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Casey does her best, but Cards can’t keep up with Cheverus

By Tom King - Staff Writer | Jan 21, 2025

Bishop Guertin goalie Scar Casey makes one of her 47 saves on Cheverus forward Briella Doherty during Monday's game at Skate 3 in Tyngsborough, Mass. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

TYNSBOROUGH, Mass. – Many times your best defense will produce a great offense.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for the Bishop Guertin High School girls hockey team during a holiday matinee on Monday.

Cards’ goalie Scar Casey was spectacular, and Guertin played tight coverage in its own zone, but that didn’t keep Cheverus of Portland, Me.from leaving Skate 3 Arena with a 4-0 victory.

“We skated hard as a team today,” Guertin coach Phil DeVita said. “We didn’t give up. There’s no quit in this team. It just shows when they’re ready to go they can play with anybody. We can skate with anybody. We just need to just dig down deep and play BG hockey.

“It’s games like this that brings out the best in us.”

Defensively, at least, but offensively the Cards barely managed a few shots on goal. While Casey was superb with 47 saves, Guertin couldn’t get any forecheck going and its goaltender did well to keep the score low.

The interstate game that does indeed count in the NHIAA standings for BG was basically played in two halves with just one Zamboni intermission as it’s exam week for Cheverus and the team wanted to cut down the extra time. So the teams played a 15 minute period, took a time out, and played 7:46 of the second before new ice was made. Guertin trailed 2-0 at the end of the first break. And because two-time defending Maine state champ Cheverus (13-1-1) was a tough opponent offensively, DeVita had noted sparkplug Carly Green play at the blue line, which took away from its offense.

Cheverus got two goals by Caroline Rousseau, and single scores by Jaylee Radford and Taylor Lucas. Rousseau opened the scoring at 11:34, assisted by Zoey Radford, and Jaylee Radford’s goal came with just 51.1 seconds left in the period, assisted by Briella Doherty.

Lucas managed to poke one through a small opening in the pads of Casey at 3:18 of the third period, and Rousseau finished the scoring with 3:17 left.

But Casey had also stopped numerous breakaways and the Stag had camped out right in front all game.

“We’re having a surprisingly strong year,” Cheverus coach Scott Rousseau said. “We’re rolling. We’re not going to question it, we’re just going to keep going.

“Their goaltender (Casey) was fantastic, but we were in complete control of the game. You have to give her all the credit that’s due.”

“She played unbelievable today,” DeVita said. “She played really good, was really solid in net, kept us in the game. Like I said, it’s a team effort. It’s from the forwards and the defense right down to the goalie and also the girls on the bench rooting us all on.”

They were loud when the Cards had a rare 2-on-1 break with seconds to play in the second period. But the buzzer sounded and BG couldn’t get a shot off in time. The format may have thrown things off on that play, because that was the end of the 7:44 that started the second half but signified the end of the second period.

“It takes a little second to adjust,” DeVita said. “There’s less time to talk to the girls and readjust what our game plan is. … We chipped one by them and the time was running out on the clock. That was a good example of the girls skating right to the end.”

It seems that against quality teams, BG will need to match the opponents’ offense. The Cards, who host Berlin-Gorham here on Wednesday, has had just four goals in its five losses.

“We need to get pucks down in their zone a little more, if we can’t skate it across,” DeVita said. “We just need to chip some pucks into the zone, try to establish our forecheck, and try to keep the puck low and get shots on net. We need shots on net and girls going to the puck.”

Games like this, against good competition, are on the schedule to make Guertin better, especially down the road. The Cards (2-5) had won two straight after starting out an uncharacteristic 0-4.

“They kept grinding, and played together as a team,” DeVita said. “It’s games like this that make us better in the long run.”