Millbrook 1 at Canterbury 2

Millbrook lost a tough one, 2-1, to a hungry Canterbury team that beat the Mustangs to a few pucks too many.  The visitors were unable to match the speed and intensity they had brought against Winchendon and never truly got in sync, but the hard-working, physical Saints had a lot to do with that, making sure Millbrook did not have the time and space to play its game.  Both goalies, Melissa Rome and Sarah Sokol, were excellent and it took two perfectly placed shots for Canterbury and a fortunate rebound for Millbrook to get scores on the board.  The first period was fairly even with chances at both ends until Ashley Bonner scored on a clever shot to the lower right corner with 13 seconds remaining to give the home team a great boost.  Millbrook responded well to begin the second period, with Olivia Farrell hitting the post early on and then Alexa de la Guardia scoring on a power play when she barely beat a defender to a Kelly Fallon rebound.  Once again, though, Canterbury scored a last-minute goal to re-take the advantage on a perfect shot from the point by Victoria Pucci that threaded its way through traffic to the upper left corner.  The third period saw both teams test Rome and Sokol trying for the clincher or the tie, but both goalies stopped everything that came their way, producing some amazing saves at both ends, and the result stood.  It was a chippy but entertaining encounter that, like many a recent Millbrook-Canterbury game, was tense and close right down the wire.