FRAMINGHAM — With season fast approaching, the Archbishop Williams girls hockey team needed a big play in a pinch.
Leave it to the youngest player, Holbrook seventh-grader Mackenzie Lima Tower, to make the Cinderella story of the MIAA state tournament a reality.
Despite the 11th-place Bishops losing 2-1 in overtime to second-place St. Mary's in the Division 1 Final Four at Framingham's Loring Arena on Sunday, Lima Tower had just eight points remaining. He scored the tying goal at 1:10. She is one of three seventh graders and six middle schoolers on this team with no seniors. This team almost pulled off the upset, finishing one game short of next weekend's state finals at TD Garden.
St. Mary's (21-3-1) will play No. 1 Notre Dame Academy in the championship game next Sunday (time TBA).
Although still young, coach Doug Nolan's team has proven it's a worthy team.
“I'd play against any team in the state in this group. And we'd be in every game,” Nolan said, “that's a fact.”
Archbishop Williams outscored St. Mary's 37-23 with 9:19 left in the third period as soon as St. Mary's Alyssa Norden deflected a shot from teammate Isabella Fretias to break the scoreless stalemate. I reacted.
Just a minute later, Lima Tower buried the tying goal on a cross-ice setup from Braintree junior captain Caroline Batchelder. Is it safe to think that this is a 13 year old's biggest goal in life? “Probably so,” Lima Tower said with a smile.
“Some kids just have that swagger, that shoulder-shouldered confidence. Even at 13 years old, she's standing on the rink with such confidence,” Nolan said, adding, “As a coach, you can't help but feel that way.” You have to love them,” he said.
“We pushed this kid to the limit every day and we saw her react in pressure situations and in the clutch,” Nolan added. “We knew very well from her practice how she would react in big moments.”
Archbishop Williams (11-11-2) entered the tournament having started the season 1-6. The Bishops have three wins heading into Sunday's Final Four. He had a 4-3 win over No. 23 Waltham, a 2-1 win over No. 6 Methuen and a 4-0 win over No. 14 Belmont. Coach Nolan said that the underdog's advance into the playoffs “has taken on a life of its own.”
“We were finally able to get the team together,” said junior forward Shea Nolan, one of Doug's two daughters on the team. Alright, let's go. '”
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Coach Doug Nolan added that there was “a lot of soul-searching” after the team dropped six of its first seven games, adding that the coaching staff is better than last year's team, which reached the Final Four as the No. 1 seed in Division 2. The match led him to reinvent his approach.
“We trusted them,” Nolan said. “I think as coaches and as parents, we put a lot of pressure on our kids to do well and be successful. Putting 13-, 14-year-old kids in situations like we did,” It's not really fair to expect immediate results. Our job as coaches is to step back and bring the love of the game and make them want to go to the rink.”
“Once you create that environment, they grow and get better,” he said. “And we did.”
Tied with No. 11 seed Marshfield in Division 2, Archbishop Williams was one of only two non-top 10 seeds in women's hockey to qualify for the Final Four. Adding to the intrigue, the Bishops have already lost their first game against St. Mary's, this season's Division 1 runner-up, by a 4-1 margin on Dec. 16 at Connelly Rink in Lynn. It was the team's second game since then. Move up one department.
“Everyone doubted us. We all believed in ourselves,” said Shea Nolan. “We all proved them wrong and worked hard every day to get (here).”
Sunday's game was even closer, with St. Mary's freshman standout Isabella Freitas scoring the winner with 4:17 remaining in overtime, 4-on-4.
“We had six middle school kids and half of the team had never played high school hockey before, so we had no idea what to expect. “Let's lead them and tell them what's going to happen. “But it doesn't get to them until the game starts. Everybody's nervous, but we dealt with it and persevered and built our confidence,” Batchelder said. Now we are here. ”
And as Shea Nolan said, “We're not going anywhere.” With no upcoming graduations, the Bishops will look to Batchelder, Nolan, Lima Tower, junior goaltender Kathryn McLeish (21 saves), sophomore defenseman Aliyah Greenwood and junior defenseman Alexis Galvin for next year. , will likely return all members, including junior forward Lily Donovan. .
“It's going to be a fun ride,” Doug Nolan said. Let's hurt this. Burn it. Train harder. But they are a special group. I love working with them. ”
