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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Before the start of the 2017-2018 season, Wellesley senior captain Phoebe Lawrence stated that she believed her team had potential to do something great.
“I think this team has an amazing amount of potential to do really well,” said Lawrence. “Our program has always gone very far into the tournament, but last year we found ourselves out early and we all definitely want to redeem ourselves this season. In order to be successful, we have to connect as a team and play together. I have a lot of high expectations for us and I know that everyone is incredibly dedicated. I am really excited and could not be happier with this group of girls.”
On Sunday, Lawrence’s ideology and optimism of her team became a reality as the top-seeded Lady-Raiders finished off an incredible 2018 tournament run with a 1-0 victory over Canton in the MIAA Division II girls hockey state championship game at TD Garden.
The Raiders (19-2-3) earned their way to the Garden by taking down Winchester (3-2) in the first round before crushing Norwell, 6-1, in the quarterfinals, followed by a convincing 5-0 victory over Algonquin in the semifinals.
Jenna Harrison opened the scoring for Wellesley with 4.7 seconds remaining in the first period when the senior forward broke in, deked through the legs of a Canton defender, and fired the puck home blocker-side to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead at the first intermission.
Wellesley’s cycling attack began to take over the game in the second period, as the Raiders dominated the time on attack. However, Wellesley was unable to add to their lead despite carrying the play for the majority of the second, and entered the third still ahead 1-0.
The Raiders maintained their one-goal edge throughout the third period by playing a game of keep-away and went into clock-killing mode by cycling the puck around some more in the Canton end.
With 2:10 to play, Canton called timeout and set up for an offensive zone draw. The Raiders sniffed out the play and broke it up before it even began with a stick-check at the blue line before clearing the zone. With 9.2 seconds left, Wellesley called timeout with an upcoming offensive-zone draw while on the man-advantage. The Raiders killed the remaining nine seconds and held on for the dramatic 1-0 victory to claim their first state title since 2006.
For funny and incisive sports analysis, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter at @fLAno0, or read his blog at www.flannylive.wordpress.com.
