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Jr Flyers Girls with a strong showing at the Beantown Women’s Classic

By Chris Baer, 07/31/17, 5:15PM EDT

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Marlborough, MA – The Jr Flyers Girls found some early season success this past weekend at the Beantown Classic, which featured 194 teams from all over the United States and Canada.  In what was the programs most successful Beantown trip to date, the 14U and 19U teams made it to the Quarterfinals and Semifinals, respectively. 

The 14U team boasted a potent offense, led by the line of Gia Seravalli, Syd Bradley, and Kylie Aquaro.  Other key offensive contributors were forward Emily Bozzi and defenseman Alexa Davis.  Goaltenders, Lea Grassia and Livia Krzywulak, were solid in net and each secured their first shutout of the season over the weekend, with help from a strong defensive corps.

Coming off an exciting OT victory vs. Brewster in the wildcard game, the Jr Flyers 14U faced the #1 Seed Farmteam (OTT) in the Quarterfinals in Hopedale, MA on Saturday night.  Despite falling behind 3-1 with under 5 minutes to play, the girls showed great resilience until the final buzzer.  Bradley answered to pull the team within 1 around the 4-minute mark.  Continuing the late surge, Bozzi beat the goaltender on the glove side with 24 seconds left to tie the game at 3-3.  Ultimately, it wasn’t enough as Farmteam was able to score a minute into the 3v3 OT period and eventually advance to the Beantown Finals.

“There are a lot of positives to take away from the weekend” said 14U Coach Chris Baer.  “I think we could have won the whole tournament if a few more bounces went our way.  The Girls played great all weekend and competed hard.  This group has the potential to be a very, very good team this season and the entire coaching staff is excited”.

Not to be outdone, the Jr Flyers 19U team rode strong goaltending performances from Morgan Cullen and Ryann Busillo to a 3-win weekend and a trip to the semifinals.  The 19U’s proved to be a difficult team to play against from start to finish each game and played smart, disciplined hockey.  Other standout performances were made Ava Rinker, Rachel Martin, Miki Rubin, Eva Hamel, and Annika Neufeld-Kreider. 

After winning their elimination game 3-2, the Jr Flyers 19U team advanced to Sunday afternoon, where they would face the Buffalo Bisons in a back-and-forth contest.  The Jr Flyers won in overtime, with Rinker capping off her hat trick to give the girls in orange and black the 4-3 victory.  Rubin won the opening faceoff of overtime to Rinker, who gained possession and carried the play past all 3 Bisons players before beating the goaltender just 6 seconds into the period.  This win sent the Jr Flyers to the Semifinals, where they would face the Anaheim Lady Ducks 19U.  In a hard-fought game, the Ducks prevailed 2-0 over the Jr Flyers, but there was much to be optimistic about after the loss. 

Coach Tom Norton said “the team started the season with a solid performance at this tournament.  Advancing to the semifinals is a strong indication of how we expect to play this winter”. Those expectations can turn to reality if the girls continue to play the team game that they demonstrated this weekend.  Norton also added “this was the best showing that either team has ever had (at Beantown).”

Congratulations to both teams on a successful weekend!