BIDDEFORD — Despite putting a lot of shots on net, the Cape Elizabeth/Waynflete/South Portland girls’ hockey team frustratingly had nothing to show for it and skated into overtime Saturday afternoon locked in a scoreless tie against Biddeford/Thornton Academy.
Senior captain Eliza Connolly, who helped anchor the Capers’ defense throughout, turned all of that frustration into elation when she took a puck the length of the ice and put in a wrist shot to give her team a 1-0 victory at Biddeford Ice Arena.
“I saw them changing lines as I gained possession behind our net,” said Connolly. “As I was skating through our zone, I heard Coach yell ‘keep to the right, keep to the right,’ so I angled off that way and got by two of the forwards. When I got by the last defender, I just took a shot.”
She let the puck fly from near the top of the right faceoff circle, sending a perfectly placed shot over the right shoulder of goalie Bekah Guay and just inside the post.
“She’s been given a green light. When she sees space and has the time, she know she can go for it and she made a good decision at the end,” said Cape Coach Bob Mills.
“I’m thrilled for her. She’s been battling through some injuries this week and she still came out and brought a ton of energy to this game today. She’s a captain and she led the team in every way possible.”
The game was scoreless through regulation largely due to the impressive play of both goalies. Guay made 39 saves, while Abby Joy turned away 31 shots.
“I think Rebekah for Biddeford and Abby for us are two of the top goaltenders in the state,” said Mills. “The goaltending position is getting better every year, but today showed why I think they’re among the best. We knew we were going to have to take a lot of shots and we had a feeling it would be a rebound or some sort of sloppy goal to win it, and we’re just happy we got the win.
Guay turned away 11 shots in the first period, including three on a power play in the final minute. Joy was equally effective, making eight saves, two of which came on breakaways.
Both came up big again in the second period. Joy saw less action than Guay, facing just seven shots, but came up with saves three times after Cape found itself on the wrong end of an odd-man rush.
She also made a pair of tough saves on a Biddeford power play at the end of the period.
The Capers did a good job of getting the puck on net during the second period, but Guay made 15 saves – including a breakaway late in the period.
Biddeford opened the third still on a power play and sent three shots toward Joy in the opening minute, but she made a pair of stick saves before snagging a shot with her glove. She turned away 11 shots in the period and six more in overtime.
Cape was able to put 12 more shots on net against Guay, who stopped scoring threats on a pair of odd-man rushes, including a sliding stick save with two minutes to go against a three-on-one rush.
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