BROOKLINE, Mass. — Dexter Southfield needed a jolt.
The Shields were on their heels, trailing St. Paul's five minutes into a key girls prep matchup on Wednesday. Moments later, Leah Hafer (Winchester, Mass.) delivered the spark Dexter was looking for.
The sophomore stole the puck from St. Paul's Malin Wilde (Shelburne, Vt.) at the half wall and sped towards the net, toe-dragging for a chance on goal. Senior Sawyer Merrill (Hingham, Mass.) was right there on the net-drive, jamming in the loose puck off the initial chance to tie it.
From there, the Shields were off and running en route to two more unanswered goals for a 3-1 win. Hafer finished with a goal and an assist, while Maggie Chudzinski (Needham, Mass.) also scored. Annabelle Aitken (Winchester, Mass.) earned the win in net as No. 4 Dexter improved to 9-0-2.
Grace White scored for No. 6 St. Paul's, which fell to 10-3-0. She buried a wrister inside the right post on a counter-rush five minutes into the game.
Chudzinski made it 2-1 less than five minutes after Merrill's equalizer, scoring five-hole off an end-to-end rush. Hafer cashed in midway through the second, tipping in Chloe Rabazzi's (Burlington, Mass.) shot from the point for the 3-1 final.
The Big Red pushed for an equalizer in the third period, but Aitken stood tall on a late penalty kill and in the late 6-on-5.
Let's dive into eight standouts from the game before getting into four takeaways.
Leah Hafer
Dexter Southfield, 12/6/2008, F, right shot
Hometown: Winchester, Mass.
Hafer can fly, and when you combine her speed with her relentless compete, you're going to see monster nights as we did on Wednesday. She was relentless on puck carriers in the neutral zone and on the forecheck, and she created chances with her skating. The sophomore did it all ahead of her goal, breaking free into the neutral zone with a self-pass at the point. After winning the puck back at the wall, she made a sweet drive to the net before Merrill buried the follow-up. Hafer also got a terrific look later in the second, flying in with speed off a stretch pass from Chudzinski and trying a similar move.
It was good to see Hafer rewarded with a goal of her own, getting her stick on Rabazzi's shot as she fought for ice in front of the net. It was a perfect redirect on a missile of a wrist shot by Rabazzi.
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Maggie Chudzinski
Dexter Southfield, 4/3/2010, D, right shot, 5-8
Hometown: Needham, Mass.
Chudzinski is a beast, but that's not really news, as she's among the standouts practically every time I've watched Dexter the last two seasons. Her ability to maintain control of pucks under pressure, keep her head up and identify skating lanes up ice was on full display throughout the game. It paid off on her end-to-end goal. She jumpstarted the rush, drove in, dangled a defender and put a shot on net that MacPhee will likely want back. She also made a terrific stretch pass to send Hafer in for a chance in the second. Chudzinski handled heavy defensive minutes late, getting into shooting lanes and playing physical in front of the net.
Teagan Beigel
Dexter Southfield, 09/2010, F/D, left shot, 5-9
Hometown: Natick, Mass.
Beigel was on the blue line for Dexter, and she didn't look out of place at all. She tried to force some plays on the breakout early, but settled in and made an impact in the offensive and defensive zones. She made up for a giveaway in the first, recovering and lifting Tess Mulkerron's (Concord, N.H.) stick to prevent a Grade-A shot. Beigel had a great look in the first, dangling around the high forward before putting a backdoor feed right on the money for Elizabeth Allen (Brookline, Mass.), but the chance wouldn't go. Later, she impressed with her defense in the dirty areas. The freshman was physical in front of the net on the penalty kill, knocking Maddie Allen off a backdoor feed from Erin Flaherty (Boston, Mass.).
Maealie Glanzer
St. Paul's, Class of 2028, F, right shot, 5-3
Hometown: Bellingham, Wash.
Glanzer's strength made a difference when she had the puck on her stick down low in the offensive zone. She was strong on her feet and difficult to move off the puck. She set up a good sequence for SPS in the first when she led the rush off a self-pass and kept her feet moving, working against MacKenzie Sutherland (West Roxbury, Mass.) in a 1-on-1 around the net. Glanzer also set up White's opening goal with a terrific heads-up play. She got the puck as the trailer after Alexis Rodriguez lost the handle and slipped a short pass to White in space.
