A decision to move Maddie Cox from defense to forward paid dividends for the East Bay Co-op girls ice hockey team last weekend, as the Eagles won two straight against the Mount St. Charles Co-op team …
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A decision to move Maddie Cox from defense to forward paid dividends for the East Bay Co-op girls ice hockey team last weekend, as the Eagles won two straight against the Mount St. Charles Co-op team and advanced to the state finals.
East Bay won the first game of the semifinals series 5-0 on Friday night — Maddie scored two goals and tallied two assists, while her teammate, Katherine Barker scored three goals and had one assist.
In the second game of the series on Sunday, Maddie scored twice while Barker had one goal and two assists.
"We moved Maddie to forward. She's been playing defense for four years," said East Bay coach Michael Cox, who is also Maddie's dad. "We figured, it's playoff time, let's do something different."
Coach Cox is hoping the decision to move Maddie to forward will provide the offensive punch needed when the Eagles face off against LaSalle in the state championship series this weekend. The first game is Friday, at 7 p.m. at URI. The second game of the series is Saturday, at 6 p.m. at URI.
Coach Cox said he is optimistic for his team's chances to repeat as state champions — last year the Eagles shocked previously undefeated LaSalle, winning two straight and capturing the state title.
Coach Cox said the Eagles need to play their best hockey, and Maddie and Barker both need to be heavily involved in the offense. He also said the Eagles will need continued stellar play from goalie Ellee Kopecky. The East Bay goalkeeper stopped 15 shots and recorded the shutout in the first game of the semifinals, and made 24 saves in the second game victory.
Coach Cox said he named Ellee one of the players of the game for both the first and second semifinal games.
"She played great," said Coach Cox.
The Eagles coach also praised freshman Sarah Yee. Coach Cox said Yee has played well as a forward all season, but he moved her to defense when he shifted Maddie to forward.
"She played very well and I named her player of the game also," he said, adding that the other player of the game was Barker.
East Bay played against LaSalle twice during the regular season. In the first game of the season, on Dec. 8, East Bay defeated LaSalle 3-2. During a rematch on Jan. 12, the Eagles lost to the Rams 4-0.
"We've got our hands full, for sure," said Coach Cox. "They're deep."
Coach Cox added: "I'm optimistic... I think we have a good game plan."
East Bay scoring summaries
Semifinals — game 1
First period: Maddie Cox (00:20, from Katherine Barker and Rose Flaherty); Barker (00:40, from Cox and Flaherty)
Second period: Barker (PP, 00:07, from Cox); Cox (2:50, from Sarah Yee)
Third period: Barker (7:31, from Flaherty and Yee)
Saves: Ellee Kopecky, 15
Semifinals — game 2
First period: Cox (1:29, from Barker); Barker (11:31, unassisted)
Second period: Cox (4:01, from Barker and Yee)
Saves: Kopecky, 24