All RSS feed content is owned by the respective 3rd party website.
WATERTOWN – Junior Emily Rourke and her freshman sister, Lulu, had their first taste of the playoffs together for the Wellesley girls’ hockey team last night, and perhaps there was no better introduction than the one the title-defending Raiders gave them.
As part of a 5-0 win over No. 12 Canton in a Div. 2 state first-round matchup at Ryan Arena, both sisters found the back of the net in an effort that saw five different players score for No. 5 Wellesley (14-4-3). The blue line unit smothered just about everything the Bulldogs (12-6-5) offense could come up with in the meantime, and goalie Liddy Schulz (16 saves) stopped whatever leaked through in the shutout.
“It was really great being able to play with my sister, being able to share this experience with her,” said Lulu Rourke.
“It really hypes you up (to succeed together), especially not only when your team scores, but when you look out and you see it was your sister,” added Emily Rourke.
While the two were integral in a fast start that put Canton on its heels, it was the team’s depth that carried the Raiders.
Amid a dominant first period that featured Emily Rourke scoring off a drop pass from her sister, and then assisting with Erin Fleming on a Bridget Noonan goal just over a minute later, the entire team played with a unified flow that Canton couldn’t replicate. The Bulldogs tried several times to break through the blue line for breakaways, but a quick and perceptive back line fizzled out every opportunity.
With a 2-0 lead, it didn’t take long in the second period for the Raiders to score again as Fleming coasted through traffic for an unassisted goal five minutes in. Bliss Vernon made it 4-0 off an assist from Lauren Burke three minutes later, and after Shulz held strong in net, Lulu scored for good measure with 1:21 to go.
“Our girls do a lot of the small details well,” said Wellesley head coach P.T. Donato. “Five different goal scorers kind of shows the depth we have across. I thought we worked really hard.”