In the first of three weekend games, Stowe dropped a squeaker up at Leddy to a tough and fast Burlington team. Madison Widen, Mia Hunkins, Bridgette St. Pierre and Natalie Kubalova anchored the Stowe defense while Catherine McLaughlin continued to shine in goal for the Stowe side. Stowe opened the scoring with 9:15 left in the first with a Reese Henderson snipe from the corner, but Burlington was quick to answer back with an Ella Timmerman wrister to the top shelf. McLaughlin made numerous saves to keep Stowe within distance, while the Stowe offense continued to grind away in mid-ice thanks to strong and pesky skating. Timmerman would strike again with two minutes left to put Burlington up 2-1 after the first.
Stowe’s Stormy Challenger would get one back with 3:25 left in the second with a lovely breakaway goal in an otherwise relatively quiet period.
Down 2-3 entering the third, Stowe and Burlington would trade goals, with Henderson netting her second of the game, but ultimately falling to Burlington, 3-4.
Catherine McLaughlin put in another stellar effort in net as the Stowe ladies came up just short against a speedy Essex squad. Ryan Wolf-Leventry scored two great goals for Essex while Stowe’s Henderson buried an amazing individual effort, taking her own mid-ice faceoff win up the boards and ripped it into the back of the net. Widen was smooth on defense for Stowe as Kneale, Schultze, Nigro and Hughes kept the pressure on the Essex back line.
In the Sunday game, the Stowe ladies were firing on all cylinders. With Hughes back in net, Catherine McLaughlin was able to skate out and help her team on the offensive side. Following a beautiful Challenger goal in the first, McLaughlin took a crisp pass from Schultze and ripped it into the net for an early 2-0 lead. Henderson added a first-period goal to put the Stowe side up by three, while in the closing seconds, Hughes made a great save on a breakaway right at the buzzer to preserve the clean sheet.
The second period was relatively quiet, with Stowe’s strong sticks and forechecking doing most of the work. Schultze, St. Pierre and Claire McLaughlin were particularly scrappy for the Stowe side.
Stowe added two more for good measure in the third, with Kneale scoring on the backhand to start the period and Challenger bookending it in the last two minutes with a great goal from an awesome assist from Widen out of the back. Hughes made numerous saves throughout the game to ensure the shutout.
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