ASHBURNHAM, Mass. — In a top-10 matchup with major ramifications in the race for the Elite 8, No. 8 Cushing outlasted No. 9 Deerfield, 5-4, at Iorio Arena on Wednesday.
Bella Freitas (Everett, Mass.) led the way for the Penguins with two goals and an assist. Sadie Bellissimo made 21 saves. With the win, Cushing improved to 21-6-1 on the season. They currently hold the No. 6 spot in the Elite 8, according to USHR. They're projected to finish with the No. 7 seed.
Allie Corrieri (Devens, Mass.) had a goal and an assist for the Big Green. Campbell Krotee (Darien, Conn.) made 22 saves. The loss dropped Deerfield to 14-5-2. The Big Green currently have the No. 1 seed in the Large School tournament. USHR projects them to remain there at the end of the regular season.
Freitas opened the scoring with 10:54 to go in the first period off a whacky bounce. Her centering pass deflected up into the air and tumbled into the net.
Corrieri tied it for Deerfield less than two minutes later, leading the rush and firing a wrist shot inside the right post.
Olivia Austen (Darien, Conn.) made it 2-1 for Deerfield with seven minutes into the second period, burying the rebound off the boards after Corrieri's shot from distance missed wide.
Brooke Harb (Atkinson, NH) tied it for Cushing with five minutes left in the frame, beating Krotee over the blocker off a slick feed from Lily Winckler in the cycle. Julia Lambert (Wilmington, Mass.) made it 3-2 with a minute left in the frame, burying a feed from Freitas at the right post.
Keira Austen (Darien, Conn.) tied it 3-3 less than 30 seconds into the third, scoring top shelf with a wrister from the point.
Freitas restored Cushing's lead three minutes later, picking the top-right corner on a partial break, and Violet Dittman added an empty-netter off a turnover with a minute left.
Brady Wierl cut it to 5-4 with 33.5 seconds left, but that was all Deerfield could muster before the final horn.
Let's dive into three takeaways before getting into 16 standouts from the game.
