Middlesex battled their way to a 6-4 victory over St. Paul’s on Wednesday, February 8 in Concord, MA. Although the Zebras had a three goal lead entering the second period, the Pelican’s fought their way back in the third to help close the gap.
Middlesex controlled the first five minutes of the period and just 3:56 into the play, Jordan ’12 found Maddie ’14 in the slot to start the scoring for the afternoon. One shift later, Jordan tallied her second point of the game off of a pass from linemate Cici ‘14 to put Middlesex ahead by two. St. Paul’s was quick to respond with a goal of their own however 33 seconds later when their #15 picked up a loose puck in a scramble in front of the net. Middlesex notched two more goals by Jordan and Cici to close out the period and lift the Zebras up by three before entering the locker room.
The St. Paul’s players fought their way back in the second and were able to get on the board just 2:14 into the play. For the next ten minutes, both teams continued to apply the pressure as the puck traveled from one end of the rink to the other. With four minutes remaining in the period, Cici scored a beautiful tip-in off of a feed from Jordan and Brooke ’14 to once again put Middlesex on top by three. Nearly one minute later, a cross-checking penalty was called on St. Paul’s to give the Zebras the player up advantage. Sarah ’14 got the play started when she found Leah ’15 at the blue line who saw an open lane to goal. Leah quickly fired a shot to the net where Eleanor ’13 was positioned perfectly for a tip-in that lifted over the goaltender’s left shoulder to give Middlesex the commanding four goal lead.
The third period continued much like the first and second with both teams showing no sign of backing down. St. Paul’s tallied two more goals before the afternoon closed to make the score reflect a much more evenly played game. Katie ’12 once again demonstrated her athleticism and poise in the net; making several crucial saves in the finals minutes of play as St. Paul’s relentlessly tried to tie the game.
Middlesex hits the road on Saturday, February 11 when they travel to Milton, MA to take on Milton Academy at 2:15pm.
