Time Runs Out on Patriots' Season

School’s girls’ hockey team couldn’t hold off midnight any longer, as the Patriots’ fairy tale postseason run came to an abrupt end in the semifinals of the MIAA Division 2 state tournament on Sunday afternoon.

Entering the semifinal round, at No. 11, the Patriots were by far the lowest seeding still standing in the field, but were buoyed by a magical run that had them playing deeper into the playoffs than ever before. However, all that mattered little to talented and second-seeded Duxbury High School.

The Dragons controlled play from the first whistle to the final horn, bouncing the Patriots with a 4-0 victory at the Foxboro Sports Center.

Concord-Carlisle finished the season with a 13-9-1 record, while Duxbury will move on to the state final at TD Garden next Sunday. The Dragons (20-3-0) will face No. 4 Fontbonne Academy of Milton, which defeated top-seeded Norwood High School 3-2 in the other state semifinal on Saturday.

“It was a pretty good game out there,” C-C coach Lauren McAuliffe said as her team quietly filed out of the visitors’ locker room. “They’re a good team, and we’re a good team too. Hopefully we showed that we belong here. I don’t know if a lot of people expected us to make it this far, but the team that showed up for us tonight really put in a good effort.”

But Concord-Carlisle has little to be upset about, considering the season it had. In the program’s six-year existence, no other Patriots squad advanced as far as this version.

“I think it’s just a testament to how hard these kids worked,” McAuliffe said. “They wanted it and they said from the very first day that I met them that they wanted to make the state tournament.”

Duxbury was simply too strong an opponent for C-C to get past. The tournament’s No. 2 seed seemingly had the Patriots beat in every area, size, skill and numbers. The Dragons held an eight-man advantage in the latter category.

They also controlled play from the beginning, keeping the puck in their offensive zone with an uncanny ability to keep it from crossing the blue line. No matter how C-C tried to clear the zone – carrying the puck or attempting to flick it over Duxbury’s defenseman – the Dragons simply refused to give in. It was just a matter of time before they broke through.

They did so midway through the first period, with two quick goals in a matter of 18 seconds.

The goal came with 7:18 remaining in the first. Duxbury had been heavily pressuring C-C goalie Michaela Haller before the Dragons’ Liz Collins scored the game’s first goal. She was positioned low in the left faceoff circle and redirected the puck high into the net. Zoe Griffin assisted on the play.

Not long after, Lily Connolly made it 2-0 Duxbury. With 7:00 remaining, Connolly scored from her position at the right post. Carly Campbell assisted on the play.

The Dragons added a goal each in the second and third periods to ice the victory. Briana Connolly scored with the teams playing 4-on-4 just 22 seconds into the second period, and Caroline Shaunessy capped the scoring with a rocket of a slap shot from 7 feet inside the blue line midway through the third period.

Concord-Carlisle’s best chance to get on the scoreboard came late in the second period. During the course of a 2-minute span, the Patriots had two 5-on-3 power play opportunities. A goal could have changed the course of the game, as the Dragons led 3-0 at that point.

But the Patriots couldn’t break the goose egg on the scoreboard, recording just a couple shots while on the power play. Those struggles were a microcosm of the team’s offensive struggles throughout the game.

“We had some good chances, but it didn’t seem like we got a lot of offense going,” McAuliffe said.

Now, the Patriots will have to wait until next year to try and stave off midnight all over again.