ESPN

HINGHAM, Mass. -- The running theme when playing against the Duxbury girls hockey team this season has been pretty simple - sure, you may be able to hang with them for a period or two, but in the end, the chances are fairly strong that their depth, strength and overall ability will eventually wear you down.

Such was the case Thursday in the opening game of the second day of The 8 Showcase as the second-ranked Dragons did all their scoring in the third period to shoot past No. 4 Arlington Catholic, 3-0, in a clash of the two reigning girls hockey state champions at Pilgrim Arena.

Liz Collins and Marissa Fichter scored back-to-back goals in a 54-second span and Carly Campbell added an empty-netter in the final seconds to ice the win.

"Our second and third lines won this game," stated Duxbury coach Friend Weiler. "They were matched up against first and second in both games and they prevailed and worked hard."

AC (13-4-2) goalie Megan Messuri more than held her own against the Duxbury (17-1-2) onslaught, making 15 of her 22 saves during the first two frames to keep the Dragons off the scoreboard.

"Megan in general as a goaltender is consistent. She's always been consistent for us," praised Cougars coach Maggie Taverna. "Sometimes a goal will come in here and there on her but overall, she's a consistent kid. She loves the sport and she loves the game. She always plays well, always."

Duxbury goalie Rachel Myette stopped 16 shots for her seventh shutout and it took nearly 38 minutes for either side to break through. The Dragons finally did with something a flukey goal as Collins fired off a shot through a screen in front that Messuri never saw at 7:21 of the third.

Less than a minute later, a two-on-one breakaway developed with Jacqui Nolan making a perfect pass across to Fichter streaking down the middle, and the sophomore buried her opportunity. AC used a power play with under three minutes remaining to pull Messuri for an extra skater, then did it again in the final minute, but Myette was able to hold the Cougars off until Campbell finished it with her empty-net tally.

"The girls showed their heart tonight," praised Weiler. "To come out with all the energy and the hard work that they did during the third period, I'm really proud of them. Arlington Catholic is a phenomenal team. They took the middle away for most of the game and we were finally able to work from the outside back in and get some better opportunities. Thankfully we were able to convert because the girls were moving and cycling it around."

Fichter and Myette were named to The 8 Showcase All-Star team, while Messuri and Jackie Sindoris were the selections from Arlington Catholic.

ST. MARY'S 2, LEXINGTON 2
The Minutemaids got off to a strong start with a pair of first period goals, but the injury-plagued Spartans rallied behind star forward Alison Butler, who scored twice to force her team's second tie of the showcase.

Lexington (12-5-3) shot right out of the gate as Jackie Denning converted a nice feed from Sara Lehman for a power play goal just 2:43 into the game. Shortly after killing off a penalty of their own, Lehman found herself on the receiving end of a pass from linemate Carolyn Avery and finished strong as the Minutemaids opened up a 2-0 lead.

"On Sara's goal, we've been working hard with her on reading the defenseman in front of her and trying to make a defenseman move and step out to the side instead of going through and she did that," explained Lexington coach Mandy Ciarletta. "Her focus and determintaion resulted in a goal for her. It was good that she saw the net. It was nice that Jackie was able to get a goal as well."

Junior goalie Amanda Charlton was tough beat for the second straight night, stopping 14 St. Mary's shots in the first and finishing with 31 saves. the Spartans finally broke through with 5:40 left in the opening frame as Gabby Crugnale fired a shot that Charlton initially gloved, but the puck popped out and Butler was in prime position to bang home the rebound.

In the second, Butler got loose for a breakaway but was stoned by Charlton. The heady senior followed the rebound, however, and got off a shot from the low, left-wing circle that somehow found its through in between Charlton's left shoulder and the near post to tie the game at 1:48.

Despite playing without All-State forward Kaleigh Finigan, who suffered a shoulder injury in Tuesday's scoreless draw against Duxbury, the Spartans still managed to put together 33 shots and numerous scoring chances. Defenseman Tatiana Doucette rifled a shot that rattled around under the crossbar and should have been ruled a goal but the referee was out of position to see the play. Then, with 1:10 left in the game, Butler got loose once again for a breakway and made a late deke but Charlton managed to shoot her left leg out in the nick of time to deflect the puck with her pad to preserve the tie.

