Canton girls top Norwell
Will face Wellesley in state final
Canton has been a member of a pretty exclusive club in Division 2 girls hockey the last several years, and the Bulldogs were unwilling to let anyone else join on Sunday night.
Junior Lizzie Tassinari scored the go-ahead goal in the second period and freshman Olivia Maffeo tacked some key insurance in the third in No. 3 Canton’s 3-1 state semifinal triumph over No. 2 Norwell at Warrior Arena.
The Bulldogs (19-1-4) will face two-time defending champion Wellesley in the state final on Sunday, taking a third grab at the ring after trips to TD Garden in 2017 and 2018. Canton, Wellesley and Notre Dame Academy are the only three schools to play in the Div. 2 title game in the last five seasons.
“I’m really, really happy for our seniors. This will be their third trip to the Garden in four years, and that’s amazing,” said Canton coach Dennis Aldrich, who joked about sharing a bus with the defending Div. 2 champion boys team that is also Garden-bound .
Special teams were crucial as Tassinari’s goal came on the power play after the Bulldogs had killed off consecutive penalties earlier in the period. She grabbed a loose puck after an Allie McCabe rush and got off a quick bid that went off the pads of Norwell goalie Nicole Prescott and barely crept across the line for a 2-1 lead just past the midway point of the second.
“I just saw an opportunity to get a puck on net and I kind of shot it blindly to see if anything would go in,” said Tassinari. “I saw it turning and her kind of leaning backwards and she couldn’t grab it, and it was just trickling in.”
Maffeo gave Canton some much needed breathing room with six minute remaining, gliding below the right circle and snapping a shot under the bar from a tough angle to make it 3-1. The Bulldog penalty kill was again tested down the stretch as Canton was whistled for back-to-back penalties, but had another answer
The teams traded first-period goals on plays each freshman goaltender would undoubtedly like back. A Maya Battista shot 4:36 in seemed to fool Prescott, sneaking in the short side to give Canton a 1-0 lead. Norwell (20-3) answered when Casey Medina kept at a puck that Carolyn Durand attempted to cover up in the crease, tying it at 1-1 with 4:11 remaining in the period.
Norwell’s most promising chance to even things following the Tessinari goal came with 10 minutes left when Casey Ward cut into the slot for a great look after a Canton defender fell down, but Durand came up with the best of her 20 saves.
Wellesley girls blank Falmouth
Need directions to the TD Garden? Just ask the Wellesley girls hockey team.
The top-seeded Raiders are headed back to Causeway Street for the sixth time in seven years after a dominating 6-0 win over No. 12 Falmouth on Sunday night in the Division 2 state semifinals at Warrior Arena, earning an opportunity for a third straight crown against Canton.
“Our coach (PT Donato) came in (the locker room) saying that it never gets old and that just really sums it up,” said Wellesley senior Emily Rourke, who scored twice. “We have been here before but that doesn’t mean we aren’t grateful for it. We are still as excited as ever. It just gets better every time.”
After a scoreless first period, Wellesley (22-1) took control with three goals in the second, starting and ending the stanza with powerplay strikes. Rourke got it started just moments after Falmouth goalie Lucy Armour had robbed sister Lulu Rourke on a backdoor play, finishing with a nifty move in tight.
Dani Cimino made it 2-0, taking a carom off the back boards and banking a shot off Armour’s pads at the left post. Bliss Vernon pushed the lead to 3-0 after two, poking home a rebound on the power play after the Raiders had killed a 5-on-3 for the Clippers.
“If they score there, they are back in the game, but that was kind of the turning point of the game in saying which direction it’s going to go,” said Donato.
Wellesley left no doubt with two goals in a span of 45 seconds early in the third, a long wrister through traffic on the power play from Mackenzie O’Neill and another from Emily Rourke, her eighth goal of the postseason. Devon Morton capped the scoring with 10:01 to play.
Armour, one of 12 freshmen on an extremely young Falmouth (13-5-5) squad, ended up with 29 saves in an admirable performance as Wellesley racked up a 35-6 edge in shots. Liddy Schulz and Ella Fahey combined on the shutout for a Raiders team that has now held opponents to one goal or less in 22 of 23 contests.