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Grace White
St. Paul's, 2008, F, left shot
Hometown: Fredericton, NB
White made no mistake on her goal. Glanzer found her with a quick feed, and White found daylight, closing and putting a quick release perfectly inside the right post through some moving bodies in front. She took advantage of the open space inside the left dot as Rodriguez drew the defense with her toward the net.
Maggie Lovering
Dexter Southfield, 09/2008, F, left shot, 5-3
Hometown: Scituate, Mass.
Lovering's speed was tough to handle in transition, and she was at the center of some of Dexter's best chances in the third. She made a heads-up pass right to Merrill's tape as she drove into the slot all alone off the cycle for a shot that rang the iron. Lovering got a chance of her own moments later, dangling around Maddy Humber (Concord, Mass.) at the point and speeding the other way before ringing the short-side post. Lovering also had a fantastic effort ahead of Hafer's goal, cycling the puck to Haver behind the net as she got taken down in the corner.
Sawyer Merrill
Dexter Southfield, 01/2008, F, left shot, 5-8
Hometown: Hingham, Mass.
NCAA: Yale
Merrill played one of the better games I've seen her play. Her goal was all hustle, driving hard to the net and finding the loose puck after Hafer dangled in. She also did a lot of the legwork to set up the sequence ahead of Hafer's goal. Merrill intercepted a shot-pass in front of the net and skated it the other way, taking the time and space SPS gave her. Later, she nearly had a second goal, making a beeline to the slot for a pass from Lovering and rifling a shot off the crossbar.
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Tess Mulkerron
St. Paul's, 3/2/2007, F, left shot, 5-5
Hometown: Concord, N.H.
NCAA: SUNY Plattsburgh
Mulkerron made big, high-effort plays on nearly every shift, constantly stealing pucks on the forecheck. She and Liza Demain (Wolfeboro, N.H.) set up a chance in front for Cadence Crowley (North Reading, Mass.) after Mulkerron stole the puck out high, and she and Demain went to work on the cycle. Mulkerron also had a tremendous effort in the third to win the puck, power around two defenders and break in alone. She drew a penalty as she was hauled down.
Takeaways...
- Dexter's top line of Elizabeth Allen, Evelyn Doyle (Needham, Mass.) and Devon Moore (Milton, Mass.) matched up well against St. Paul's trio of Flaherty, Maddie Allen and Chelsea Bell. As a result, the Big Red's top guns were held mostly in check until the offensive push in the third period, starting with the power play.
- Dexter's ability to roll its lines was a major key to the win. Every line executed, from the top on down. It was why the Shields were able to flip the momentum in the complete opposite direction after Merrill got them going. Many of the Shields' young players made plays on the forecheck and generated chances, too. Sophomore Elena Gordon (Weston, Mass.) had some Grade-A looks, working well with seniors Maddie Funk (Duxbury, Mass.) and Alex Mitsakis (Winchester, Mass.). Meanwhile, eighth-grader Abigale Loring (Wellesley, Mass.) was effective with her quick hands on a line with sophomore Stella Walsh (Dorchester, Mass.) and freshman Finley Kolaric (Quincy, Mass.). Between their execution up front, structure on defense and goaltending, it's no wonder why they've remained undefeated. Dexter climbed to No. 2 in the JSPR.
- I can't exaggerate how effective St. Paul's forecheck was in the first 10 minutes of the game. The Big Red's 2-1-2 completely suffocated Dexter in the early going. The F3 was constantly breaking up plays coming out of the zone, and SPS' forwards filled lanes and made the Shields pay for forcing plays up the middle. Humber was a big part of that, too, stepping up at the blue line and at center ice to break up plays and steal pucks. As a result, SPS hemmed the Sheilds in. Dexter eventually simplified, and Merrill broke through. It flipped the script, and it was the Shields' turn to suffocate the Big Red, especially in the second period.
- I liked what I saw from Mulkerron, Demain and Crowley on St. Paul's second line. They played with pace, got chances off the cycle and played big, even Crowley, who was a pest around the net and played above her 5-foot-3 frame. Mulkerron looked to be destined for a goal before she got hooked in the third. Crowley had some quality looks of her own, too. She had quick feet in the corner to escape pressure and dangle to the net in the first. Later, she did a nice job of changing angles for a good shot off the rush. They'll be key down the stretch for SPS, which is now No. 8 in the JSPR.
