LYNN — The St. Mary’s girls hockey team put together a solid effort from start to finish Wednesday afternoon, as the No. 4 Spartans picked up a 6-2 win over No. 13 Bishop Fenwick in a Division 1 tournament Round of 16 game at Connery Rink.
“Fenwick has given us problems all year and they’re a tough matchup for us,” said St. Mary’s coach Frank Pagliuca. “We felt like we had to come out and be aggressive instead of hanging back, and we did a good job on the forecheck to start things out. Once we got that early goal I think we were able to settle things down.”
Two Spartans finished the night with five-point games, with Maggie Pierce notching three goals and two assists and Julia Lambert finishing with two goals and three assists. Gabbi Oakes added the sixth goal for St. Mary’s, while Gianna Young picked up two assists. Jenna Chaplain and Cara Donato each finished with one assist. Goalie Angelina Catino notched 13 saves to earn the win in net.
Lauren Diranian scored both goals in the loss for Fenwick, while Penny Levine, Zoe Elwell, Grace Morey and Abbey Millman each had one assist. Goalie Ella Tucker notched 17 saves in net for the Crusaders.
“Obviously St. Mary’s is a very good team and they make you play your best,” said Fenwick coach John Kasle. “Credit to them, they came out and executed incredibly well and picked up the win. Our girls fought hard and that’s all you can ask.”
The Spartans got off to a bit of a shaky start in that they had some issues with puck control in the first few minutes, but they quickly were able to steady themselves and start pressuring the Fenwick zone. That pressure came to a head with 8:33 to play in the period, when Lambert ripped a shot just under the crossbar to make it a 1-0 game.
After the final eight minutes of the first went by without incident, the Spartans came out firing in the second. Pierce won the opening faceoff for St. Mary’s before Chaplain took control of the puck, darted up the ice and sent a cross-ice pass to Lambert for her second goal of the game to make it 2-0.
The Spartans added two more goals over the next six minutes thanks to a tally from Pierce and a breakaway score from Oakes to extend the lead to a commanding 4-0, then Fenwick finally was able to stem the tide when Diranian found the back of the net to make it 4-1 going into the final period.
The third period saw St. Mary’s extend its lead to 5-1 behind a goal from Pierce before Diranian responded for Fenwick four minutes later, but by then it was too late for the Crusaders. Pierce capped off her hat trick with a goal in the final five minutes of play and the Spartans cruised to a win on their home ice.
Fenwick closes out its season at 10-10-2.
“This is probably the best group we’ve ever had here, and I told them that I was so proud of what they’ve accomplished here over the past few years,” Kasle said of his team. “This class came in and put Fenwick girls hockey on the map, and that will always be their legacy here. Now it’s up to those of us who are coming back to pick up the mantle and keep moving forward with it.”
St. Mary’s (14-7-3) now moves on to the quarterfinal round, where it will take on No. 5 Acton-Boxboro OR No. 21 Billerica Saturday (3) at Endicott College.
“We’ve just got to keep playing and having fun out there,” said Pagliuca. “The big difference over the past couple of weeks is that we’ve really started to trust and support each other out there, and to not get too high or too low at any point. We know whoever we play is going to be a talented team, so we just have to focus on us.”
