Ursuline’s girl’s hockey team’s cinderella dance through the MIAA Division 2 South tournament ended Sunday afternoon as 11th-seeded Concord-Carlisle came from behind to win 2-1 in front of a packed house in Foxboro.
After a scoreless first period with no penalties and equal action in each zone, Ursuline’s goalie Erica Ragazzo came up with numerous saves to keep her opposition off the board.
Ursuline sophomore Delia O’Malley moved the puck beautifully in and out of Concord-Carlisle’s zone throughout the game but was denied on numerous occasions by sophomore counterpart and goalie Michaela Haller, who boasted a 12-8-1 record and 2.37 GAA per game coming into this contest.
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In the second period, Ursuline (10-8-4) went to the net to what appeared to be the first goal of the game on a loose puck in front of the net with 3:13 left in the period, but the official blew the whistle before the puck found the back of the net.
The play would prove devastating.
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Ursuline did, however, find the net first with 2:04 left in the period, when sophomore forward Christyn Karol, raced in across the net and backhanded one past Haller for the first goal of the game.
"In the second period we had control of almost the entire period. We wanted to play the same game and keep the pressure on," said Ursuline coach John Enright after the game.
Concord-Carlisle managed to tie the game up with 42 seconds left in the period on a loose puck in front of the net that slipped by Ragazzo.
Concord-Carlisle added their second goal, when freshman forward Allie Colleran scored off a tough angle, 25 seconds into the third period, that somehow made its way past Ragazzo for the eventual game winner.
"We had a couple of chances, and a couple of loose pucks and we couldn’t put the puck home," said Enright.
With 51 seconds left, Ursuline called timeout and Enright pulled his goalie as Ursuline forced a tripping penalty to give them a 6-4 advantage with 45 seconds left, but they could not capitalize.
With a heroic 3-2 win over the third-seeded Medfield team in the first round, the Ursuline girls were quite pleased and will bring a lot of confidence and optimism heading into next year.
"Can’t be more proud of these girls and what they accomplished this year. Next year we are going to get stronger, only losing one senior we are expecting to be in the same spot next year," added Enright.
