Kostas Memorial Tourney: White, Martin Lead Blue Knights to Victory

ORLEANS — When two of your players score a combined five goals, the end result almost invariably must be good.

Sandwich senior captain Nicole Martin scored two goals and had three assists in the Blue Knights' 7-2 win Friday night. Sean Walsh/www.capecod.com sports

Sandwich senior captain Nicole Martin scored two goals and had three assists in the Blue Knights’ 7-2 win Friday night at the Charles Moore Arena.
Sean Walsh/capecod.com sports
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And so it was Friday night at the Charles Moore Arena as the Sandwich Blue Knights (2-4) took home an uplifting, 7-2, much-needed win on a hat-trick from Annabelle White and a pair of goals by Nicole Martin. The game was the second of the day in the 2014 Judy Kostas Memorial Holiday Hockey Tournament.

White scored one in the first period (9:37) to make it 2-0 but it was senior defenseman Martin who netted the game’s first score just three seconds into the game. Martin also had three assists to go along with her pair of scores. Sandwich senior defenseman Katie Lowry was equally as productive, assisting on all of the Blue Knights’ first five goals. Sandwich junior defenseman Kate Towey scored the Blue Knights’ sixth goal – which made the score 6-0 at 11:24 in the third period – and junior forward Christina O’Neil netted the seventh score with 3:00 left in the third period.

Sandwich junior forward Christina O'Neil (23) comes up from behind Nauset/Cape Tech's Amanda Rich in third period action Friday night  at the Charles Moore Arena. O'Neil scored the last goal of the game with just 3:00 left in the third period to make it 7-2. Sean Walsh/www.capecod.com sports

Sandwich junior forward Christina O’Neil (23) comes up from behind Nauset/Cape Tech’s Amanda Rich in third period action Friday night at the Charles Moore Arena. O’Neil scored the last goal of the game with just 3:00 left in the third period to make it 7-2.
Sean Walsh/capecod.com sports
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Sandwich has not had an easy start to the season, according to head coach Steve Noll, as his girls were put through a true test early on in games against some of the top teams in the state, including Hingham and Barnstable. But Noll said that the team’s 1-4 start was clearly not indicative of how far they’ve come as a team.

“We’ve improved enormously through the process,” Noll said, and added that the game against Nauset/Cape Cod Tech gave him the opportunity to get as many of his girls some much-needed time on the ice. At the midway point through the second period, starting senior goalie Allison Hir was taken out to give 8th grader Delanie Corcoran a chance to shake the cobwebs off and get some varsity time under her belt.

But the Nauset/Cape Tech girls would not relent, even when down 6-0 just 3:36 into the third period.

Freshman forward Blue Fancy scored a goal and had an assist in the third period as her team tried to climb back into a tough loss at the hands of the Sandwich Blue Knights on Friday night. Sean Walsh/www.capecod.com sports

Freshman forward Blue Fancy scored a goal and had an assist in the third period as her team tried to climb back into a tough loss at the hands of the Sandwich Blue Knights on Friday night.
Sean Walsh/capecod.com sports
Click on photo to view galleries and order prints

Freshman forward Blue Fancy put her team on the scoreboard at the 5:49 mark to make it 6-1 on an assist from sophomore forward Lauren Monger and things grew somewhat physical on the ice. The tenor of the game gave coach Noll reason to give his girls a bit of motivational advice from the bench.

“It’s real easy to slow it down,” Noll said. “You gotta crank it up.”

Freshman forward Mary Houlihan took a penalty not 20 seconds after Fancy scored her team’s first goal and Monger followed with one of her own. With a flurry of activity in front of the Sandwich goal, Monger punched it in bast Corcoran to make it 6-2, assisted by Fancy.

But O’Neil ensured her team’s victory with an insurance goal with just 3:00 remaining, beating senior goalie Emily Silvestri on an assist from Martin.

Nauset/Cape Tech pulled its goalie when Martin took a holding penalty with 0:22 left in the game, but the last-ditch move and power play was short-lived.

Sandwich and Nauset/Cape Tech return to Orleans Monday as the tournament continues.

In the tournament’s first game at 2:00 pm, Bourne/Mashpee/Wareham took a 2-1 loss after an extended shootout when its game versus Norwell/Cohasset ended in a 1-1 tie after regulation. The loss, however, goes down as a tie for state tournament purposes.

Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm

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