Woodstock
“I was holding my breath,” said Hartford coach Marc Gattie, whose 1-3-3 team produced an overtime deadlock for the third consecutive game.
The Wasps’ Sadie Kuhn scored twice, including the game’s final tally 2 minutes, 21 seconds into the final period. The junior, who recently moved from defense to wing, was far and away the game’s best player, and there was a sense that she could have dominated had she not been so unselfish with the puck.
“We didn’t have a specific plan for Sadie, but we know No. 14 is the one to watch,” said Hartford’s standout, forward Caitlin Gaudet, a club teammate of Kuhn. “She’s fast and strong, and she can get around people and finish with a really good shot.
“She’s definitely a team player no matter what team she’s on. She can do whatever she wants with the puck, but she’s unselfish with it. I hear her talking to her team, helping them out.”
Kuhn’s second goal came from between the circles and zipped over Gliman’s leg pad and under her glove. Woodstock held a 29-25 shot advantage, and coach Ian Coates wasn’t thrilled with the result.
“I wasn’t expecting a tie,” said Coates, whose side won the teams’ preseason scrimmage, 6-2. “We were slower to the puck and on the man tonight, and we had a bunch of breakaways where we should have scored.
“It just seemed like the puck wasn’t bouncing our way tonight, but we didn’t deserve to win that game.”
Said Gaudet: “This is probably the best game we’ve played all season. The scrimmage and our record could have made (Woodstock) come in thinking it would be an easy win.”
Hartford took a 1-0 lead three minutes into the game when Kendyl Boisvert converted a breakaway. Woodstock (4-1-1) went up, 2-1, by period’s end on goals by Hannah Coates and Kuhn. All three tallies were unassisted.
Hartford scored both of the second period’s goals, Emily Ballou striking off a Jasmine Wilson feed and Morgan Pero tallying off passes from Boisvert and Lauren Miller. Shots at the end of two periods were 18-17 in Woodstock’s favor.
Hartford looked the more fatigued team as the third period ended and a five-minute overtime crawled by. Gattie said his team needs to up its conditioning but, like Woodstock, has had its recent practice schedule jumbled by the weather.
“We’re not in as good a shape as we need to be,” Gattie said. “That extra five minutes was tough, especially when these kids grew up together. It seems to be a really, good healthy rivalry.”
Gaudet, though not nearly as fast as Kuhn, uses incredible leg drive and balance.
“She’s moving her feet, and that’s what gets the freight train rolling, her not gliding,” said Gattie, whose team hosts Brattleboro on Saturday. “She gets low and shields the puck really well. She really dictates the pace for our team. So much of the time, she’s skating downhill.”
Gaudet was penalized for roughing with a minute remaining in the third period, but the Hurricanes killed it off.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.