BOURNE – The Elite 8 for Division 2 girls hockey started off with some familiar faces as two-time defending champions Duxbury took on Patriot League foe Marshfield for another shot at this season’s final four.
The teams faced off twice, going 1-0-1 in the regular seasonm but in this one only one team had Morgan Murphy.
No. 7 Marshfield (14-5-2) shocked the Patriot League and shook up Division 2 in a 2-1 overtime thriller to end the three-peat effort for Duxbury (17-6-2) at Gallo Ice Arena. Murphy stood on her head with 34 saves and senior Ali Melvin scored the game-winner with 4:22 left in the extra period.
Melvin took advantage of a turnover just outside their zone and fired the puck on net from outside the right faceoff circle and it sailed in.
“When I got the puck, I knew just to fire it on the goal on the near side post,” said Melvin. “Morgan was awesome. She saved us so many times and (Duxbury) could have had a ton more goals if it weren’t for her.”
Duxbury outshot Marshfield 36-16 but Marshfield head coach Tom Greland knew his team was in it to the end despite the shot disparity for his squad.
“We tied the first period, we tied the second period, we won the third period so we can’t ask for anything more,” said Greland. “Honestly, I don’t think we played our best hockey and that gives us a sense of confidence and we seemed to play better as the game went on.”
Megan Carney put home a rebound off the stick of Zoey Madigan to give Duxbury the early lead. Madigan made a nifty move out front to wrist a shot off the pads of Murphy, but Carney was sliding in front of the left post and found just enough room inside for the 1-0 lead at 4:27.
Duxbury dominated the puck in its zone the next few shifts down the ice, but the Rams didn’t quit as Gabby Reardon picked up the assist on Jillian Parrell’s equalizer out front at 10:14 of the first period.
While the second period was scoreless, Duxbury dictated puck possession with a 14-3 shot advantage and had nothing to show for their efforts. Murphy stopped all 14 shots in the second stanza and was just warming up.
“You nailed it, that was the difference as their goalie absolutely stood on her head. We dominated, I thought, the first period was pretty even, but I thought the second period we took it to them,” said Duxbury head coach Dan Najarian. “I thought we carried that into the third period, but we just couldn’t figure out (Murphy).”
Parrell, in her first season skating for the Rams, was outstanding throughout and had the Dragons on the ropes early in the third and again with less than a minute to play in regulation.
Parrell had a wrister from the slot turned away at the last second as Delaney McIsaac was able to get a stick on the puck as Duxbury netminder Brynn Scott was down on the ice. In the waning seconds, Parrell kept the pressure on and fed a perfect pass to the middle on a backhander, but the pass sailed under a Rams stick which would have ended things in regulation.
“It was electric the entire game and we knew we couldn’t lose momentum because Duxbury would capitalize on that,” said Parrell. “We just made sure to perfect our forecheck and we were able to see each other on the ice and make those smart fast plays.”
The Rams advance to the semifinals for the second year in a row after finally defeating the Dragons for the first time in nine years.