By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
STONEHAM—In their regular-season finale last Saturday afternoon, the Melrose High girls hockey team doubled up host Stoneham-Wilmington, 6-3, at the Stoneham Arena.
Melrose was able to complete the season sweep over the Spartans this winter as they won the first meeting, 4-2, back on Jan. 18. Melrose never trailed in this one as they led, 2-0, after the first period and, 4-3, after the second.
Julia McNeely and Grace Daniels both scored twice while Riley Bolduc and Adriana Demsey had the other two goals.
Zoe Blackburn had a career-high four assists. “She has been very dependable for us this year,” said Melrose head coach Frank Sorrenti, about the freshman defenseman. “She also plays with an edge to her which helps.”
Melrose out-shot the Spartans on net, 31-19, as Melrose goalie Ruby Hansen made 16 saves to go to 11-8-1 in net.
Overall, Melrose finished up at 11-9-1 as they await playoff brackets. They were 6-5-1 in the Middlesex League and 4-1-1 in the ML Freedom division as they ended up in second place behind Burlington. Stoneham-Wilmington meanwhile finished up at 7-11-2.
That was a nice bounce-back win for the team after they lost 5-4 to non-league Ursuline Academy on Feb. 12 at the Flynn Rink. With four minutes left in the game, Melrose led, 4-1, before the wheels came off as the Bears scored four times to pull off the unlikely win. “This was the most heartbreaking loss of my career,” stated Sorrenti. “We stopped skating and played not to lose in that final few minutes.”
Melrose led 1-0 after the first and 3-1 after the second stanza. The loss overshadowed the first-career hat trick for freshman Grace Daniels. Her older sister, Ella, had the other Melrose tally. McNeely led the team in assists with two.
Both teams had 31 shots on net as Hansen made 26 stops. “Ruby was not feeling well and she still did a good job in net,” pointed out Sorrenti.
Melrose will make its first playoff appearance in seven years next week as the MIAA Division 2 tournament seedings will come out on Feb. 22. Entering this week, Melrose is the 23rd seed in the MIAA Div. 2 power rankings. The top 32 teams at the end of the regular season automatically qualify for the states regardless of their record.