The trip on Rte 93 South was a snowy and wet one, but the Big Red knew the quality competition ahead of them was something to look forward to.  A crisp warm-up and the squad was ready to battle.  As was the case this past Wednesday afternoon, speed and quickness early yielded positive results.  Just a minute and a half into the game a clean zone entrance by Cadence Crowley created a shot and rebound which always hard-working Liza Demain followed and with a diving second effort, tapped the loose puck into the net.  Shortly after that, a disciplined forecheck allowed Madelyn Humber to keep the puck in at the blue line and feed it to Grace White who snapped off a backhander into the upper corner.  2 – 0 in the first 4 minutes.  As expected, Andover did not panic and began to use their speed and creativity.  The Big Blue scored to make it 2 – 1 four minutes later with a nice shot from the top of the circle.  The rest of the period saw both teams get their chances.

The second period SPS had to tip their hat to Andover and to Big Red goaltender Paige MacPhee. Andover dominated the stanza with constant pressure and Paige MacPhee was a brick wall in net. Paige MacPhee stopped 57 of the 60 shots she saw this afternoon.  The lone goal of the period was a power play goal by Andover that would take the teams into the third with the scored tied 2 – 2.

With 18 minutes to play, SPS knew they were capable of more than they had shown in the last period.  They showed exactly that over the course of the period.  Unfortunately, it would be Andover who would get the first chance, and they would take advantage of it, going up 3 – 2 early.  The Big Red became more consistent in getting pucks out and getting pucks in behind the Andover defense and this created opportunities. Great chances over the final 14 minutes by Cadence Crowley, Chelsea Bell, Erin Flaherty, Maggie Berleth and Humber gave SPS hope that they would even the contest. It was not to be as Andover scored with the goaltender pulled and seconds left on the clock.  A well-played effort by the Big Red who never stopped working.  In addition to the super play by Paige MacPhee in the SPS net, a big shout out to SPS tri-captain Maggie Berleth who played exceptional shutdown defense and was heads up offensively with her sharp passes and excellent decision making.

A big three game week ahead for SPS as they host the Penguins of Cushing on Wednesday then Lakes Region opponent KUA comes to Millville Friday night and the Griffins of Pomfret arrive to the Hockey Center on Saturday.  Let's goooooooo!

Go Big Red.