CATIE KAMPERSAL, a senior captain on the PLNR team this year, scored a goal in Lynnfield’s 4-0 win in the season-opener over Beverly-Danvers on Dec. 9. (File Photo)
By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
PEABODY — Last winter, the Peabody-Lynnfield-North Reading co-op girls’ hockey team reached the MIAA Division 1 Round of 8 playoff game before losing to St. Mary’s of Lynn, 2-0, to end the year at 18-5.
In the Northeastern Hockey League, the Tanners finished in 2nd place to Winthrop going 14-2 as both league losses came to Winthrop.
Six seniors from that squad graduated.
With several veterans back this season, the team looks like they will be able to make another deep postseason run under 9th-year head coach Michelle Roach.
They came out of the gate strong winning their first two games.
On Dec. 16, the Tanners improved to 2-0 overall and in the NHL as they beat host Shawsheen-Bedford, 4-1, at the Edge Rink in Bedford.
Eleni Spack scored the first goal with 4:25 in the first period assisted by Mia Lava.
In the second period, Erin Dee scored her first varsity goal assisted by Shirley Whitmore 1:22 in.
Shawsheen-Bedford’s Becca Sobal then scored a few minutes later to cut the lead to one.
With 6:02 remaining in the second, Abby McInerney scored to make it 3-1. Daniella White assisted.
With 6:04 left in the game, Spack scored again and this one was unassisted. Both of her goals were snap shots from the point.
Tanner goalie Alyse Mutti improved to 2-0 in net with 12 saves.
In the season opener on Dec. 9, the Tanners blanked host Beverly-Danvers, 4-0, at Bourque Rink on the campus of Endicott College.
The Tanners scored twice in the first period. Ava Buckley scored on the power play 1:49 into the game assisted by Spack and Whitmore as she scored on a rebound.
They then made it 2-0 with only 14 seconds left as Buckley scored again on another rebound. White and McInerney both assisted.
McInerney had the lone tally in the second period 8:54 in as Lynnfield’s Maura Flaws assisted. That was her first varsity goal.
The final goal came on the power play in the third period with 4:11 remaining as Catie Kampersal, of Lynnfield, lit the lamp. Buckley and Dee assisted.
Beverly-Danvers actually out-shot the Tanners on net 29-18, as Mutti had a great night in net.
“Alyse was flawless,” stated Roach, about the junior net minder who was an NHL All-Conference selection last year going 18-5 with a goals-against average of only 1.09.
PLNR fell to Malden Catholic 2-0 on Dec. 20 but bounced back to beat Gloucester 4-0 on Dec. 22, improving to 3-1 on the season.
The Tanners’ next game will be a big one as they host rival Winthrop on Dec. 27 at the McVann-O’Keefe Rink in Peabody. Face-off for that one is at 5:15 p.m.