NATICK – In its inaugural season, the Girls Varsity Division has been some of the tightest competition across the New England Future Stars. Despite the parity, however, there have been two teams slowly separating themselves from the pack as the season pushes past its midpoint.
Those two teams met on Sunday at the William L. Chase Arena in Natick. In the potential championship preview it was the Marlboro Thunder (6-0-1) holding off the Natick Chill (5-2-0) to score a 4-3 win.
With the top spot in the division on the line, both side got off to a strong start in search for victory, each holding the lead at one point in the game’s opening period.
The first advantage went to Marlboro, Samantha Rivet getting credit for the goal that put the Thunder up 1-0 at 1:56 of the first period. Natick’s Leah Piscitelli then took control of the game’s offense, netting a pair to put the home side ahead.
Piscitelli’s first tally came at 3:51, the Chill forward coming off the boards with the puck and firing a shot that made it 1-1. Later in the frame, with the Natick offense established deep in the Marlboro zone, a centering feed from Kathryn Elliot made its way to Piscitelli. Posted up in front, Sophie Burr kept the Marlboro defense tied up, leaving the Natick scorer uncontested in the slot, free to rifle a one-timer into the back of the net for a 2-1 lead at 10:48.
Marlboro, however, did not let the Chill lead last into the second. In the first’s final minute, Cassidhe Wozniak picked up a feed coming through the neutral zone, motored past the defensive line and set the game at 2-2 at 14:19.
The Thunder kept up their torrid pace from the first in the second. Marlboro netted another pair of goals in the game’s middle 15 minutes as Alyssa Cimino fell victim to a pair of long-range shots that managed to sneak by the Natick netminder to give the Thunder a 4-2 lead heading into the third.
Akin to their first match up of the season in which the Chill overcame a late two-goal deficit to score a 3-2 shootout victory, Natick took over in the third. A number of early opportunities got through – Elliot riffling a shot that rung the post and Madeline Mecalf just missing a puck sliding through the crease – but just missed the net.
Piscitelli struck again at 11:22 of the third to complete her hat trick. Anxiety grew for Thunder fans throughout the game’s final minutes, the Chill back to within one and pressing for the equalizer, while the Marlboro offense was unable to capitalize on a few bids at an empty net with the Natick goaltender pulled.
A Marlboro icing with 0:02.3 left on the clock gave Natick one last chance with an offensive zone face-off. An immediate shot and rebound left the puck loose in front, but the buzzer sounded to end the wild finish before Natick could connect. The Thunder this time surviving the late rally for the 4-3 win.
