The East Bay Co-op upset LaSalle/Moses Brown Co-op 3-2 in the opener of the Division I Championship series at Brown’s Meehan Auditorium on Friday night.

Eagles senior forward Sydney Parkhurst scored from in front of the net at 1:27 into the first period to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.

Madelyn Cox grabbed a loose puck in the Rams zone, skated around the net and attempted a wrap around shot that was denied by Rams goaltender Kaitlyn Oatley (32 saves). The rebound went straight out to Parkhurst and she slammed it into the net.

“These girls have been playing together for a very long time. They know each other’s moves. they know where to be. They kept the pressure on them and worked like hell to put it in the net,” said Eagles Head Coach Allison Faria.

After a scoreless second period, Pankhurst struck again at 41 seconds into the third period. The forward standing by the right post, slid the puck past a sprawled out Oatley as linemates Mary Arkins (Portsmouth) and Katherine Barker attacked the net after a shot by Arkins, to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead.

The Rams, down by two, didn’t pack it in. Sophomore forward Alexa Morra put the Rams on the scoreboard from an assist by line mate Ariana DeSousa. Morra skated into the Eagles zone down the right side, curled and shot the puck on goal.

Eagles goaltender Ellee Kopecky (22 saves) made the initial save, but Morra and DeSousa came crashing into the goalie and knocked the puck into the net.
Two minutes later the score was tied.

The Eagles defense let Rams forward Jennifer Rickard sneak by on a break away along the boards. She gained the blue line and blasted a shot that hit Kopecky’s shoulder and bounced up and into the net to tie the score 2-2 with under five minutes to play. Coach Faria called a timeout and talked to the team as they gathered around her by the bench.

“We talked about the mental part of the game. You have to stay positive the whole time and anything can happen,” said coach Faria.

The Rams had the momentum and pinned the Eagles in their own zone, until Eagles freshman forward Katherine Barker blocked a pass, split the Rams defensemen and sped up ice. Barker went in one-on-one with Oatley and beat her on the right side giving the Eagles the lead at 11:28 into the period.

“Kat passed it off the boards to herself and went up the ice. I knew it was a goal. It was a beautiful shot,” said Eagles senior forward Grace Flaherty.

“Barker was hungry all game long. She got that opportunity and she just flew by them and put the puck in the net,” said the coach.

“The feeling was sensational. She’s one of our top scorers and she scored (on the break away). I through my stick up and I was screaming loud,” said goaltender Ellee Kopecky.

The sophomore goaltender and the Eagles defense played brilliantly the rest of the way to give the East Bay Co-op a 1-0 series lead in the D-I championship series.

“We have very strong defensemen. They do a great job of back checking and we make a great team,” said goaltender Ellee Kopecky.

“Ellee did an amazing job in net. Our defense has been key all season long. They are extremely smart with the puck. They held us in that game,” said the coach.
“Ellee is really strong back there. She gets pumped and we like to have her back,” said senior defenseman Carissa Rego.

Coach Faria spoke about the team’s mindset for game two.

“There is literally nothing to lose. We are putting it all out there and working for it, mentally and physically, day in and day out. We got one more game. If we can get one more game, one more win, that’s it. We take it home.”

Game two will be played on Saturday at Brown’s Meehan Auditorium at 5:30 p.m.