Malden Catholic continues to make noise, ousts Hingham
For the first time in the program’s fouryear history, the Malden Catholic girls hockey team is headed to a state semifinal.
Sophomore Abbie Poole’s hat trick with two seconds left anchored four unanswered goals from the fourth-seeded Lancers (163-4), pairing with a sensational effort in net from senior Taylor Daley, to beat No. 5 Hingham, 4-1, in a Div. 1 state quarterfinal Wednesday night at John A. Ryan Arena.
Daley made 24 saves against one of the most potent attacks in the bracket, while senior Bella Gillis added a goal and assist to help lead Malden Catholic. It will face the winner of No. 1 NDA (H)-No. 9 Peabody/Lynnfield/North Reading next.
“I think it’s great, the girls are fired up. They’ve never done it before,” said 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, using a highlight-reel goal for a 1-0 Harborwomen lead on the team’s second shot of the game.
Daley went on to stop the next 22 and the attack took care of the rest.
Poole’s first goal had some funky movement to it that found its way in for the 1-1 tie with 10:19 left in the second. A four-shot fury about seven minutes later set up Poole for her second score off a rebound, and Daley had a couple robberies on shots in front to hold a 2-1 lead into the break.
“We were a little bit nervous in the beginning but we came together as a team,” Baker said. “(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 slow down much in the third, peppering Daley for 10 more shots in the third. But neither did the Lancers.
Poole’s third point of the game came on an assist to Gillis, who shot it past the glove for a 3-1 lead with 5:22 left. A power play in the final minute just about sealed the game for the Lancers, but Poole’s rebound finish with seconds left added one more for good measure.
“We came together, like, ‘We need to win this,’ ” Poole said. “It came down to who wanted it more. … (The first goal) got us going and made us realize, ‘We have this.’ ”