PEABODY — The Peabody girls hockey team scored two goals in the first period and never looked back en route to a 6-0 shutout win over Beverly at James McVann/Louis O’Keefe Rink Friday evening. The win also came on the Tanners’ Senior Night, where the team honored four big-time contributors in Charlotte Grant, Kathryn DiGiulio, Jess Robert and Abby Buckley.
“This is my first full class, so this is very meaningful for me,” said Peabody coach Michelle Roach. “They came in and learned with me and grew with me, and they’ve been working hard for years. They’ve grown so much and really helped revamp this program and build something awesome here.”
Jen Flynn led the way on offense for Peabody, notching three goals and one assist. Robert was right behind with two goals and one assist, while Sammie Mirasolo scored one goal. DiGiulio, Maria Pierce, Paige Thibedeau and Catherine Sweeney each had one assist. Buckley recorded 21 saves in the shutout win.
“We did a good job getting off to that good start after the long pregame, and this was a really important two points for us in terms of the league race,” said Roach. “In the second period we started to get it going a little bit and we tightened things up, and we just rode that the rest of the way.”
Things got off to a solid start for the Tanners following the pregame festivities. Just over two minutes into the first period, Flynn opened things up with a hard shot on net. When the rebound bounced out, Flynn skated in an knocked it home to give Peabody the 1-0 lead. The score remained there until the was just over five minutes to go in the opening period. That’s when Pierce found Flynn in front of the net to put the Tanners ahead 2-0.
The second period is when Peabody took over. The Tanners opened the period with Flynn’s hat-trick goal, this time on an assist from Robert. Then, just 40 seconds later, Robert found the back of the net for her first goal and all of a sudden it was 4-0 Peabody.
Things quieted down from there until the end of the period, when Mirasolo scored a shorthanded goal to make it 5-0 with 3:38 left. Peabody closed the period with one more goal, this one from Robert, to go up 6-0 after two periods.
The third period didn’t see any scoring, but Beverly did get several power play opportunities. But through it all, Buckley stood tall in net and the Tanners skated away with the shutout win.
Now at 12-3-1 on the year, Peabody has set a program record for wins and finds itself in a heated battle for the Northeastern Hockey League title. The Tanners have a tough week coming up with games against Winthrop and Masconomet, and Roach knows that this week will go a long way in deciding who wins the league title.
“We’ve got to come ready to play, that’s for sure,” said Roach. “Our initial goal was to make the tournament as early as possible and our next goal was to win the league. And this coming week will be crucial for us if we want to stay in the mix.”
Peabody takes on Winthrop Wednesday at Larsen Arena (6:10).