ZEMIANEK’S FIVE POINTS, JACKSON’S SHUTOUT LEAD COMETS OVER WOLVES
**This story was written remotely thanks to the great coverage of Northwest Access TV. Please consider making a donation to support their work throughout the community here**
By ANTHONY LABOR JR.
Freshman goalie Erin Jackson continued to impress for the BFA-St. Albans girls hockey team Monday when she picked up her second shutout of the season to help lead the Comets over visiting South Burlington.
Jackson finished the game with 16 saves and the Comets came away with the 6-0 victory.
“Erin worked well between the pipes the entire game,” said Cioffi. “She made some key saves when we were under pressure and her confidence continues to grow as the season goes along. We are very happy with her progress this season and know that she will continue to work hard and make us a better team.”
Senior Sophie Zemianek filled out the scoresheet, as she had a hand in five of the six goals on the day for BFA. She finished the game with two goals and three assists.
The Comets’ special teams units also continued to impress during its game against South Burlington on Monday.
“The PK was solid again by forcing turnovers at both ends of the ice, and especially in the shooting and passing lanes in our own end,” said BFA coach Luke Cioffi. “Both powerplay groups moved the puck well and took quality shots with players in front of the net. I especially liked the movement without the puck from both groups.”
BFA scored twice in each period, as it ended up getting 36 shots on net.
Reese Clayton got the scoring started in the first period when the team was on the powerplay. Rowan Howrigan skated to a loose puck and took a slapshot between the circles which was tipped in by Clayton for the early 1-0 lead.
On the first goal, the Wolves were being called for another penalty, which gave the BFA powerplay another chance. Sophie Zemianek (two goals, three assists) ripped a shot into the back of the net to put BFA up 2-0 with the assist going to Jodie Gratton.
Grace Fraties had a fantastic goal to kick things off in the second period. Zemianek sent a pass out from the Comets’ defensive zone and Fraties tipped the pass by a South Burlington defender. She broke out on a mini-breakaway and made a nice move to get the goalie out of position and put her wristshot into the back of the net.
Just a few minutes later, Molly Smith added to the score with assist coming from Gratton and Zemianek.
Gratton (one goal, two assists) extended the lead with a powerplay goal less than a minute into the third period on an assist from Zemianek.
Zemianek finished out the scoring with the team’s fourth powerplay goal later in the period on an assist from Rae Alexander.
“We are very blessed with a wide range of scorers on this team,” said Cioffi. “Our ability to put many different iterations of lines certainly plays to our advantage. The girls play with a passion and are all hungry to put the puck on net, but more importantly are able to help on the defensive side of the rink.”
After a pair of challenging games against Essex and Spaulding where the Comets needed to come from behind in the third period of each game, Monday’s game had fewer dramatics.
The Comets took care of business yet again, as they improved to 16-0 on the season and will be back on the ice at home when they host the Kingdom Blades on Wednesday.
“We need to treat every game like it is a playoff game,” said Cioffi. “Playing to the best of our ability every day in practice and games will be our focus moving through the last month of the season. We need to tighten up our team defense and continue to make the easy play in every situation.”