"We have to mentally focus a little bit more before we get on the ice and I think it showed tonight," admitted Spartans head coach Frank Pagliuca. "We came out slow and good teams like Lexington are going to take advantage of that and they popped a couple in. I'm a little disappointed how we played overall but we'll take the point and move on. We have to be ready to go right from the drop of the puck. We can't wait and decide to turn it on and turn it off. Teams are too good for us to do that and that's what we'll take from tonight - mentally show up ready to play."

Lehman and Avery were Lexington's selections to The 8 Showcase All-Star Team, while Butler and Crugnale earned the honors from St. Mary's.

WOBURN, Mass. -- Playoff hockey often comes down to which team has the hottest goaltender. Right now, there might be no one more in the zone than Woburn's Courtney Davis.

The sophomore showed why she was named to first-team on ESPN Boston's preseason All-State team, stopping 31 shots (18 in the second period alone) and guiding the fifth-seeded Tanners to a 1-0 shutout of Middlesex League rival and No. 12 seed Lexington Saturday night at O'Brien Arena.

"It was a season-saving performance," said Woburn coach Bob MacCurtain, mincing no words when asked about the importance of his sophomore's performance. "In the second period, we really bent and she allowed us not to break. Lexington played terrific. They had so many chances, one on the back door that she just slid across and made a great save."

After a fairly even and scoreless first period, the Minutemaids (14-7-1) came out like gangbusters, taking control of the game and forcing to make four difficult stops in the first few minutes alone. That was a harbinger of what was to come, as Lexington kept the heat on and continued to get tremendous scoring opportunities, only to see them glance off Davis' blocker and leg pads or disappear into glove.

When asked about hr mindset during the onslaught, Davis simply replied, "I don’t know really. I was just kind of...it was do or die so I was trying to not let let the puck go in. It was all over the place. I don’t think, I just do it I guess. I think they just came out really strong and played their hearts out that period. They tried to get as many shots on net as possible."

At the other end of the ice, Lexington goalie Katie Legnard more than held her own against the dangerous Tanners attack, making 19 tough saves of her own, and the two netminders kept things scoreless until the third period.

That's when Woburn's other preseason first-team All-State selection, forward Kayla Smith, broke through. Ashley Moran got off a shot from the Lexington blue line that was blocked by a defender. Smith chased down the puck in the high slot and fired past Legnard at 4:07.

"It was one of the few times that we actually had a really good possession in the offensive zone," Smith explained. "Coach said to get a lot of pucks to the net and it was a good opportunity so I just shot it."

STRATEGY CHANGE PAYING DIVIDENDS
Following the Tanners' 3-2 loss to Belmont back in January, MacCurtain decided to change things around. He dropped Moran, who had been playing on the first line with Smith and Bryana Harron, back to play defense with veteran standout Cassandra Connolly while bumping sophomore Emily Lissner (the team's fourth-leading scorer) up in her place.

The move is reminiscent of the change the Hingham girls made toward the end of last season, moving Jane Freda up from defense to the top line, a change that helped propel the Harborwomen to the Div. 1 state championship.

With Lissner up top, Woburn loses nothing offensively. Moran has taken to the defensive role naturally, and along with Connolly, provides an aggressive, offensive minded approach from the back as well. That tactic came in handy Friday with Moran getting the assist on Smith's tally.

"I thought she did a great job," MacCurtain said of Moran. "I thought her and Cassandra were real solid up top and that was a great play on the goal. She’s a goal scorer who is playing back at the blue line so its been a good change for us."

HEARTBREAKING LOSS
A widely used cliche in sports is that it's difficult to beat the same team three times in the same season. Woburn and Lexington had already battled to a pair of one-goal, Tanner victories in the regular season so both teams were more than prepared for each other.

Lexington outshot Woburn in all three periods (31-20 for the game), and notably dominated the pace during the second. Even on the play that resulted in Woburn's lone goal, the Minutemaids made a good play to block the initial shot. It was, as another well-worn cliche goes, just one of those days.

