March Madness might not have started until Tuesday, but there was plenty of madness during the MIAA hockey championships at TD Garden on Sunday.
In the Division 1 girls title game, it was St. Mary's prevailing in a triple-overtime thriller over Notre Dame (Hingham), 5-4. In Division 2, Duxbury proved why they were arguably the top team in all of girls MIAA hockey this season, shutting out Falmouth, 4-0.
Every year, no matter what, these games have drama and entertainment value in spades as some players step up in the clutch and immortalize themselves among their peers. That was no different this season, especially with the top two teams in each division squaring off.
Let's dive into six unforgettable moments from the MIAA girls championships. Evan Marinofsky will have you covered for the boys games.
1. Alyssa Norden wins it for St. Mary's in 3OT
Norden (Peabody, Mass.) was motionless on the ice after a scary, inadvertent collision in the second period, but she returned to the game with a vengeance. She got her revenge on the scoreboard late in the second when she cut it to 3-2, jamming in a loose puck in front. In the third, she set up Bella Freitas'(Everett, Mass.) go-ahead goal. She, Freitas and linemate Keira Twomey (Melrose, Mass.) were the catalysts of SMH's attack all season, and you just knew they'd be a factor if the Spartans won in OT.
Sure enough, on a late power play in triple overtime, Twomey fed Freitas down low. She deked to her backhand, getting the defense and goaltender out of position, before sliding the puck toward the left post. Norden, who had made her way in behind the defense, was right there to bury it and lift St. Mary's to the title. Remember Gary Thorne's "Off the floor, on the board" call for Paul Kariya in 2003?
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2. Bella Freitas goes end-to-end to tie it for St. Mary's
As the game wore on, it felt like a matter of time until Freitas made her mark in the game. The freshman was one of the most electrifying and dynamic players in the MIAA this season. She finished with 48 goals after potting two in the championship. Naturally, No. 47 was a beauty.
Just 46 seconds after Norden gave St. Mary's life in the second, Freitas took matters into her own hands. She took the puck off the half-wall in her own end, dangled around a forechecker and was off to the races. She easily blew by another NDA skater in the neutral zone before deking around one more defender to get in alone on Ava Larkin (Canton, Mass.) and bury a shot in tight to cap off the end-to-end rush. It was just another dazzling display of Freitas' dominant speed and skill relative to her peers. There's a case to be made that it was the goal of the day across all of the MIAA championships.
3. Maeve Gallagher gives Duxbury a 1-0 lead
Gallagher also scored a highlight-reel goal, the eventual game-winner, to open the scoring for the Dragons. The junior forward flew into the zone, shielded the puck from a back-checker, toe-dragged around a defender and put a quick shot perfectly upstairs on Falmouth freshman Aspen Devlin. It was one of Duxbury's best players shining when the lights were brightest. For as good as the Clippers were this season, Duxbury was just a step above most teams in the MIAA this year. You knew they wouldn't look back after going up, 1-0.
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4. Lucia Rose scores her first goal for Duxbury
Rose entered the day searching for her first career goal, and the sophomore called her shot before the game, Dan Najarian said. Sure enough, early in the second period, Rose got the puck at the point and wired a wrist shot through traffic that snuck in under the crossbar. She immediately turned to the bench and shrugged, almost as if to say, "I told you so." To have that type of confidence and swagger on the biggest stage is impressive.
5. Ava Larkin robs Freitas late in 2OT
St. Mary's almost ended it in the final moments of the second overtime with NDA. Vanessa Hall (Saugus, Mass.) knew she had Freitas flying in with her on the rush. She drove wide around a defender and fed her in front. Everyone in the building knew what Freitas wanted to do. With Larkin flying to the right post to stop a potential shot, Freitas went to deke to her backhand for a sure goal. But Larkin swiped the puck away with a poke check in a last-ditch effort. I really thought SMH was going to end it there. Larkin had other plans.
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6. Emma Burke ties it for NDA with seconds left in regulation
Like Larkin's save, this could get swept under the rug since the Cougars didn't end up winning. Nevertheless, it was still a massive, massive moment in the day. NDA struggled to get enough pressure to pull Larkin in the final moments, and when they did, they didn't generate a ton of chances to tie it. But they had one last chance with seconds remaining and an offensive zone face-off. Burke (Braintree, Mass.) lined up way out to the right of the draw. Sarah White (Hanover, Mass.) got her stick free and put a backhand on goal where Burke was waiting to bury the rebound with 7.8 seconds left on the clock. It sent NDA's student section into complete bedlam, and you could feel the air deflate out of St. Mary's. You could almost hear the thoughts of "Not again," from the Spartans, who were stunned by Shrewsbury in 2023.
