East Bay girls lose heartbreaker in double OT

Eagles lose 3-2 in game three of hockey finals

By Kristen Ray
Posted 3/12/19

The East Bay Co-op girls hockey team pushed LaSalle Academy to the brink before falling in double overtime in game three of the state championship series, 3-2, on Monday night, March 11.

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East Bay girls lose heartbreaker in double OT

Eagles lose 3-2 in game three of hockey finals

Posted

The East Bay Co-op girls hockey team pushed LaSalle Academy to the brink before falling in double overtime in game three of the state championship series, 3-2, on Monday night, March 11.

The Eagles, who defeated LaSalle in two straight games in last year's finals, lost the first game of this year's championship series 4-3 on Friday night, but battled back to win the second game, 2-1, and force the third and deciding game. 

East Bay, which includes players from Barrington, Mt. Hope and Portsmouth high schools, trailed 2-1 going into the third period of Monday night's game. But with less than two minutes remaining in regulation, East Bay freshman Rose Flaherty took a pass from senior captain Maddie Cox and whipped it past the LaSalle goalie to tie the game 2-2 and force the extra period. 

The Eagles and Rams remained scoreless through one overtime period, but LaSalle scored the game-winner with 3:09 remaining in the second extra period.

“To lose in double overtime — yeah it hurts, it stings,” said East Bay head coach Mike Cox.  

It was a dramatic finish to an evenly-played series between the two rivals. Seeking to redeem themselves after losing in the finals last year, LaSalle won game one with a 4-3 victory on Friday. As the reigning champions, however, the Eagles answered with a 2-1 win the next day. As both teams skated out onto the ice at URI’s Boss Arena Monday night, the state title was anyone’s for the taking. 

Momentum went the Rams’ way first. 

Just two minutes into the opening period, LaSalle’s Ariana DeSousa beat East Bay’s sophomore goalie Ellee Kopecky from the left side, giving her team the early 1-0 lead. 

The Eagles responded with a second period goal. At 13:01 in the second, junior Maeve Harrington capitalized on a pricey rebound given up by LaSalle goalie Kaitlyn Oatley. 

LaSalle recaptured the lead at the 3:48 mark of the second period when East Bay turned the puck over in its own end and the Rams’ Grayson Goolgasian slapped the puck into the Eagles' net. 

East Bay, however, was determined to come back. 

“We weren’t going down without a fight,” said Maddie Cox.

LaSalle's Anya Nichipor's shot late in the third grazed the goal line and nearly sealed the deal during regulation. But East Bay made the Rams pay just moments later for that missed opportunity — with just 1:36 left to play, East Bay freshman Rose Flaherty took a pass from Maddie Cox and whipped the puck past the glove of Oatley, tying the game up at 2-2 and ultimately forcing the extra periods of play. 

“It was exactly what we needed,” said Cox.

East Bay had a number of chances to win the game in the first overtime.  

Throughout the abbreviated seven-and-a-half-minute period, the Eagles went on the power play and Maddie Cox alone had a flurry of chances to score with about 30 seconds to go. The puck, however, would not get past Oatley, and the girls were forced into a fifth period. 

In double overtime, Goolgasian positioned herself in front of the Eagles' net and, after taking a pass from Krista Varrichione, sent the puck soaring Kopecky. 

It was a tough loss for the Eagles, but Cox — the only graduating senior from East Bay’s starting lineup — was happy with the way she and her teammates kept fighting through all five periods of hockey. 

“I couldn’t be more proud of the freshmen who stepped up today, and I know they’re going to do great in years to come," she said.

Game 2 win

The East Bay Co-op girls hockey team defeated LaSalle 2-1 in game two of the series.

East Bay’s Marissa Levreault struck first at 6:48 in the opening period, when the puck found her stick amidst chaos in front of the Rams’ net just moments after coming off the power play. Levreault knocked it in low past LaSalle’s Oatley, giving East Bay a 1-0 lead.

That momentum carried them into the second as they held off the Rams on the penalty kill, keeping them without a shot on net for half the period. At 5:47 in the third, Maddie Cox, collecting the puck at the red line, skated with ease past several LaSalle defenders before whipping it in past Oatley to boost the Eagles’ lead to 2-0. 

Even with Krista Varrichione’s shot through traffic putting the Rams on the board two minutes later, East Bay’s Kopecky was able to fend off the onslaught of LaSalle shots in the final moments of the game, finishing the night with 23 saves.

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