"Our kids had worked hard all game and I think it was just an unlucky bounce," Lexington coach Mandy Ciarletta said. "The girl shot it through traffic and it just snuck in at the end there. My kids did everything in the 'D' zone and like I said, a one-goal game. 1-0 in the third, it's going to be anybody’s game. I knew going in it was going to be one goal one way or the other, whether we came out on top or they did. Woburn’s a great club and it was a great exciting game to be a part of today."

BURLINGTON, Mass. -- The postgame waffles and chocolate milk that Arlington Catholic's Natalie Flynn planned to enjoy following a rare Friday morning faceoff likely went down pretty good after her performance and that of her team.

The senior forward potted a pair of goals and added an assist to propel the seventh-ranked Cougars to a 3-1 victory over No. 6 Lexington yesterday at the Burlington Ice Palace.

"We were hustling for every 50-50 puck and I think that really helped us a lot," Flynn said. "We were really working in our D zone, covering in front of the net."

She added, "This is what we were hoping for. Our coach gave us a curfew last night and we had an eight o'clock practice last night so I think we were focused. We came ready to play this morning."

That AC (6-0-0) was ready to play was evident from the opening faceoff, and Flynn put action behind those words in the opening minutes, taking a loose puck off the boards and walking in on Lexington goalie Amanda Charlton for the game's first goal.

Flynn picked up a helper on the Cougars second score, taking a pass behind the net from Katie Waitt (two assists) and quickly finding Jessica Piracini out front for a one-timer with 1:36 left in the opening frame. She added her second tally at 7:26 of the second period, taking a pass from Waitt on the right wing and firing a wrist shot inside the far post.

"From last year to this year she has gotten tremendously better," said AC coach Maggie Taverna in praise of Flynn. "Last summer she did a camp over in Bedford and I think that really helped her game. She was on the ice three times a week and it really improved her speed and her shot and stickhandling. She's just a good player and extremely talented. She's an athlete. She's the best at soccer, the best at lacrosse and the best hockey at the school. She's just an all around athlete."

SEVERAL KEYS TO COUGARS SUCCESS


Since winning the Div. 1 state championship in 2007, it's been a bit of a rough go for Arlington Catholic in recent years. The Cougars suffered three straight first round exits from the postseason and then failed to qualify a year ago, running through several coaches in the process.

This season marks year two of Taverna's tenure, and the fact that AC is off to a 6-0 start and back in the thick of things among the state's elite programs is no coincidence. The stability and confidence of players knowing their coach and a coach knowing her players has played an integral role thus far.

"I think its definitely a change for us having a coach for two years in a row," Flynn said. "It's definitely helping us out this year. Thats why we're doing so well. We have our coach, we know what she's like and she knows us so its definitely helping us out."

Another big reason is the arrival of Messuri between the pipes. A sophomore who transferred into Arlington Catholic from the Southfield School, Messuri is armed with quickness in the crease and an uncanny, reflexive ability to snap herself into position to see shots clearly, and finished with 19 saves against the Minutemaids.

"This is her first year at AC, she transferred from Southfield," said Taverna of her goalie. "It's been great to have her because she's solid. A kid will shoot the puck and Im like, Oh Megan's got it, in my head beforehand. She always stops the first shot Very rarely is there a shot that goes in on her.

BUILD OFF THE FINISH
Lexington has been regarded as one of the state's premier programs for years and this season is no different. Under coach Mandy Ciarletta, also in her second year, the Minutemaids have shown a willingness to schedule games against the upper echelon opponents that wasn't always there in previous seasons.

Friday's matchup with AC was the first of those big games, and while it took a while to find a groove, Lexington finally got itself going with an inspired final 15 minutes. Senior forward Nicole Maher broke up Messuri's shutout bid with a third-period tally, and Lexington had several other good scoring opportunities that might have beaten a lesser netminder.

"This was our first team that we've played that brought the game to a higher level for us," Ciarletta admitted afterward. "I think it was a little bit of an adjustment for us and I was proud that we did adjust coming out in the third. My team that came out for the third was totally different than for the first two periods, which was good. It shows that the kids are working hard and can adjust on the fly like that."