BOURNE – A Madison Lewis goal in the second period proved to be enough as Bishop Stang shut out Bishop Feehan 1-0 to advance to the semifinals of the Division 1 girls hockey state tournament.
It was the second straight upset victory for the 15th-seeded Spartans, who are a co-op program comprised of 10 high schools. Bishop Stang had taken down second-seeded Notre Dame Academy in the second round and head coach Bill Theodore said the team is peaking at the right time.
“We’ve come together at the right time,” Theodore said. “In high school, you never know who is going to show up. These girls are showing up.”
Bishop Feehan had defeated Bishop Stang twice in the regular season, but Theodore said the win over Notre Dame gave the team a new sense of belief.
“We knew we played them tough in the regular season,” Theodore said. “We said, ‘they are no better than us, we can beat these guys,’ and they believe, that is what it is all about.”
The first period featured six shots by each side but no pucks finding the back of the net. Spartans’ goalie Vivienne Melo was impressive in the crease and Shamrocks goaltender Aviva Olitsky matched her performance.
Heading into the second period, Theodore said the message was to “get going.” That’s exactly what Bishop Stang did as the team carried play and eventually earned a power play opportunity. On that chance, Lewis found the puck in the slot and did not miss.
“We said, ‘get the rebounds high,’ ” Lewis said, in reference to where she went to shoot the puck. “That’s what I did and I scored a goal.”
The Spartans would finish the period strong, but Melo was tested a few more times, including a shot from Chloe Bryda that dinged off of the post.
“I was just loose and knew that I needed to get to the puck,” Melo said. “It was a one-goal difference so when we got it on the board, I knew it could end the game.”
The third period saw a barrage of shots from the Spartans, particularly in the final few minutes. Lewis acknowledged the stress of the situation.
“I was holding my linemate’s hand,” Lewis said. “We were on the bench praying but she did very good.”
The freshman Melo was able to keep her composure and make several acrobatic saves to wind out the clock and send her team to the semifinals for the first time in program history.
“It was so stressful and such a relief,” Melo said. “It was deflecting everywhere but my defense took care of it and we got the win.”
The Spartans will take on Methuen/Tewksbury in the semifinals for a chance to book a trip to TD Garden. Lewis said the team is remaining calm and will approach it one period at a time.
“We didn’t think that since we beat the No. 2 seed that we were then going to beat the No. 7 seed,” Lewis said. “But we did enter with confidence and were able to do just that.”