Shrewsbury Girls Hockey Chance – Boston Herald

HAVERHILL Almost every time the Shrewsbury girls hockey team steps onto the ice, head coach Frank Panarelli emphasizes the importance of pucks in the foul zone. In volleyball, everything that floats around the net bounces.

On Wednesday night, that’s exactly what got No. 3 Colonials to sign early season win over collegiate. 1 power on the road.

With two goals from Taylor Ryder and an excellent defensive effort to limit chances as the game wore on, Shrewsbury (3-0) fended off a fiery start from No. 4 HPNA (2-1-1) and quickly flipped the script en route to the finish. MVC/DCL win 4-1 at Veterans Memorial Rink. Both of the Ryders’ goals came on loose pucks around the net, both giving their teams the lead as Shrewsbury scored the game’s opening goal and had to break away from a tie in the second period after a brief HPNA rally.

Combine that with Risa Montoya’s 18 saves in net as well as countless plays on the blue line to break down everything HPNA fought for in a huge win in arguably the toughest conference in the state.

I preach (dirty field goals) every day,” Panarelli said. Every goal is important, goals in the foul area are equally important. We have grinding machines, we work hard. … Our league is so strong that every game is like a playoff game. It’s just exciting. Even tonight, the atmosphere of the regular third game of the season (was awesome).

Looking at the first seven minutes of the game, you thought HPNA was well on its way to victory, with the forecheck keeping the puck seamless on offense and putting pressure on Montoya. Goalie Julianna Taylor (24 saves) blocked anything Shrewsbury could answer, and a Colonials penalty with 7:23 left in a scoreless opening frame gave HPNA even more of an advantage.

That advantage quickly turned into a 4-4 game when HPNA scored a penalty, and soon after gave Shrewsbury a 4-4 on another violation. That’s when the colonial power took over.

Shrewsbury couldn’t take advantage of their 5-3 advantage with 30 seconds left, but they did during the second power play. Yasmine McKenzie knocked a shot off Taylors shoulder to hit the boards behind the net and Ryder pounced on a puck that slid just far enough into the open goal lane for a 1-0 lead.

Taylor struggled to get her glove on the rebound around the net as Shrewsbury bombarded her with dangerous pucks, but withstood the pressure to preserve the one-goal deficit until Mia Kmiec buried the rebound at the other end for a 1-1 tie midway through the second quarter. However, the Colonials kept the pressure on with a dominant frontcourt and it didn’t take long for Ryder to regain the lead with another loose puck just two minutes later.

I was yelling on the bench, this (slow start) is the legs of the bus, let’s get over this,” Panarelli said. Scoring the power play was huge. We started to play better in the second half of the first period.

The second period proved to be the most one-sided despite the 1-1 tie, as Shrewsbury blocked most of all HPNA’s potential shots before they got to Montoya. The Colonials outscored the home team 12-6 in the frame as Taylor and the defense constantly faced lingering pucks in the foul zone.

That’s not to say Shrewsbury didn’t need some luck, as a well-defended back check saw the Colonials’ shot deflect off an HPNA defender all the way across the ice. The puck met Rachel Bunsick perfectly as she charged toward the net, and one juke around the defender scored the insurance goal for a 3-1 lead.

It took just two minutes into the third period to put the game almost out of reach as Katie Vona finished another loose puck in front of the net for a 4-1 lead. Shrewsbury conceded their share of penalties to give HPNA a chance to claw back, but the Special Teams went 0-4 on power plays to secure the key win.