WATERTOWN — A terrific season for the Peabody-Lynnfield-North Reading girls’ hockey team came to an end on March 6 at the John Ryan Arena with a 2-0 loss to Notre Dame of Hingham in the Div. 1 state quarterfinals.
The Tanners, led by NRHS junior Alyse Mutti, who had 16 saves in the first period alone, hung right with the top-seeded team in D1 all night.
Notre Dame scored two goals in the 2nd and the Tanners couldn’t find one to put the pressure on as they came up just short.
“They’re big, fast and physical and they didn’t give us time and space so we had to work for everything,” said head coach Michelle Roach of NDA. “We had some decent shots on net we just couldn’t get anything in. We needed more chaos in front.”
In the end, it was a tough loss, but the Tanners can hold their heads high as they finished the regular season with a 16-4 record and a Northeastern Hockey League title, finishing four points ahead of NHL powerhouse Winthrop.
“This is a talented, strong, fierce group of kids, especially the seniors who helped put this program where it is,” said Roach. “This is our second trip to the Elite 8. That’s not an easy thing to do but the kids make it look easy. They’re an amazing group.”
The Tanners will graduate four seniors from the team including North Reading’s Addi Mikulski.