) into Saturday’s next round against Martha’s Vineyard.
The only blemish on the scoresheet was when Johns was awarded a penalty shot with just over 11 minutes left in the middle period. The senior from Clinton entered the game with 16 goals, the most in CMass., but she wasn’t thrilled to be in the spotlight on her one-on-one attempt against Auburn goalie Tori Horne.
“I’m always like, ‘dang it; penalty shot,’” John said. “I haven’t had the greatest experience with those but I try to pick my head up and say, ‘today’s a new day’ and if it doesn’t work out, I know my team’s got my back.”
Johns faked to her right, but Horne (38 saves) was there to make the save.
“She’s a good scorer and she has an awesome deke, but penalty shots are really nerve-wracking for us all,” Domolky said. “I know I probably would have choked; maybe tripped or something, but she gave it her best effort and she ended up playing a great game.”
Algonquin boys fall to Whitman-Hanson in double OT
A wild night in Westborough featured goals at every turn. No. 19 Whitman-Hanson carried a 4-2 lead into the second period before goals from Algonquin’s Andrew Dunleavy and Jack Gulachenski (with 34 seconds left) tied the game heading into the third.
Gulachenski needed just 60 seconds to put No. 14 Algonquin in front, 5-4, for the first since time since it was 1-0. But Tropeano brought W-H back even before David Osis lifted the Panthers back into the lead, 6-5, with 4:29 left.
With the Titans on a power play and their goalie pulled, senior Wyatt Shea gathered Ben Yosca’s centering pass and buried it with 15.3 seconds left in regulation. Algonquin hit the crossbar in the first OT and nearly put one past Nolan Munroe in the second before Tropeano sent the home fans away disappointed.
Algonquin girls face familiar foe: Martha’s Vineyard
The Algonquin girls’ next opponent may play more than 100 miles away, but the Titans already made a trip to the Vineyard earlier this season. After dropping three of their previous four games, the Titans defeated MV 4-0 in a tournament game on Jan. 14.
The Vineyarders were only shut out twice this season, but have firepower in Emily Coogan (18 goals) and Isabella Blake (12).
“They’re going to be out for us,” Algonquin coach Tina Beauchemin said. “They’re a strong little team. They’ve got a couple of really powerful players on that team that we’re going to have to be cognizant of.”
Domolky remembers her team’s game on the island fondly. Johns had three points and Cagan stopped 26 shots to earn her fourth shutout of the season.
“They were tough competitors,” Domolky said of MV. “They had really good sportsmanship. But we took it to them. That was one of our first games that we really performed and had a really good outcome for it.”
During a regular season in which Algonquin-Hudson played four of the top eight seeds in Division 1 (No. 2 St. Mary’s; No. 3 Lincoln-Sudbury; No. 7 Shrewsbury; No. 8 Pope Francis), the win over the Vineyard catapulted the Titans into a strong unit.
“It had taken us a little while to gel and we finally went out there in (Martha’s Vineyard’s) own tournament and we probably played the best game that we played all season to that point,” Johns said. “From then on, we’ve been able to truly find a new level of play.”
Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached attdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Algonquin-Hudson girls hockey blanks Auburn after boys fall in 2 OT
