Millbrook 4 at Greenwich 3
Millbrook visited the Brunswick School rink this afternoon and won a seven-goal thriller in front of a large, entertained crowd. The visitors got off to the worst possible start when Eliza Hompe jumped on a defensive turnover and put one in off the post with 18 seconds off the clock. Millbrook responded well when Kelly Fallon scored on a nifty passing play with linemates Alexa de la Guardia and Louise Steele-Norton, but the relief was short-lived as G.A. answered right back on an empty net after a horrific goalie-and-defender miscue behind the goal. The energized hosts proceeded to beat the Mustangs to almost every puck and were rewarded five minutes later when the speedy Hompe got loose on a breakaway. Molly Chapman and Ema Waldschmidt chased her down from behind and Chapman picked the puck clean but Waldschmidt was adjudged to have simultaneously tripped her opponent, and Hompe converted the ensuing penalty shot easily.
Down 3-1 in the locker room, the visitors resolved themselves to fight their way back into the game, and began to take over the shot count and play better defense. With a minute to go in the period, Cora MacKenzie skated hard along the boards and drew a tripping penalty which resulted in a Steele-Norton power-play goal seconds later, again from good passing from her linemates Fallon and de la Guardia. Last-minute goals are often momentum builders for the next period, and despite having to kill a five-on-three early on in the third, such was the case when Allanah Roopchand scored five minutes into the period to tie the score, on a great assist from Meg Ahern. One minute later, home-towner Chapman got the eventual game-winner on a coach's dream goal from the point, threading a low wrister just inside the post, through a nice Steele-Norton screen.
G.A. called a quick time-out to organize a fightback of its own, and the last eight minutes were a wild back-and-forth ride, with the Gators gambling numbers forward and the Mustangs countering with odd-man rushes. At one end, G.A.'s Alexa Pujol pulled off one great save after another on point-blank shots, including some breakaways, while at the other, the dangerous Hompe beat one defender after another only to have her shots poked away at the last second or to be denied by Erin Doerrsam, who, to her great credit, rallied to keep a blank sheet for two periods after the tough start. The minutes went by quickly, with great skating by both teams, and finally the clock ran out on G.A. and Millbrook had earned its most rewarding win of the year.
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Down 3-1 in the locker room, the visitors resolved themselves to fight their way back into the game, and began to take over the shot count and play better defense. With a minute to go in the period, Cora MacKenzie skated hard along the boards and drew a tripping penalty which resulted in a Steele-Norton power-play goal seconds later, again from good passing from her linemates Fallon and de la Guardia. Last-minute goals are often momentum builders for the next period, and despite having to kill a five-on-three early on in the third, such was the case when Allanah Roopchand scored five minutes into the period to tie the score, on a great assist from Meg Ahern. One minute later, home-towner Chapman got the eventual game-winner on a coach's dream goal from the point, threading a low wrister just inside the post, through a nice Steele-Norton screen.
G.A. called a quick time-out to organize a fightback of its own, and the last eight minutes were a wild back-and-forth ride, with the Gators gambling numbers forward and the Mustangs countering with odd-man rushes. At one end, G.A.'s Alexa Pujol pulled off one great save after another on point-blank shots, including some breakaways, while at the other, the dangerous Hompe beat one defender after another only to have her shots poked away at the last second or to be denied by Erin Doerrsam, who, to her great credit, rallied to keep a blank sheet for two periods after the tough start. The minutes went by quickly, with great skating by both teams, and finally the clock ran out on G.A. and Millbrook had earned its most rewarding win of the year.
