Last season, Mikayla Talbot was never quite herself on the ice. Talbot wore a cast to protect her broken right wrist, and it prevented her from getting a good snap on her shot.
Talbot, now a Cheverus junior, is cast-free, and her shot is back.
Wednesday afternoon at William B. Troubh Arena, Talbot scored her first career hat trick, lifting Cheverus/Kennebunk/Windham to a 3-2 win over Yarmouth/Freeport in a battle of the last two undefeated teams in girls’ hockey.
“It was a real struggle last year, obviously. I actually wasn’t supposed to play at all, but I wanted to be on the ice. It’s definitely great to be back this year,” Talbot said. “It was a really great win, and a really great team effort. More games like this will be good for us.”
Talbot completed the hat trick at 13:52 of the third period, with an assist from Marina Friedman, to break a 2-2 tie. The Clippers’ chances to respond took a hit when Rosie Panenka got an interference penalty at 14:01, allowing Cheverus to close the game on the power play.
Cheverus (8-0) took a 2-1 lead in the second period when Talbot scored on the power play at 10:06. Coming from behind the net, Talbot stuffed the puck inside the left post past Yarmouth/Freeport goalie Ava Gervais.
“She’s been struggling to find her groove this year,” Cheverus Coach Scott Rousseau said of Talbot. “We haven’t really needed her to step up, but she stepped up pretty big today… Both teams forced each other to make a lot of mistakes we haven’t been making, because we haven’t been pushed.”
The Stags played most of the first period on their heels in their own defensive zone, as the Clippers (8-1) controlled play. But neither team sustained a prolonged offensive attack until the Stags capitalized on a turnover to get on the board. After a Clippers giveaway just over the blue line, Talbot took control of the puck and skated into the offense zone. Her shot from the middle of the ice, between the top of the circles, went over Gervais’ glove for a 1-0 lead at 14:23.
“In the first period, we were pretty tight on them. That’s kind of been our M.O. all year. We woke a good team up, and in the second period they came on hard,” Yarmouth/Falmouth Coach David Intraversato said.
The Clippers tied the game on Adelaide Strout’s goal midway through the second period.
With her team down 2-1 in the third period, Yarmouth/Freeport’s Sophie Smith tied the game on a breakaway at 9:53.
Gervais made nine saves for the Clippers, while Ella Lemieux had 12 stops for the Stags.
“(Lemieux) played a phenomenal game. I was saying to the girls before the game, their best player is their goalie, and she’s going to keep them in this game. And she did,” Intraversato said.
These teams are scheduled to meet again on Jan. 28 at Travis Roy Arena in Yarmouth. That game will be Yarmouth/Freeport’s Senior Night, Intraversato said.
“I can’t wait to play them again,” he said.
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