ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Tarps hang from the ceiling of a converted classroom in the basement of Bishop Kearney High School. Along one wall an additional tarp has targets with the impression of a hockey goalie placed inside the pipes painted on fabric. It serves as an early morning (think four or five o’clock) hangout for the BK Selects Hockey program.
The practice space paid dividends Saturday evening.
Reagan Miller (Cary, NC) tucked a slapshot along the inside post in what proved to be the game winner as BK Selects 16U rallied for a 3-1 win over Shattuck St. Mary’s.
“We went to line up on the face off, and Kiara (teammate Kiara Kraft/Churchville, N.Y.) was taking the draw. I just saw the lane,” Miller said. “Kiara slid it through, and I hit a one-timer on the left side of the goalie.”
The winner came less than two minutes after BK Selects tied the game.
“My coach Cari was always telling me get it off immediately, so it was good to see that play out,” she added. “We work on it a lot especially in the shooting room. A lot of one-timers early in the morning.”
Gracee Donovan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) supplied the rest of the offense deflecting a Brooke George (East Montpelier, VT.) blast from the point to tie game before delivering an insurance goal with two minutes and 42 seconds remaining in the third period.
Donovan’s first tally came shortly after Selects was denied on a power play opportunity.
“Going out on the power play and just getting a lot of rebounds and not being able to finish on that, it definitely felt rewarding just getting in front of the net and finishing it off,” the forward said. “I was in front of the net with a girl battling. I just happened to get a stick on the puck to finish it.”
The two teams battled to a scoreless tie earlier in the day. Selects gave up a power play goal in the first period and struggled to find the back of the net despite carrying the play for large portions of the first 24 minutes.
“We went back to the basics and started putting the puck to the net and driving to the net,” head coach Cari Coene explained. “We had a ton of girls coming in and they were taking all their chances away because they kept cutting to the middle. It’s easy to defend if it’s coming right at you. [We started] taking it wide, instead of being risky and cutting to the middle and having someone turn the puck over.”
Selects outshot Shattuck 43-19 in the win including a one-timer from Bella Vasseur (Favston, VT) on the power play.
Good scoring opportunity on the power play for Bella Vasseur, but @SELECTS_Girls 16U still trails 1-0 in the second period. pic.twitter.com/v2ioSJua2K
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 25, 2020
“We had a ton of opportunities. Both goalies in the first game and also the second game were stopping the pucks. We just had to make sure we put traffic in the front and make sure she couldn’t see the puck.”
Ava McNaughton (Wexford, PA) made 18 saves in the win. The University of Wisconsin commit stopped 29 shots in the scoreless from earlier in the day.
The win was the first for the Selects program over Shattuck. The 16U tied Shattuck twice last season while 19U dropped a pair of decisions.
“It was really good because it was our first time beating Shattuck,” Donovan stated. “After the second goal that Reagan scored, it really boosted our energy. It really got us in the game more.”
The same two teams play again on Sunday.
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