In a back-and-forth matchup between two of the top Division 2 contenders, it was Milton who claimed a 2-1 victory over Duxbury on Sunday at Conte Forum to advance to the state championship game.
It was the third matchup between the two programs this season, with Duxbury taking the first matchup 3-1 in the Tenney Cup championship back in December, and Milton securing a statement 5-1 victory late in the regular season.
The Wildcats (24-1-1) return to the Div. 2 title game after falling to Medfield in the championship last season.
“They had a lot of heavy pressure on themselves this year,” Milton Head Coach Matt Lodi said. “They set a goal on day one, it was unspoken, we didn’t allow them to say the word ‘Garden’ the entire year until today. … It was essentially Garden or bust.”
Milton will play King Philip for the Div. 2 crown Sunday after the Warriors ended defending-champion Medfield’s season on Saturday. Milton and King Philip did not meet in the regular season.
“I’m so proud of them, our coaches are so proud of them,” Lodi said. “They definitely deserve this opportunity, and we’re excited to get back (to the Garden) and have a second crack after a year.”
The first period featured no goals but several strong opportunities for each side. That trend continued in the middle period, until Milton’s Sabrina Stone scored the game’s first goal late in the second period.
“Mia (Cataruzolo) had a really good battle in the corner. She got knocked down, but she was able to dish it out to me. I just shot at the net and it went in,” Stone said.
Duxbury kept up the fight from here, but couldn’t keep Milton’s Maeve Lovett from scoring a key insurance goal in the third period. With the time ticking down and only minutes left in the game, Duxbury got more aggressive in its attempts to score.
Duxbury senior Liv Gleason scored with just 43 seconds left in the game, restoring some of Duxbury’s energy. However, Milton worked to pin the puck in the corner of the rink, which prevented the Dragons from scoring again.
Lodi said this was a technique he had been working on with the girls, and it was his proudest moment of the game. It was also appreciated by Wildcats goaltender Caera Hart.
“We definitely knew we had to keep possession of the puck,” Hart said. “If we could keep it away from them, they wouldn’t get another chance to score.”
Milton will now will return to TD Garden next weekend, and the team is hoping to take home the state title for the school and the town.
“To be able to do it with this group would be super special. We’re all super close and tight as a team,” Milton senior Mairin Hart said.
“The town has been backing us for the last two years. It would be really great to win for the town,” Stone said.
