FALMOUTH — They have been the mystery team of the girls’ hockey season, these young St. Dominic Saints, who were unbeaten and averaging over nine goals a game.
But Greely had the experience and the hot goalie to hold off St. Dom’s, 2-1 Wednesday night at Family Ice Arena.
Bridget Roberts broke a 1-1 tie with a goal 3:45 into the third period. Goalie Nica Todd made 25 saves.
Greely improved to 11-0 and is one of two unbeaten teams, along with Scarborough. The Rangers play the Red Storm in the season finale, but first Greely will have to face St. Dom’s (8-1) again, Jan. 25 in Auburn.
“They’re a very strong team,” Greely Coach Nate Guerin said. “They’re young, but very fast and very skilled.”
The Rangers, who have allowed only seven goals this season, will need another strong defensive effort in Auburn, and hope Todd is sizzling again. On Wednesday, she stopped slap shots in traffic, breakaways, two-on-one rushes and point-blank rebounds.
“Nica was our best player and it had to be that way,” Guerin said. “She faced so much pressure. A lot of different angles.”
Fittingly, it was a Todd save that started the rush to the winner. Two Saints had closed in with Avery Lutrzykowski crossing a pass to Isabel Frenette at the back door. Todd slid over to make the save.
“I try to keep where the other players are in the back of my mind,” Todd said. “But it’s just conditioning and being able to powerfully push from one side to the other.”
After the save, defenseman Ellie Schad hurried the puck up and found Roberts.
“Nice pass and I just finished it,” Roberts said. “It was so exciting to be in a game like that.”
The Rangers made that lead stand. St. Dom’s outshot Greely 26-25 and had several chances blocked by defensemen – led by Schad and Maura Verrill.
St. Dom’s has ridden the roller coaster of uncertain rosters. The Saints won the state championship in 2011, but by the 2013-14 season had a depleted roster and played only a junior varsity schedule.
Last year, the Saints finished 7-12. This year, eight freshmen and a sophomore transfer from Hebron Academy came in to bolster the roster to 15. And the kids can play.
“We have a lot of girls who came from hockey families, so they’ve played since they were young,” Coach Paul Gosselin said.
On Wednesday they faced a Greely team that had six shutouts, allowing six goals in its first 10 games.
Greely scored 31 seconds into the game when Verrill’s blue-line shot snuck past an obstructed Payton Winslow.
But then the Saints came with their constant pressure from two talented lines. Bugsy Hammerton scored at 11:44 during a scrum in front of the net. Greely argued that Todd was pushed into the net, but the goal stood.
“I wasn’t happy about the call but I had to move on and focus on the next shot,” Todd said.
St. Dom’s was shut out after that.
“We had chances early and didn’t bury and I think we got a little frustrated,” Gosselin said. “It’s growing pains with a young team. They knew this was a big game and they played tight.”
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