After the transfer of team leading scorer Kaleigh Finigan to St. Mary’s, Austin Prep was left with a big hole in its front line.
“We’re basically in every game, but if we had someone like her, we’d be better than where we’re at,’’ said Austin Prep coach Jim McGonagle.
But as the saying goes, “you’re only as good as your goalie out’’, and lucky for McGonagle, his goalie is one of the best in the state.
Junior goaltender Shannon O’Neil has been a rock between the pipes with a 1.58 goals against average after seeing nearly 500 shots this season.
O’Neil was the Cougars’ MVP last year when she reached a single game-high 60 saves against Hingham.
“It’s been the Shannon O’Neil show. She keeps us in every game,’’ McGonagle said.
Said O’Neil: “We’re a young team and we get lucky sometimes, but I know I have to be there when they need me.’’
This season, O’Neil has made 469 saves out of 492, stopping a season-high 53 shots in a win over ninth-ranked Hingham Saturday.
“She’s just been lights out on everybody we’ve played against. All the coaches have acknowledged her play,’’ McGonagle said.
O’Neil gave up one goal to Hingham, but Cougars junior forward Kiely Annese scored in the first period and freshman forward Meghan Hanlon potted a goal in the second to give Austin Prep a 2-1 lead heading into intermission.
“We were confident but not over confident. We didn’t want to give up and let them come back, so we kept up our intensity,’’ O’Neil said.
McGonagle cautioned his team about Hingham’s explosive offense and feared the Harbormen would come out flying in the third, which they did.
In the first seven minutes, Hingham kept the puck in the Cougars’ zone, but the Harbormen were powerless against O’Neil’s barricade at the net.
Cougars eighth-grade defenseman Jaimee Cooke scored the team’s third goal to seal the victory in what McGonagle called Austin Prep’s best game of the season.
“It came down to everyone doing their job,’’ McGonagle said. “For a program so young, this is something that will propel us forward to winning.”
In his 14 years at Austin Prep, McGonagle ranks O’Neil as one of the top two goalies he’s ever had and without her, the Cougars would be 0-13, he said.
“Without Shannon, an MVP, I don’t think we’d be in the situation we are at [5-8 overall],’’ McGonagle said. O’Neil averages 40 shots against per game.
At 10 points this season, the Cougars will need to play like they did against Hingham to see a spot in the postseason.
“If we keep playing the way we are we have a shot,’’ O’Neil said.
