St. Mary’s girls hockey takes exciting shootout win, reaches state final

STONEHAM – When you play a team 11 times over the course of three regular seasons and postseasons, there is bound to be a lot of respect shown to each other. Well, that’s been the case for the Hingham and St. Mary’s girls hockey teams.But the effort the two teams put in on Saturday in the Division 1 state semifinals at Stoneham Arena reinforced to the packed house that there might not be a better rivalry in Massachusetts.One year to the day after the Harborwomen ended St. Mary’s remarkable 100-game unbeaten streak, the Spartans got a bit of sweet revenge as they overcame a Samantha Ryder goal with 3.7 seconds left in regulation that tied the game and several goalposts in overtime as Ann Marie Manganiello’s goal in the final round of a shootout was enough for a 4-3 Spartan win.The win propels the Spartans back to TD Garden for the third time in four seasons, where they will meet Arlington Catholic in the state final next Sunday.”Our kids have been resilient all year,” Spartans head coach Frank Pagliuca said. “People have counted us out all year and we just keep fighting. That group has it. They bust their butt all game. It says something when you give up a goal with three seconds left and come back and play a good overtime and finish it off in the shootout. I can’t be more proud of this group and what they did tonight.”That resiliency was on full display after Ryder camped on the right post and was able to slide home Sarah Schwenzfeier’s pass as time was running out in regulation. After the momentary shock of what could have been a demoralizing goal, the Spartans regrouped and dominated much of the overtime.”It showed a lot of character that we were able to come back after that,” Pagliuca said.”I just told them they had to put it behind them,” Pagliuca said when asked what he told his team heading into overtime. “I know it’s hard but it’s a zero-zero game now and next team that scores now is going to win.”The Harborwomen nearly ended things early but Lauren Skinnion was able to come up with critical saves on snipers Jane Freda and Schwenzfeier. At the other end of the rink, sophomore Taylor Walsh performed her own version of highway robbery when she stopped Allison Butler, Kaleigh Finigan and Brittani Lanzilli on the same shift.”Taylor’s our MVP. Without her, we don’t have a chance,” Hingham coach Tom Findley said. “The team is built from the back out. You have to have a good goalie, you have to have four or five good defensemen, and if you have that, you’re going to be in some games and you’re going to win some. I think at the end, Taylor just stepped up. I’m so proud of her.”St. Mary’s nearly ended it with 60 seconds left in overtime when Gina Beth Manganiello’s knuckleball beat Walsh but rang solidly off the right goalpost, forcing the shootout.The Harborwomen shot first and Freda beat Skinnion but rang her shot off the post. Ryder, however, gave Hingham a 1-0 lead in the second round of the shootout.Butler tied it 1-1 in round three when her shot ticked off Walsh’s glove and went in. Skinnion then stopped the next two shooters, setting the stage for Ann Marie Manganiello.The junior took her time and got Walsh to spread her pads just enough that her shot trickled through the 5-hole for the winner.”Right after the goal I skated straight to my sister (Gina Beth) and I was like, ‘I did it,'” Manganiello said. “(Pagliuca) really helped me on the bench. He said, ‘You’ve got this. You did this, you know this, you know what you have to do.’ And as I was going down, I was thinking, I’ve been here just as long as the seniors have, I’ve lost with them, I’ve won with them, and I wanted to win for them, so that’s what I tried to do.”