A Dominating 1-0 Win Gives Nobles Girls Hockey 3rd in Harrington Invitational

For three periods, the Nobles girls hockey team dominated Buckingham, Browne and Nichols Saturday with 45 shots on net, controlled play all over the ice and outskated the Knights.

All the Bulldogs needed was a single goal on the power play in the first period to down BB&N 1-0.

"When Kaleigh [FitzPatrick] picked it up, to have the composure to know where Lexie Laing might be, and she made a nice cut, and Lexie has great hands. She made a great move," Nobles coach Tom Resor said.

Nobles now has a pair of 1-0 wins and a 5-1-1 record over all.

"We expect to play close games," Resor said.

Knights goaltender Silvana Moccia essentially stood on her head – and received taps on it from teammates – as she made 44 saves in the loss.

For Nobles, it means a third-place finish in the Harrington Invitational – a holiday tournament they've ruled with championships in the last two tournaments.

Lack of scoring plagued Nobles Friday in a 0-0 tie to Rivers and after a shootout goal by Rivers ended a Harrington trophy chance, and the Bulldogs were relegated to the third-place game – even though the game officially counts as a tie on their record.

"We've outshot every team and applying pressure, we just need to find a way to score more goals," Resor said.

Nobles has six shutouts in seven games, and their one loss was a 4-2 defeat to Choate, who Resor called one of the best teams in New England.

Defense has shone through as a strong point for Nobles all season, and it continued Saturday. The Bulldogs outhustled the Knights by chasing loose pucks from behind and causing numerous turnovers in the neutral zone.

"Our strength has always been our forechecking. We have really good team speed," Resor said.

Senior goaltender Taylor Blake notched her fifth shutout in as many chances with seven saves on the afternoon.

Still hanging with Nobles, the Knights pulled Moccia with 53 seconds left to get an extra attacker on the ice, but a penalty at center ice with 13 seconds left negated the advantage.

The Bulldogs were patient on the power play and peppered Moccia on each of their five power plays.

All Nobles needed was that first one though to break through.

Mary Kate Cruise worked the puck along the boards to get it to FitzPatrick, of Dedham, who found Lexie Laing breaking to the middle toward the net.

"Our goal [on the power play] is to move the puck as much as we can until we find that open girl," FitzPatrick said after the game. "I saw [Laing] going toward the goal. I could've shot it, but she had a better angle."

Laing made a great deke around Moccia and slid the puck into the back of the cage.

"She's really stepped up for us," FitzPatrick said. "She's been one of our top goal scorers."