MARLBOROUGH – The No. 5 seeded Algonquin Titans girls hockey team defeated the No. 12 Dedham Marauders by a score of 4-3 in a back-and-forth game at New England Sports Center on Monday night.
The victory propels Algonquin to the “Elite 8” of the MIAA Division 2 Girls Ice Hockey Tournament.
Though both teams won low-scoring overtime games in the previous round, the Titans and Marauders came out aggressively and started the scoring right away.
Just under four minutes into the game, Algonquin freshman Brooke Cutler found the back of the net to give her team an early 1-0 lead. Junior Linda Hu assisted with the goal.
But the Marauders came right back. The Titans held the lead for just over a minute before Dedham’s Julie Cotto evened the score with 9:58 left in the first period.
The game was extremely physical. The first period alone had five penalties and provided several power play opportunities. While both teams had chances, Algonquin was able to grab a 2-1 lead late in the first on a power play goal by senior Olivia Bower.
In the second period, the scoring continued.
Midway through the period, the Titans added two goals in the span of 30 seconds. Freshman Maddy Glynn scored with 9:16 left, and just as the game restarted, Emily Johns added to Algonquin’s lead.
However, Dedham answered once again. Freshman Adia Murphy scored a goal, assisted by Ava Iantosca, that narrowed Algonquin’s lead to 4-2.
Dedham drew closer at the start of the third. Adia Murphy’s power-play goal – her second of the night – put the Marauders within one.
But that was one point too many for Dedham to overcome. Though they certainly had opportunities, the Algonquin defense stepped up, and the Marauders spent the remainder of the third period desperately searching for a goal that they would never find.
The Titans held on to win 4-3.
In an interview with the Community Advocate, Algonquin head coach Tina Beauchemin applauded her team’s resilience and effort.
“They never gave up,” she said. “It was a hard game, they were a tough team. They stuck to the plan; just get shots to the net, and something is bound to go in.”
Beauchemin also recognized that the game was a team effort. Four players had goals for the Titans, and four others were credited with assists.
“It was a total team effort, everyone was working hard,” she said.
Algonquin will head 30 miles east to face No. 4 Canton on Thursday. The winner of that game will head to the state quarterfinals.
“[Canton] know[s] us, we know Canton,” Beauchemin said.
“The team needs to bring it… they just need to play hard like they’ve been doing all year and believe they can get this win.”
