Freshman Freitas sends St. Mary’s back to Div. 1 final
St. Mary’s hadn’t won an overtime game in four years. In their last five extra sessions, the Spartans went 0-4-1.
Freshman Bella Freitas changed that with one sizzling wrist shot.
Freitas scored 3:43 into fouron-four overtime to send No. 2 St. Mary’s back to the Division 1 championship game, defeating No. 11 Archbishop Williams, 2-1, at Loring Arena in Framingham. The Spartans (22-3-1) will meet top-seeded Notre Dame Hingham (17-4-2) at TD Garden on Sunday at a time to be announced.
Freitas, a freshman from Everett, received a touch pass from freshman Alyssa Norden, a Peabody resident, and took off through the neutral zone. On a one-on-one, Freitas reverted to an inside-out move that she missed high with earlier in the game. On the second go-round, Freitas picked her spot and fired.
“I saw that little area below her glove, which is where I shot,” said Freitas.
With 13 new players from last year’s team, which lost, 4-1, to Shrewsbury on Causeway Street, the Spartans have relied on fresh faces and Freitas has answered the bell in every way.
“Like a great player does, she elevated her game when we needed her to,” said St. Mary’s coach Frank Pagliuca.
Freitas connected with Norden to open the scoring in the third period, side-stepping a defender and firing a shot that Norden redirected under the bar and in for a power-play goal. Seventh-grader McKenzie LimaTower equalized minutes later for the Bishops (12-11-2), capitalizing on a rebound on the far post after hard work by junior Caroline Batchelder.
Senior Gianna Tringale, a Danvers resident, was impeccable, making 39 saves. The Bishops provided incessant pressure, but Tringale battled the entire way.
“Gianna was outstanding,” said Pagliuca. “We needed some senior leadership. She stepped up and elevated her game. That was the best game she’s played by far this postseason. She did a great job making some huge saves.”
“I trust my team,” said Tringale. “I know that we can do it.”
Division 2 State
Falmouth 2, Marshfield 0 —
Clippers junior Casey Roth wanted to fire a shot into the top corner of Marshfield’s net. Her stick — and the puck — had other plans, but the result was all the same.
Roth bested Rams sophomore goaltender Morgan Murphy with a low shot from close range with 1:02 remaining in the first period after driving straight down the slot following a turnover in the neutral zone.
Senior Avery Johnson added an empty-net goal in the final minute and freshman goaltender Aspen Devlin (22 saves) delivered a shutout to help propel second-seeded Falmouth over No. 11 Marshfield in a Division 2 state semifinal at Gallo.
“I totally whiffed,” Roth said of her goal. “I picked my head up and looked at that corner and then I was like, ‘It’s there,’ but then it just went five-hole. I just had to put the puck on the net, so that’s exactly what I did.”
The win sends Falmouth (232-1) to the team’s first state final since the 2015 team captured the Division 2 crown with a 3-2 overtime victory over Wellesley. The Clippers will face defending state champion and top-seeded Duxbury (23-3-0) in the title game Sunday at TD Garden (time TBD).
“We entered this season not even knowing if we were the favorite in our league,” Falmouth coach Brian Ferreira said. “You had Nauset, Martha’s Vineyard, Sandwich — I think when the original Top 20 came out, four Cape and Islands teams were in the top 10 or 11. To get to [TD Garden] now is outstanding. It’s a testament to these girls.”
Although Devlin was outstanding the entire game, she was at her best in the third period when she stopped a breakaway bid by Marshfield freshman Julia Lemire with 8:32 remaining.
“I had to work on my breathing, I was so stressed out,” Devlin said. “Almost on every shot, I just think, ‘Hey, we’ve made it so far. This team is like my family, I’m not letting it go now.’ I just want to make it to the last game and now we have.”