WATERTOWN – For the primary time in this system’s four-year historical past, the Malden Catholic ladies hockey crew is headed to a state semifinal.
Sophomore Abbie Poole’s hat trick with two seconds left anchored 4 unanswered targets from the fourth-seeded Lancers (16-3-4), pairing with a sensational effort in web from senior Taylor Daley, to beat No. 5 Hingham, 4-1, in a Div. 1 state quarterfinal Wednesday evening at John A. Ryan Arena.
Daley made 24 saves towards probably the most potent assaults within the bracket, whereas senior Bella Gillis added a purpose and help to assist lead Malden Catholic. It will face the winner of No. 1 NDA (H)-No. 9 Peabody/Lynnfield/North Reading subsequent.
“I think it’s great, the girls are fired up. They’ve never done it before,” stated Malden Catholic head coach Alexa Hingston. “Malden Catholic is still new and we’re still trying to make a name for ourselves, and I think we’re well-known right now. … I scheduled hard teams (in the regular season) on purpose to prove ourselves, and we’ve held our own so far, but we’re not done.”
“It’s a new program, and we keep just building on it every year,” added Lancers defender Ava Baker.
Hingham’s 100-goal scorer Caroline Doherty made an impression early, utilizing a highlight-reel purpose for a 1-0 Harborwomen lead on the crew’s second shot of the sport.
Daley went on to cease the subsequent 22 and the assault took care of the remainder.
Poole’s first purpose had some funky motion to it that discovered its means in for the 1-1 tie with 10:19 left within the second. A four-shot fury about seven minutes later arrange Poole for her second rating off a rebound, and Daley had a pair robberies on pictures in entrance to carry a 2-1 lead into the break.
“We were a little bit nervous in the beginning but we came together as a team,” Baker stated. “(The deficit) definitely got us fired up and going.”
“I thought we actually played better after that (Doherty) goal,” Hingston added. “We just kept pressuring, and Abbie Poole had the best game of the year. … It could go the other way where they could hang their heads, but I thought we responded very good.”
Hingham didn’t decelerate a lot within the third, peppering Daley for 10 extra pictures within the third. But neither did the Lancers.
Poole’s third level of the sport got here on an help to Gillis, who shot it previous the glove for a 3-1 lead with 5:22 left. An influence play within the last minute nearly sealed the sport for the Lancers, however Poole’s rebound end with seconds left added yet another for good measure.
“We came together, like, ‘We need to win this,’ ” Poole stated. “It came down to who wanted it more. … (The first goal) got us going and made us realize, ‘We have this.’ ”
Source: www.bostonherald.com