BOSTON– A 34-save shutout from goaltender Kamryn Perachi steered Medfield to a 3-0 girls hockey victory over Milton to claim the Division 2 State Championship.
It was Medfield’s first-ever appearance in the Championship Game and the Warriors had to defeat four higher seeds within the Division 2 bracket. Head coach John Summers said that a 2-1 loss to Bishop Stang in late February marked the team’s turnaround.
“Three weeks ago we were trying to find ourselves and we had a big game against Bishop Stang and something clicked,” Summers said. “The girls just found themselves and obviously our goaltender is phenomenal.”
The Warriors were the only away team during the day’s festivities to claim a title and Summers said the team used that fact as motivation.
“We were the only winner today that was the visiting team,” Summers said. “That gave us a little motivation, we were ready to change history. They work really hard and I am proud of them.”
The Warriors did not take long to pounce first. Maeve Kelly directed a shot on the net and fought to get her own rebound and fire it past Wildcats goalie Caera Hart to give Medfield an early lead.
“We really emphasize that we have to come out flying in the first five minutes because that is what swings the momentum of the game,” Kelly said. “We came out and did that.”
Both teams would have some first period opportunities but neither was able to capitalize.
Milton responded well in the second period, firing the first 11 shots on net and overall outshooting the Warriors 14-3. It was the Warriors who got on the board, however, as Genna McDonald fired a one-timer that just had enough to find the back of the net. She said her team’s opportunistic play is a result of how hard they have worked in practice.
“We’ve learned a lot throughout the season,” McDonald said. “We used to be the team that got 40 shots and only two goals, so we’ve learned so much and practiced so hard.”
The Wildcats continued to hurl shots at Perachi and she continued to keep pucks out of the net. She said the communication between her and her teammates was key.
“My defenseman talking to me and communicating with me on loose pucks was really helpful,” Perachi said. “My forwards clearing it out and scoring quick really helped carry the mood.”
Milton would opt to pull the goalie and Anna Flippo finally put the game out of reach and rounded out the scoring. The Warriors only allowed three total goals across their tournament run.
“My confidence has been good throughout the playoffs,” Perachi said. “I’ve been going one game at a time, one period at a time and even one shot at a time and it has really worked.”
As the Warriors reflected on their accomplishment, Kelly described the feeling as “unreal.”
“It’s actually unreal,” Kelly said. “This being my senior year and us being the first Medfield girl’s varsity hockey team to ever be here at the Garden was unreal. Nerves were definitely there in warmups but after warmups we were dialing in. It was really fun and historic for the town.”
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