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Girls Varsity Showcase Spotlight: Thunder vs. Grizzlies

By Matthew Preston, 05/19/15, 1:30PM EDT

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Marlboro gets over Grizzlies in the third.

REVERE – It was a disappointing loss for the Girls Varsity Marlboro Thunder (2-0-1) when they opened Showcase Weekend on Saturday at the Aleixo Arena in Taunton against the Natick Chill, squandering a late two-goal lead before losing in a shootout. When the Showcase shifted to the Cronin Skating Rink in Revere for Sunday’s set, for much of their contest it looked as though Marlboro would suffer a similarly disappointing fate.

This time, however, it was the Thunder rallying in the third to score a 5-3 win over the Southeastern Grizzlies (1-2-0).

The Thunder were chasing the Grizzlies from the start, Southeastern coming out gunning for the early lead. Abigail Arguin put them on the board at 2:31 and then Abbey Luth extended the Grizzlies lead to 2-0 at 4:25, dancing through a pair of Thunder defenders before slipping one past goaltender Alyssa Lee.

While the Grizzlies were often tied or ahead on the scoreboard through the first two periods, play on the ice told a different story. Possession dominance belonged to the Thunder. The opportunities were there and a quick offensive burst just before the opening period’s six minute mark drew them back to even. Stefanie Caban scoring off the rush at 5:20 and then Julia Lane put one away through a scrum in front of the Grizzlies net just 26-seconds later to tie the game at 2-2.

For much of the contest, Marlboro was all over the Grizzlies, but they could not manage to pull ahead, struggling to solve the Southeastern goaltending tandem of Viktoria Poland and Cassandra Goyette. Marlboro even fell behind a second time on a goal credited to Jessica Keller at 1:54 of the second period that set the score at 3-2. The Thunder, however, did not give up on their pursuit, drawing back to even before the close of the second period on the first of two in the game from Maggie Roche.

It was not until the third Marlboro finally got on top. Tied 3-3, the Thunder took their first lead of the game just before the midway point of the final period, Siobhan Frey sending a shot in from the tops of the circles, setup off an offensive zone faceoff win by Lisa Spagnuolo. With the Grizzlies seeing less and less offense zone action as the game wore on, Roche sealed the victory with her second tally at 10:08, bringing the score to its 5-3 final.