Pembroke Girls Take Down Sandwich in Goalies’ Duel

The Pembroke Girls earned a hard-fought 2-1 victory over visiting Sandwich behind a stellar goaltending performance from Mia Dunphy. The February break matinee was a goalie show from the start, with Dunphy and Sandwich netminder Brielle O’Brien trading big-time saves throughout. 

Sophomore standout Elisabeth Stutzman was the only Blue Knight to beat Dunphy, and it came less than five minutes into the game during a flurry in front of the net.  Rylie McQuade capitalized on a juicy rebound off of a shot, smartly backhanding the bouncing puck over to Stutzman, who snapped  it into the wide open net. Despite a myriad of chances, that would be it for Sandwich in the scoring department. But they held on to a 1-0 lead for the majority of the game.

As the Blue Knights were fighting to keep the lead, the Titans were trying to solve O’Brien, who was doing her best impression of a brick wall.  She stonewalled Pembroke on every scoring chance they had, including two breakaways. As the second period dragged along, it was starting to look like the Titans were on their way to a goose egg.

That changed with 30 seconds left in the period, as Addison Nee snuck one past O’Brien with assists from Siohban Dever and Peyton Sowersby. At last, the Titans had tied it, setting up for an intense third period.

More of the same continued in the third, with both teams getting quality scoring chances and both goalies coming up huge. It looked like the game was destined for overtime.

That was until Pembroke forward Lauren Perry decided it was time to put the Titans up for good. With the helper from Hannah De’angelo, she potted a goal with just four minutes left in regulation. Sandwich would get another power play chance but they couldn’t solve Dunphy. It was a 2-1 final from Hobomock. 

Sandwich Coach Billy Ferreira was happy with his team’s effort, but frustrated with the lack of scoring.

“We played three periods, couldn't buy a goal. I think we outshot them-I think we had 26-16 on the stat sheet. But it only counts if you go in the back of the net this time of year.” 

Despite the loss, Ferreira is confident in the team with O’Brien in net as we inch closer to the tournament.

“A goaltender can take you a long way in the state tournament.” 

 Sandwich continues a brutal stretch in the schedule tomorrow against King Philip. But Ferreira thinks it will make them more battle-tested for the playoffs. 

“We got a tough week, three games this week, Pembroke today and then King Philip tomorrow, and those are two of the top four teams in the state, so we should be ready next week when the tournament starts.”