Milton used a strong start and solid defense throughout to deal the Dedham High girls hockey team its first shutout loss of the season Saturday night, blanking the Marauders 3-0 at Ulin Rink.
It was the fourth straight loss for Dedham, which dropped to 2-5 overall and in the Bay State Conference.
"We didn’t show up to play until the third period tonight," said Dedham coach Christine Gurskis. "We came out flat and got down early. It's hard to dig yourself out of that hole."
Gurskis was facing her former team for the first time as a head coach, having led the Wildcats for six years from 2003-2009.
The Marauders started the game slowly, only recording two shots on net in the first period, and had problems clearing rebounds from the front of the goal all night.
Dedham got better offensively as the night went on, but could not capitalize on power-play chances and loose pucks around the net, which became the difference in the game.
"It takes being aggressive and going hard to the net. You need have the mentality that you are going to see a loose puck and bury it," said Gurskis. "We didn’t have that tonight, and obviously Milton did."
Milton’s first goal came almost four minutes into the game. Dedham goalie Jamie Carty stopped an initial shot from Milton forward Erin Higgins and scrambled to tie up the puck, but Hannah O’Leary was there to bang in the loose puck through a scramble in front of the net giving the Wildcats an early 1-0 lead.
The second period was more of the same from Milton as the Wildcats were able to score twice to essentially put the game out of reach. Early in the period, on a very similar play to the first goal, Milton’s Caroline Johnson was able to slide a loose puck off a rebound past Carty as she was being taken to the ice for a 2-0 lead.
Later in the period, Milton added their third goal on a nice pass from O’Leary to Higgins in front of the net. Higgins slid the puck past Carty for the game’s final goal.
The third period was the strongest of the game for Dedham, but it was too little, too late. Dedham had an edge in power plays in the game, including a 5-on-3 advantage for over a minute in the early third period.
Milton used a strong start and solid defense throughout to deal the Dedham High girls hockey team its first shutout loss of the season Saturday night, blanking the Marauders 3-0 at Ulin Rink.
It was the fourth straight loss for Dedham, which dropped to 2-5 overall and in the Bay State Conference.
"We didn’t show up to play until the third period tonight," said Dedham coach Christine Gurskis. "We came out flat and got down early. It's hard to dig yourself out of that hole."
Gurskis was facing her former team for the first time as a head coach, having led the Wildcats for six years from 2003-2009.
The Marauders started the game slowly, only recording two shots on net in the first period, and had problems clearing rebounds from the front of the goal all night.
Dedham got better offensively as the night went on, but could not capitalize on power-play chances and loose pucks around the net, which became the difference in the game.
"It takes being aggressive and going hard to the net. You need have the mentality that you are going to see a loose puck and bury it," said Gurskis. "We didn’t have that tonight, and obviously Milton did."
Milton’s first goal came almost four minutes into the game. Dedham goalie Jamie Carty stopped an initial shot from Milton forward Erin Higgins and scrambled to tie up the puck, but Hannah O’Leary was there to bang in the loose puck through a scramble in front of the net giving the Wildcats an early 1-0 lead.
The second period was more of the same from Milton as the Wildcats were able to score twice to essentially put the game out of reach. Early in the period, on a very similar play to the first goal, Milton’s Caroline Johnson was able to slide a loose puck off a rebound past Carty as she was being taken to the ice for a 2-0 lead.
Later in the period, Milton added their third goal on a nice pass from O’Leary to Higgins in front of the net. Higgins slid the puck past Carty for the game’s final goal.
The third period was the strongest of the game for Dedham, but it was too little, too late. Dedham had an edge in power plays in the game, including a 5-on-3 advantage for over a minute in the early third period.
The Marauders power play, led by Sam Girard, generated some quality scoring chances. With the two-man advantage, Girard rushed up the ice and took a shot that almost trickled in from the right side, but they were unable to stuff it home and convert on special teams as Milton goalie Sarah Park came up big when called upon.
"I felt we came out in the third period and outplayed them, but you can’t win if you don’t put the puck in the net," said Gurskis.
Girard scored twice and Colleen Downing added a goal last Wednesday against Walpole, but the Rebels came away with a 5-3 victory. Dedham was scheduled to travel to Braintree yesterday to face the Carey Division-leading Wamps.
"The girls came out flying against Walpole and started flat tonight," said Gurskis.
"I’m happy we played well in the third period, and hopefully we will start our next game the way we left off. We have two practices in between so we are going to work hard, and build confidence to do the little things right."
