COMETS BLANK SEALAKERS FOR UNDEFEATED REGULAR SEASON; CIOFFI, ROULEAU PICK UP 350TH WIN
By ANTHONY LABOR JR.
ST. ALBANS – The BFA-St. Albans girls hockey team did everything right during its game Wednesday night that had a lot of meaning to it.
The Comets dominated the game and outshot Burlington/Colchester 52-8 on their way to a 2-0 victory. The win was much more than a win, as the Comets wrapped up their regular season with a 19-0 record for their first undefeated regular season in program history.
“These girls are just tenacious in how they approach the game,” said BFA coach Luke Cioffi. “Their adaptability and ability to take on different roles throughout the season has been admirable. I feel their ability to provide a relentless amount of pressure throughout a full period has made us tough to play against.”
As if capping off an undefeated regular season wasn’t enough, the win also gave coach Cioffi and coach Jeff Rouleau their 350th win together.
“This is a nice milestone for the program that Jeff and our families get to share together,” said Cioffi. “Without our families being all in, this would not have been possible. We have been blessed with many amazing people to work with that deserve the credit for each of those wins. The players’ dedication and support from the community have helped make this a great place to play and a great place to go and be a part of such an amazing community.
“I am extremely fortunate to work with Jeff,” added Cioffi talking about his experience working alongside Rouleau since the BFA girls hockey program started. “The program would look much different without his influence and he is a great coach that is responsible for making this program the very best. Jeff is very good at teaching hockey skills and developing strong individuals into an even stronger team and his ability to strive for improvement every day in every aspect certainly makes him the best.”
Burlington/Colchester (5-12-1) certainly didn’t make things easy for the Comets on Wednesday to pick up the undefeated regular season and their coaches’ 350th win.
BFA did everything it could to score on SeaLaker goalie Paige Codega-Ryan, who finished the game with 50 saves. In the end they were able to get just enough pucks past her and the defense did the rest to come away with the meaningful victory.
“We had our chances out there, hit a couple of crossbars, just couldn’t get to a couple rebounds, but Burlington/Colchester is a good, young team,” said Cioffi. “We played well. I was pleased with the effort, played well defensively and offensively we cycled the puck well. It was a solid 2-0 win.”
The Comets got 21 shots on Codega-Ryan in the first period alone and looked like things might go to the first intermission scoreless.
That was until Jodie Gratton took a pass from Caroline Bliss and skated in tight to Codega-Ryan. She put the puck from her forehand to her backhand while falling to the ice and slid it into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
The Comets got another 20 shots on goal in the second period, but came up empty as the score remained 1-0 going into the third.
Burlington/Colchester’s defense steadied in the third period, as they only let the Comets get nine shots on goal in the final frame. After the Comets took a couple penalties in succession to give hem essentially four straight minutes on the penalty kill, they were finally able to find the insurance goal shorthanded.
Sophie Zemianek picked up the loose puck in the neutral zone and skated into the slot where she fought through a slash from a Burlington/Colchester player. During the delayed penalty, Zemianek continued to battle through the defense and found a way to get the puck through some chaos in front of the net and got the puck just past the goal line and into the net. After the officials discussed whether one of the SeaLakers touched the puck during the delayed penalty, it was determined they hadn’t and the Comets were awarded the goal. With the goal Zemianek extended her point streak to nine games.
“Our message throughout the game was to not get frustrated with the number of shots and not seeing the goals,” said Cioffi. “The girls responded well and did what they had to do.”
It was an all-around solid game defensively for the Comets who only allowed the SeaLakers to get eight shots on goal in the game. Makenna Montgomery was up to the task, as she stopped all the shots she faced for her first shutout of the season.
“Makenna didn’t give up a lot of rebounds today and was solid when she had to be,” said Cioffi. “She challenged the shooters pretty well and she’s right where she should be at the end of the regular season.
“And our defense didn’t let them get many great chances and held them to outside the circles and didn’t let them get many clean follow-ups,” he added. “I was pretty pleased with our team defense, especially the way our forwards got back and helped as well.”
It was a solid end to the regular season for the Comets who will go in as the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Div. I playoffs.
It was also a good way to end the regular season on senior night for seniors Rachel Needleman, Faith Reed, Elizabeth Couture, Reese Clayton and Zemianek. Cioffi had nothing but high praises for all of his seniors.
“Liz Couture is the biggest supporter for us out there and she exemplifies that whole group as a leader,” said Cioffi. “Faith does her thing where she has that consistent attitude and effort every day. Reese was a nice addition last year and found her role for us since and is a real quality kid off the ice.
“Rachel has improved her game tremendously in her four year for us and has been a strong leader in the locker room whether it’s to organize an event or just to be a solid defenseman on the ice,” he added. “And Sophie is Sophie. She does everything off the ice, she is a great athletes and she is a good person. They are all super kids and that’s what we strive for. We want to make sure they are quality community members and couldn’t be more proud of them all.”
It was a good all-around game for the Comets with a result with a bunch of meaning behind it, but now the Comets turn their attention to the postseason with pairings set to be announced Thursday.
“It’s been a fun year starting early in the season mix and matching line combinations to see what would work best,” said Cioffi. “To be where we are at now, we are stronger physically, mentally and emotionally than we were a couple of months ago. To be able to keep playing in a game that could be frustrating and take care of business is a nice feeling for the whole team, but we are in a new season now, so that’s where our focus is at is to continue to play better going forward.”
