Farrelly boosts Canton
Scores in semifinal win vs. Westwood
GIRLS HOCKEY
BOURNE — As the final seconds ran off, the crowd at Gallo Arena began to rise, growing louder with each tick. When the horn sounded, the Canton girls hockey team finally could celebrate a thrilling 1-0 victory against seventh-seeded Westwood in a Division 2 state semifinal last night.
The 14th-seeded Bulldogs, who clinched a trip to the state championship game at the Garden, controlled the game’s pace for most of the first two periods but struggled to figure out Westwood goaltender Caroline McDonough.
Late in the second period, Kendra Farrelly finally put Canton (20-4-2) on the board, knocking in a rebound of a shot by teammate Leah McClellin at the 11:16 mark to make it 1-0.
Once the third period got started, so did Westwood. The Wolverines (19-5-2) began to create some chances down the stretch, their best coming with 6:08 left in regulation when sophomore Kat Keith clanged a shot off the post.
Colleen Kelleher was strong once again in net. She made 16 saves in the shutout for Canton, which reached the final for the first since 2006.
“I couldn’t be happier for our girls,” Canton coach Dennis Aldrich said. “We talked about a year of redemption. We lost a couple of games early on. We were able to get wins the second time around playing teams, and this was no exception. It was big for us, for our mojo going forward.”
Notre Dame (Hingham) 5, Tewskbury/Methuen 1— Katie Pyne continued her epic postseason, netting four goals as the top-seeded Cougars (21-0-1) advanced to the Div. 2 final for the second consecutive season with a rout of the Red Rangers (19-6-3) at Gallo Arena.
“I don’t think I’ll be happy just getting there,” said Cougars coach Jean Yves-Roy, whose team will face Canton for the championship. “We want to go and finish the job. And like everybody, we want to win our last game.”
Entering the game, the Cougars knew they had to contain the Red Rangers’ high-flying offense, notably junior forward Kelly Golini.
Mission accomplished. Notre Dame held Tewksbury/Methuen in check all night. Sophomore Caroline Curley found the back of the net to bring the Red Rangers within a goal at 2-1 to close the second period.
With her team playing shorthanded late in the third, Pyne completed her hat trick to give the Cougars a comfortable 4-1 advantage.
As the final seconds ticked off, Pyne intercepted a cross-ice pass before burying an open-netter to cap the game at 5-1. Alexa Graziano had the other goal.