The final week of the winter sports season is here, concluding this Sunday with three state championship hockey games (St. John’s Prep, Marblehead boys, St. Mary’s girls).
Truth be told, in February and March, it’s about going up a level, and some local players have done just that.
Let’s start over at St. Mary’s, which has a girls hockey team still skating. Ahead of Sunday’s title game against Notre Dame (Hingham) at 9 a.m., one player looking to put a cherry on top of a strong postseason is freshman sensation Bella Freitas.
Whenever St. Mary’s has needed a goal, it’s the ninth grader who has put the team on her back. In her Division 1 playoff debut, the Catholic Central League’s Most Valuable Player recorded a hat trick against Weymouth.
Then, Freitas scored three consecutive game-winning goals to get the Spartans back to The Garden. Most recently against Archbishop Williams, the righty sniped one home in overtime of a 1-1 game.
Staying on the ice, PLNR’s Alyse Mutti hasn’t been too shabby. After a game this postseason, the shot-stopper was praised as “one of the best goalies in the state” from coach Michelle Roach.
Even in a 2-0 loss to Notre Dame, the junior was under pressure from the opening puck-drop. Whether she was diving across her crease to block a shot, or standing firm on a breakaway, Mutti made sure that if she was beaten, it had to be the perfect shot.
Mutti played so well that Notre Dame’s coach, John Findley, described her performance as “fantastic.”
Another shot-stopper who has had quite the month is Marblehead’s Leo Burdge. You don’t beat the No. 2 or No. 3 teams in the state without a top goaltender, and Burdge is playing his best hockey right now. The Headers are 14-1-1 in their last 16 games.
Against No. 2 Shawsheen, Burdge recorded 23 saves to help the Headers win, 2-1, and advance to Sunday’s title game (3 p.m. against Nauset).
This is Marblehead’s first trip back to the big game since 2011, and Burdge is one of the reasons why the Headers are still dancing.
From the ice to the hardwood, we go.
The Lynn Tech boys completed a memorable season, reaching the Elite 8 in Division 4. Powering the Tigers to the later stages of the tournament was big man Ederick Gonzalez.
The double-double machine is hard to stop when he gets going, and in the Sweet 16 against No. 9 Georgetown, he made sure the Lynn Tech faithful experienced one more win on home-court. Gonzalez scored 18 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in a 60-56 victory.
Those 20 boards came despite a shoulder injury, by the way.
“We’ve got the (Commonwealth Athletic) conference MVP. We’ve got Ederick and he’s a load down there,” Bingham said after the game.
Speaking of MVPs, Nick Lemmond of the Northeastern Conference helped fuel his Marblehead Magicians to an opening round upset on the road.
Against Melrose in a 67-64 final, Lemmond came up clutch, sinking a 3-pointer with 2:46 remaining in regulation. And in overtime, Lemmond showed his all-around game by playing solid defense and creating opportunities for his teammates.
Even in a loss to No. 2 Leominster, the Magicians had the scoreboard reading 54-53 after the third quarter. The reason? Lemmond’s shooting. He finished the game with 26 points and showed – yet again – why he’s one of the top three-way scorers on the North Shore.
With only the big games left, let’s see if St. John’s Prep, Marblehead, and St. Mary’s can bring back a few banners.
