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WOBURN — The Reading girls hockey team was already looking forward to its rematch with Woburn on Saturday after losing by five goals to it earlier in the year.
Now, there’s a nice added layer attached.
By holding off a late fury Wednesday night to grind out a 2-1, hard-earned win over No. 24 Winchester at O’Brien Ice Rink, the No. 20 Rockets (11-2-4) set up a winner-take-all with Woburn this weekend for the Middlesex League Liberty title.
Reading trails the Tanners by a point in the league standings, so a tie or a loss would mean Woburn takes the crown. The Rockets bring it home with a win.
“Having that pride in the league, especially because we play in such a competitive league, obviously it is something that we do think about,” Reading head coach Carolyn Avery said about winning the league title. “It’s not be-all, end-all for us, but I think we’re going to come out ready to play. … We expect a strong game out of them and it should be fun.”
The thrilling end to the league title race isn’t possible without the execution Reading showed against Winchester first.
Junior captain Lily Rodgers scored both goals for the Rockets — once in the first and another in the second — to give them a 2-0 lead heading into the third.
The frame started with Winchester on a power play, which Reading killed off before almost immediately committing another penalty. Just 17 seconds remained again when the Rockets headed to the box for a 5-on-3, setting up a heavy challenge with just a two-goal lead.
Chloe Goldberg scored with five seconds left on the two-player advantage to cut the deficit to 2-1 just four minutes into the final frame. But despite an onslaught of pressure and 1:43 of power play left after the goal, that’s all Winchester could get against standout junior goalie Rylee Middleton.
She had 13 of her 32 saves in the third period.
“As the game went on we kind of just leveled up,” Avery said. “Third period, it was hard for us to really get going with all the penalties and whatnot. But they were able to come together and (Middleton) made some huge saves, as always. It was good to stay composed, we finally got out of the box and (kept up) effort to get it done.”
Winchester head coach Tommy Scarpa “couldn’t have asked for any more” out of his group, other than finishing off a couple more of the many chances it hustled to generate throughout. That included a strong opening first half of the first period in which the Red and Black tilted the ice, and a strong move for a Grade-A bid from Josie Chang in the second that Middleton kicked away with a highlight-reel stuff.
In all, Winchester out-shot Reading 33-17. But the Rockets made theirs count with the clutch play from Rodgers.
Her initial shot from the left point was blocked right back to her stick in the first period, and the second bid made it through for a 1-0 lead. Reading and Winchester continued to battle with back-and-forth rushes, but the Rockets added another late in the second when Rodgers finished off a flurry around the net.
“She’s definitely that kid that leads by example,” Avery said. “She doesn’t give up on pucks. We’re always saying, ‘Let’s go, play to the whistle,’ and she does that every single time. She really is a leader. She’s out there all penalty kills, the last minute — she probably racks up 25 minutes a game.
“She just wants it. Not only that, she’s always supporting her teammates, she’s always picking them up. To see her get on the scoresheet is awesome for her because she always putting in the effort, she’s always playing like that (but) doesn’t always get points to show for it.”
The key win in the league title race stacks into a big win over HPNA on Monday that gave the Rockets a major confidence boost.
Adding wins over Winchester and Woburn in the same week would be a major push of momentum heading into the final week of the regular season.
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