Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland’s Allison MacKenzie glides down the ice with Greeley’s Bridget Roberts close on her heels during Friday night’s North regional girl’s hockey semifinal in Falmouth.
FALMOUTH — Courtney Sullivan is a potent offensive player.
Giving her Greely girls’ hockey team a man-advantage only makes the towering, skilled junior forward that much more dangerous.
Sullivan scored twice on the power play early in the second period, then completed a hat-trick with the game-winner in overtime, to pace the Rangers to a 3-2 victory over Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland in a North regional semifinal at Family Ice Center on Friday.
The No. 3 Red Hornets (14-5-1) had the first two shots on net in the game, but Greely senior goalie Nica Todd easily turned them away. The No. 2 Rangers (17-2) then took their turn to try to generate some offense, but Red Hornets freshman goalie Manny Guimond stopped some better shots to keep the game scoreless after one period of play.
The most eye-raising moment of the opening period came less than four minutes in, when Red Hornets junior captain Saige Arseneault went hard into the boards and off her skates, resulting in a concussion that knocked her out of the rest of the game.
“I didn’t see a drop-off. When you’re looking at one of your top three forwards down on the ice, and she might not be back, a lot of teams might get shaken by that,” Red Hornets coach Shon Collins said. “Obviously they were worried about her.”
The Red Hornets also had to worry about Sullivan, who put two good shots on Guimond before creating a scrum in front of the net with under a minute to play in the first.
“Sullivan, we obviously made sure we’re aware of her,” Collins said. “We really wanted to be conscience of her coming off the half-wall.”
It took a Rangers power play for Sullivan to finally solve Guimond. But it didn’t take long. Bridget Roberts won a faceoff to the right of Guimond, then fed Sullivan, who quickly ripped a shot into the back of the net.
“The ones that beat her were the one quick shot right off the faceoff, kind of the dirty goal at the end there,” Greely coach Nate Guerin said. “There were no easy chances on her tonight.”
It took longer into the Rangers’ next power play for Sullivan to score, but it still came on the first shot of the man-advantage. The puck cycled to Sullivan near the right post, and she flipped a backhand shot between Guimond’s legs to make it 2-0 six minutes into the second.
“I just saw that no one was on me, and I had a feeling they were going to be on me pretty quick, so I just tried to get it off as quick as I could on net and it just happened to go in,” Sullivan said.
Collins said there was admittedly some worry at that point, with his team struggling to create offense and in a 2-0 hole.
“But I believed, too,” Collins said. “I know how good a team we are.”
The Red Hornets were able to cut the deficit in half before the end of the second period. Defenseman Kaylee Younk received the puck at the top of the left circle and ripped a high shot that snuck past Todd.
“Obviously the goal before the end of the second period, huge difference. Swing the momentum, getting the girls believing,” Collins said. “It might not have been the prettiest shot, but it was a nice play, with K-Yo streaking down the middle.”
The game-tying goal came just over three minutes into the third. A Red Hornets faceoff win in the offensive zone cycled to Ally MacKenzie at the right point, and the Red Hornets’ other starting defenseman spun a shot of her own through traffic and past Todd.
“We kind of took our foot off the gas there after we got the second one, and that was a little bit disappointing,” Guerin said.
The remainder of regulation saw each team have unsuccessful power plays, as well as some tense scoring opportunities. Guimond made a difficult save on a Rangers shot from behind the net with 10 seconds left, then pounced on another loose puck with 1.5 ticks remaining.
The Red Hornets had the first opportunity to score in overtime after winning the opening draw, but a pass from Haley Frohlich to an open Madi Simard went just out of her reach 43 seconds in. Sullivan had a shot of her own go wide for the Rangers 1:28 in.
Then at the 2:57 mark of the extra period, she ended it with a shot from the right circle.
“We had our strongest line on there. And then I think Bridget won the faceoff and it just came right to me,” Sullivan said. “Honestly I just wanted anyone to score it. I didn’t want our season to end tonight.”
The result, and final score, were both fitting for how the season series went between the two teams.
“They’re a team we’ve got a lot of respect for,” Guerin said. “We’ve had three really good games with them, all 3-2. This one going to overtime, just another good game.”
“I think it was just one of those ‘a bounce of the puck, something happens that is going to decide this’ game,'” Collins said. “It could have been a coin-flip a couple times.”
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
Greeley’s Bridget Roberts leads the way past the back of the net as Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland’s Madison Simard follows behind during Friday night’s North regional girl’s hockey semifinal in Falmouth.
Greely’s Ellie Schad edges out Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland’s Madison Simard during Friday night’s North regional girl’s hockey semifinal in Falmouth.
Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland’s Taylor Cailler shoots the puck past Greely’s Victoria Lattanzi during Friday night’s North regional girl’s hockey semifinal in Falmouth.
Greely’s Bridget Roberts leads the way past the back of the net as Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland’s Madison Simard follows behind during Friday night’s North regional girl’s hockey semifinal in Falmouth.
Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland’s Allison MacKenzie glides down the ice with Greely’s Bridget Roberts close on her heels during Friday night’s North regional girl’s hockey semifinal in Falmouth.
Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland’s Kaylee Younk prepares to shoot the puck past Greely’s Jayme Morrison during Friday night’s North regional girl’s hockey semifinal in Falmouth.
Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland’s Taylor Cailler shoots the puck past Greeley’s Victoria Lattanzi during Friday night’s North regional girl’s hockey semifinal in Falmouth.Greeley’s Ellie Schad edges out Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland’s Madison Simard during Friday night’s North regional girl’s hockey semifinal in Falmouth.Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland’s Kaylee Younk prepares to shoot the puck past Greeley’s Jayme Morrison during Friday night’s North regional girl’s hockey semifinal in Falmouth.Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland’s Haley Frohlich loks past Greely’s Jayme Morrison to the goal during Friday night’s North regional girl’s hockey semifinal in Falmouth.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
