Superlative season for St. Mary’s girls hockey comes to stirring conclusion

ALLSTON – The St. Mary’s girls hockey team had no shortage of goals it wanted to achieve this season, but tops on the list was to capture the school’s first Division 1 state title in any sport.The Spartans checked that final item off their to-do list Tuesday at the Bright Hockey Center with a resounding 7-1 win over Wakefield in the D1 state final.In the process, they accomplished something even Tom Brady and the Patriots couldn’t do. They finished the season with a 25-0 record.”I haven’t taken it all in yet,” St. Mary’s coach Frank Pagliuca said about his team’s achievements this season. “I’m so proud of the girls tonight. They battled a tough team.”There were plenty of accolades to go around, beginning with Courtney Winters, who had a hat trick; and Courtney White, who had two goals. Abby Gauthier and Bridget Mini also had one apiece.Pagliuca said the turning point of the game came early in the second period when his team managed to kill off four penalties in a five-minute span. At one point, he had all three of his captains in the box.”The penalties were out of control at some point,” he said, adding that his special teams stepped up and did their jobs.Wakefield coach Jack Foley, who coached with Pagliuca for a year at Wakefield, said his team was in for a battle. The two teams played earlier in the season. St. Mary’s won, 4-1.”We knew this was going to be a tough game from the start,” he said.Foley said his team accomplished a lot, winning the Middlesex League for the first time, and making the state final for the first time.”We had a great season,” he said.The Spartans came out a little sluggishly, spotting the Warriors a goal on a scramble in front of the net, just 2:22 into the game.Unfortunately for Wakefield, it was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. St. Mary’s came to life with a vengeance, and after a couple of near misses, including two point-blank shots by Erin McAndrews, and a couple of bids by Gauthier, Winters delivered the equalizer.With 3:26 remaining in the period, Christen Hart got off a shot from inside the blue line that Winters intercepted in front of the net and backhanded home.Less than a minute later, Gauthier slid the puck to Winters from the corner and Winters tucked it into the near side for a 2-1 St. Mary’s lead.The Spartans outshot the Warriors 14-2 in the period.Wakefield found out quickly that the Spartans were just warming up. The Warriors had a chance to cut into the lead in the second period when St. Mary’s got the four penalties, but nothing found its way in.When they finally had everyone out of the box, the Spartans made up for lost time. They scored three second-period goals, and all of them were beauties. Hart got the ball rolling when she battled for the puck along the boards, finally breaking free in time to shoot a pass over to Gauthier, who was streaking down the middle.Gauthier scored, giving St. Mary’s a 3-1 lead.White put a couple more nails in the coffin, the first coming off a pass from Caitlin Gottwald from the left point. White banged it into the right side of the net, and with 1:35 remaining, she rounded up a pass from McAndrews and parked it into the left side of the net.The Spartans outshot Wakefield 22-5 through the first two periods.The hits just kept coming in the final period. Less than three minutes into the third, Mini made it 6-1, and with 10:11 remaining, Winters scored her third of the night.Wakefield’s night didn’t get any better when, with 9:15 remaining in the game, a player was hauled down on a breakaway. Officials awarded the Warriors a penalty shot, but once again goalie Kelsey Magrane answered the call.Cheryl Pitts scored the lone Wakefield goal.