WEST SPRINGFIELD – Sometimes statistics lie.
If the average fan walked into the Olympia Ice Center as the final buzzer sounded late Thursday and took a quick look at the final shot totals, they might have come to the wrong conclusion.
No. 6 Longmeadow outscored No. 27 Leominster by a 48-12 margin, but that difference did not factor into the final score as the Lancers were defeated 3-1 in the round of the Division 2 girls ice hockey state tournament. I didn't. 32.
It was also the first time this season that Leominster defeated Longmeadow. The Lancers have won their last two games during the regular season, 3-2 and 3-0.
But this time it was different. Leominster freshman goaltender Karina Eshbaugh stopped 47 of the 48 shots she was sent.
“Honestly, (Karina) was good the last two times we played against her,” Longmeadow girls ice hockey coach Melissa Vandermin said. “She was phenomenal tonight. She was strong. Controlled the puck well and really let us run with it. We really, really had to work for it. The only goal we got was a lot of effort towards it. I had to.”
Longmeadow threw everything but the kitchen sink at Eshbaugh. It took him 41 minutes and 29 seconds to break the shutout. Westfield's connection earned the Lancers their only points of the game on the team's 41st shot, a goal by Emmy Carpenter (Westfield Technical Academy). Assisted by Milana Schuman (Westfield).
“Milana and Emmy are both great, great freshmen players. It's scary,” Coach Vandermin said. “I would have been scared if I was any other coach. What you need is a thought process when they play. They contribute because they strive, they are skilled and they know how to make their presence felt.
“Emmy has speed and strength and guts and a rocket to hit. And Milana is very smooth, has good hands, is very aware and has good feet,” Vandermin explained. . “I'm not surprised at all that they put them together for that play where they put the puck in the net. They both have noses for the net, they both want to grind, they both put the puck in the net. They've done that all season for us. They've got some good points as freshmen. They showed they can play.”
Longmeadow kept up the pressure and pulled the goalie with two minutes left, but the Lancers were unable to get a second shot past Eshbaugh.
“Sometimes if the mental game isn’t really there, you can stagger a little bit,” Coach Vandermin said. “If that's all the other team wants, it'll end like this.”
Leominster got off to a very early start, winning a faceoff, getting the puck down the ice and scoring just eight seconds into the opening period. Junior Rachel Simkewicz filled out the puck for the Blue Devils.
Leominster led 2-0 with 4:09 left in the second period. Junior Alyssa Allen put the rebound into the back of the net. The Blue Devils put up several shots on Longmeadow goaltender Nicky Pollard (nine saves) with less than nine minutes left in the third period. Sophomore Kailyn Hawkins scored one point to give the visiting team a 3-0 lead.
Longmeadow tried to stage an unlikely comeback, but its efforts fell just short. Still, the Lancers head coach remained upbeat as he reflected on his team's 2023-24 season.
“From start to finish, this was the most talented team ever,” Vandermin said. “There really wasn't a first line, second line, third line, fourth line. You could play with anyone at any time and it was competitive. They were playing a system, and they were skilled They were hockey players. They were fun to coach. It was fun to watch them get better.
“It was so much fun,” she said. “We will be sad to lose our three seniors (Avery Ireland, Rory Lovell and Maeve Doherty), but we have a big season ahead of us next year and we are looking forward to it.”
