Winchester Lady Sachems Secure Victory with Two Late Goals

Twice before Winchester faced Belmont this season, and both times the Sachems found a way to secure the victory.

But Tuesday night's game seemed different. It looked as though it would be the Marauders time to finally break through against Winchester and advance past the opening round of the hockey tournament.

Holding a two-goal lead with two minutes left, Belmont seemed all but guaranteed of a spot in the next round. But two Winchester goals in the last 90 seconds tied the game -- the Sachems wound up winning in a shootout -- helped the defending state champs move one step closer to repeating that feat.

“I guess as long as you finish strong you can get by starting slow,” said a proud Winchester head coach Tom Johnson of the 3-2 victory.

“I talked to them on the bench in the third period that we still had time to tie it,” said Johnson, who said he never lost hope with “this team.”

“I said ‘we’ll take it to the shoot out, and we did,” he said of his team that will play No. 1, Norwood on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in Canton.

But for 43 of the 45 minutes in the game, Belmont held the edge in play and on the scoreboard. Belmont bottled up the Sachems in their defensive end for most of the game, keeping high scoring senior center Michaela Chiuccariello in check (or tripped up) for the entire game.

“There was no flow to the game, due to Belmont’s play and the number of penalties being called,” said Johnson.

Having built a two goal lead in the second period, Belmont appeared ready to head into the second round of the Division 2 state championships against Norwood when the official who had issued the majority of the penalties in the game called Belmont for an on-ice infraction with 1:35 remaining in the final period.

The call – for high sticking - not only allowed the Sachems to go on the power play in the dying moments but took sophomore stalwart Alexandra Cellucci out of the game as she had accumulated six minutes of penalties in the 45 minute regular time, forcing her to sit out the reminder of the match. 

“We got a big effort from 13 (Cellucci’s number) all night and then she was taken off the ice,” said Haley.

Before the penalty, Cellucci and her teammates used superb passing – a hallmark of the team for the entire season – and team speed to put last year’s state champions on their back blade, cutting off Winchester passes and stepping in front of skaters to break up plays.

Belmont goes up by two

After a scoreless first, Belmont took advantage of their first power play of the second to open the scoring when the Marauders leading scorer, junior Caroline McCarthy skated into room in the slot, fired a shot that Winchester’s senior goaltender Meg Creane couldn’t handle. Cellucci buried the rebound for a power play goal with 13:18 left in the second.

And Belmont doubled their advantage with two minutes remaining when a clearing pass by junior Becca Moore hit junior McKenzie Jefferson who sent junior Shannon Reynolds on a two-on-one break where she took a 25-foot rising wrist shot that roofed the netting.

Belmont nearly made it a three goal lead seconds later when Erin O’Donovan’s pass hit Cellucci at the side of the goalie crease, missing the back of the net by inches.

But Winchester responded with a vengeance. Having pulled Creane to skate with six attackers, Winchester’s senior Alexis Zavez won the subsequent face off to junior Michele Woolford and as the Belmont crease became a maelstrom of players, Alexis’ sister, Katherine Zavez, rifled a shot that beat Belmont’s goalie Caroline Marchetta to the near side post to reduce the deficit to one.

The power play goal took only eight seconds off the clock.

“I certainly believed we would tie it up when we scored,” said Winchester’s Johnson.

With Winchester’s net empty, Belmont cleared the puck once, a shot for a second that appeared heading to the Sachems goal.

Haley said he told the player shadowing Chiuccariello – who had scored five goals against the Marauders in their first encounter of the season – to keep her close and not give her room to maneuver.

Yet once in Belmont’s zone, Alexis Zavez saw her linemate, Chiuccariello, sneaking to the goal and threaded a pass that the team’s scoring leader caught with an outstretched stick, which redirected the puck past Marchetta to even the score with only 35 seconds left in regulation.

In overtime, a near miss

In overtime, both teams had opportunities to win it, with Belmont having the better chances including a give-and-go between juniors Yvonne Sciascia and Shannon Reynolds that Creane stopped on the goal’s doorstep and a shot by senior Mackenzie Jefferson that broke through goalie Creane’s glove and rested on the goal line for a second before being covered up first by a Winchester defenseman and then Creane.

The sudden death shootout was a one-sided affair as McCarthy (blocked), Steinberg (high right and wide) and Reynolds (glove save) could not get by Creane while each of Winchester’s participants – freshman Samantha Ross, Chiuccariello and junior Michele Woolford – scored, with Woolford’s goal sending the entire team into Creane’s arms.

Johnson said his team was playing very well at the end of the season, having ended the season taking on the two top teams in the state: St. Mary and Woburn.

“We are confident right now and are ready to give it a shot,” said Johnson.

For Haley, he is bringing back 14 players and a slew of youngsters for the 2011-12 season. But his immediate reflection was on the current season’s team.

“We came a long way and improved our skills. And in life, you learn life skills and pressure is one of those. I hope if they learned anything from the year and this game is how to handle this sort of pressure with confidence. And if they do so, this will all be worth it,” he said.