Panthers Deny Girls' Hockey Team

The Marblehead-Swampscott girls’ hockey team fell to Beverly-Danvers Saturday night 2-1, keeping the Headers from qualifying for the state tournament.

The Headers (9-6-1) have four games remaining and need just one point to make the playoffs for the sixth time in coach Emily Hudak’s six years behind the bench.

“I know the girls are disappointed with the loss,” but we outshot them and outplayed them in the first and second period,” Hudak said.

The Headers outshot their opponents in each period, but could only get one shot behind Panthers’ goalie Jenna Lovasco.

“They did outshoot us, but we allowed Jenna to see the shots and we’re confident that she can make the saves if we let her see the puck,” Panthers coach Fiona Rice said.

With the win the Panthers improved to 11-4 overall, and they’ve qualified for the playoffs. Beverly-Danvers beat the Headers on Jan. 19 by an identical 2-1 score.

“This was a winnable game, we would have liked to have clinched a spot tonight, but they got a lead and held onto it,” Hudak said.

“To win we’ve got to put the puck in the net, obviously, even if they’re ugly goals,” Hudak said. “We have to get hungrier around the net, if the puck’s sitting there we’ve got to knock it in, we need to be more aggressive in front of the net.”

All the scoring took place in the first period, with the Panthers sandwiching two goals around a score by Casey McDonald. McDonald lit the lamp at 6:26 off assists by Eliza Quigley and Abby Dimare, to tie it up at one.

Beverly-Danvers’ forward Clare Leathersich scored her second goal of the period with 20 seconds to play to put the Panthers ahead for good.

Hudak said she’s confident the team will succeed if they continue to play tough and keep shooting.

“We’re confident heading into these last four games that we can get some wins,” Hudak said.

“Hingham’s going to be tough, and we’ve got Everett coming up as well, and we just have to continue playing hard and keep getting shots on the net.”

The girls travel to Hingham on Wednesday for a 4:30 game at the Pilgrim rink.