Lady Titans surrender two goals late, settle for tie at AJG Hockey Festival

Matt Metcalf, Sports Editor
Posted 2/17/15

The cause of the game far exceeded the outcome on Friday night, but the Warwick Co-op girls’ hockey team surrendered two late goals in the Andrew J. Gauthier Hockey Festival to tie Barrington/Mt. …

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Lady Titans surrender two goals late, settle for tie at AJG Hockey Festival

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The cause of the game far exceeded the outcome on Friday night, but the Warwick Co-op girls’ hockey team surrendered two late goals in the Andrew J. Gauthier Hockey Festival to tie Barrington/Mt. Hope/Portsmouth Co-op, 5-5.

Although both teams split the game between their goaltenders and everyone got the chance to play in the non-league contest, the game was still dominated by each team’s top line.

The Eagles’ top line of Kelly Kraunelis, Grace Flaherty and Meghan Miller scored all five of the team’s goals in the tie, including two goals in the final three minutes to tie the game.

The Lady Titans’ top line of Kelsey Holmes, Madison Balutowski and Meagan Sullivan combined for three goals, while also helping to produce defenseman Caroline Henn’s goal in the first period, as well.

Because it wasn’t a league game, the two teams were continuously rolling their lines, resulting in the top lines not always matching up against each other.

“There were a lot of mismatches in the game, overall, and we weren’t too worried about that,” Warwick head coach Dave Tibbetts said. “They went out there and competed and played a pretty clean game.”

The Lady Titans came out and scored two goals over the first two minutes of the game on Eagles’ backup goaltender, Erika Keller.

Just 58 seconds into the game, Holmes retrieved the puck behind the net, walked out in front and threw the puck towards the net. Holmes’ shot squeezed by Keller to give Warwick an early 1-0 lead.

“I just wrapped it around the net and I didn’t know it went in until I looked in the back of the net,” Holmes said “It was exciting. It was the first goal of the game, so we started off well.”

Less than a minute later, Balutowski found Henn out at the point, who beat Keller with a shot blocker-side from the blue line, putting the Lady Titans up, 2-0.

“The puck came back to me and I just wanted to put the puck on net and it ended up in the back of the net,” Henn said.

The Eagles would answer, however, responding with two goals within the next 10 minutes.

Kraunelis beat Lady Titans’ freshman goaltender Mary Greenwell with a wrist shot at 7:37, before the Eagles’ senior captain beat Greenwell again just over a minute later for a shorthanded goal, ripping a shot 5-hole to tie the game, 2-2.

Warwick would end the first period strong, getting goals from Balutowski and Makenzie Driscoll in the final four minutes, giving the Lady Titans a 4-2 lead heading into the second period.

Warwick forward Abigayle Given was assessed a minor penalty with 16 seconds remaining in the first period, leaving the Eagles a lengthy power play to start the second period.

Barrington was able to capitalize on its opportunity to cut its deficit to 4-3 on a goal from Miller. Kraunelis and Flaherty were given helpers on the power play tally.

Warwick would extend its lead back out to two, though. Balutowski found the back of the net for the second time in as many periods, letting go a wrist shot that deflected off of Eagles’ goaltender Helen Prates and into the back of the net.

Greenwell went to the bench halfway through the second period, as Erin Vermilye took to the crease to split the game with Greenwell. Greenwell stopped six of the nine shots that she faced in a period and a half.

Vermilye made some tough saves near the end of the period to preserve Warwick’s 5-3 lead heading into the intermission.

In the third period, Vermilye continued to stifle the Eagles’ forwards.

But a minor penalty to Balutowski at 11:04 of the third period gave the Eagles another chance on the man advantage.

Miller took a shot in the attacking zone and, after a deflection, the puck bounced right to Flaherty, who buried it into an empty cage to cut Barrington’s deficit to one.

That setup the game-tying goal with just 1:15 remaining.

The Eagles left their first line on the ice and it paid off.

Kraunelis carried the puck around a defenseman in the neutral zone to setup a 2-on-1. After gaining the zone, Kraunelis slid the puck in front of the net, where Flaherty was there again to one-touch the puck into a wide-open cage.

The result was disappointing for the Lady Titans, but the effort was there from start to finish.

“It didn’t work out the way that we would’ve liked it to, but I think the entire team played really well,” Vermilye said. “I think that everyone has been stepping up their game lately.”

The Lady Titans, who sit at 7-6 and in fifth place, will now turn their attention to the Cape Cod High School Hockey Tournament, hosted by Falmouth High School this week.

Warwick will then be back in league action on Friday, when it’ll travel to Levy Rink to take on Burrillville Co-op at 7:30 p.m.

It’ll finish its season next weekend with two games against teams well below the Lady Titans in the standings – Cranston Co-op and Mount St. Charles.

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