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01/12/2011 11:00 PMAllie Zarillo, the goalie for the Guilford girls' ice hockey team, knew well before the squad's recent contest with Notre Dame-Fairfield began that she was in a zone and that not much, if anything, was going to get past her.
"In the locker room, I get my head in the game, get in the zone," Zarillo said. "During warm-ups I just know. I know from there."
Guilford hosted the Lancers in East Haven on Jan. 8 and Zarillo made 21 saves to help the Indians beat Notre-Dame 2-1 as Kara Welch broke a tie by scoring with just over four minutes left.
"[Zarillo] has been keeping us in most of the games. She is outstanding," said Guilford coach Tom Sheridan, whose team improved to 2-3-2.
Notre-Dame was very physical with the Indians from the opening faceoff, but the physicality ended up hurting the Lancers, who earned a quick two minutes in the penalty box with 10:10 to play in the first period.
Despite the man advantage, Guilford didn't generate a shot on net and saw the power play come and go. In fact, the Indians were unable to score on any of their six power-play chances.
"We've been having some difficulty putting the puck in the net, power play or no power play. Hopefully, we'll start putting those away," Sheridan said.
A minute after the Lancers' penalty ended, they were sent right back to the box, giving Guilford another golden first-period opportunity. This time, the shots started to mount on Notre-Dame's keeper and Guilford senior Jamie Desrosier controlled a rebound on the weak side of the net and buried the scoring attempt, putting the Indians up 1-0 with 7:01 to play in the first.
"No I didn't [think 1-0] was going to be enough. They were a pretty good team. We lost to them in overtime last time so I knew we needed to get another one," Zarillo said.
The second period featured Zarillo's ability to keep the puck in front of her. The Lancers were more aggressive and held the puck in the Guilford zone for most of the period, but Zarillo stood strong by only allowing one goal off a puck that found its way into the slot. Zarillo later stuffed a Lancers' breakaway that would have put Guilford behind.
"When something like that happens it boosts up my confidence. I get my head more in the game and bring my 'A' game," said Zarillo.
Notre-Dame continued its physical play throughout the second and third periods and the Lancers were sent to the penalty box three times in the final frame. Both teams were chippy as the game progressed as there was shoving, slashing, and jawing between both sides.
"They played rough so we had to play rough back, kind of intimidate them," Zarillo said.
With 4:09 to play, Guilford took the lead on a Welch wrist shot. Her shot hit the back-side post and fell into the net to give the Indians a 2-1 lead they would not relinquish.
"Too many penalties hurt us tremendously," said Notre-Dame coach Kerri Rowland. "If we skate five-on-five, we have a much better chance of beating that team. Lack of discipline, nothing else."
The win for Guilford avenged a Dec. 8, 1-1 tie on the Lancers' home ice. Zarillo matched her performance and the breaks just seemed to go Guilford's way this time, according to Sheridan.
"I don't know if there was a difference, I think it could have ended tied again," said Sheridan, whose team was out-shot 23-18. "It was a closely played game. We got a lucky bounce on that rebound that nobody covered up. To be honest, I thought we had more control in the first game than in this game."
Still, no one was more excited to see Welch's goal than Zarillo on the other side of the ice.
"Oh, I was ecstatic. It was phenomenal," she said.