SPS travelled to balmy Marion, MA and the home of the Tabor Seawolves for an important late season match up. The focus was on competing shift by shift as the Big Red they would need a total team effort to take a victory back to Millville. As has been the case for many games this season, the quick start has been a key to success. This contest was no different as just 50 seconds into the game
Gabrielle Smith intercepted a puck just inside the blue line and in three quick strides fired the puck past the shocked Tabor netminder for the 1 – 0 lead. Minutes later it would be
Liza Demain crashing the net and finishing a juicy rebound with the assists going to
Cadence Crowley and
Tess Mulkerron. The crowd in Travis Roy Arena was shocked and silent. Outshooting the Seawolves 14 – 9 in the first stanza, the Big Red came close several times to increasing their lead.
The second period opened with the Big Red needing to kill off a penalty and preventing Tabor from gaining any momentum. It was not to be as the Seawolves scored 40 seconds into the period. Tabor created more chances in the second period as SPS fought valiantly to take away their time and space. The backbone of the defensive effort was the stellar play of goaltender
Paige MacPhee (33 stops on the afternoon – 22 in the second period.) The period would end with Big Red holding on to a tight 2 – 1 lead.
The third period would be a good one for SPS. They got pucks deeper and started to generate more offensive chances. At the 13-minute mark,
Tess Mulkerron would find the puck behind the net and would work her way to the front with some nifty stick handling and fire a backhander into the top of the net. 3 – 1. The energy rose even higher for the Big Red and the Seawolves looked stunned. The next curveball came with 11:39 to play when the fire alarm went off in the building and the teams need to exit the rink – a first for many. The 20-minute break gave the team a chance to focus and to play an excellent game of animal concentration. The energy was palpable when the Big Red returned to the ice as they went shift to shift making good decisions and playing smart, disciplined hockey to close out the game – a big win for the Big Red.
The Big Red has two weeks left to play in the 2025-26 season. It is a huge week ahead as the squad hosts the Other Big Red of Exeter on Wednesday for the annual Senior Day game and follow that on Friday when they head to the Tilton School and then finish the home and home series away at Exeter on Saturday. Big Week - Go Big Red!
