LHS Girls' Hockey Skating in State Tournament After Beating Austin Prep

The girls’ hockey team is heading to the postseason after beating Reading’s Austin Preparatory School 2-1 Wednesday night at home. It was the team's final regular-season game, capping off a 14-2-4 season.

Lexington senior captain Meghan McNabb had a fantastic final home performance, as she scored the team’s second goal, putting Lexington ahead 2-1 at 12:18 in the third. That score ultimately won it for the Minutemen.

The Minutemen controlled much of the game, and in the first period racked up more shots than AP, putting their sophomore goalie, Shanon O’Neil, to work.

Lexington snuck in the game’s first goal with just 29 seconds remaining in the first period. Sophomore Sara Lehman broke away up center ice, taking on a defender and O’Neil. Lehman skated to the left side of the net in the goal crease, and chipped the puck in for the score. Freshman Grace Doxey and sophomore Jackie Denning each recorded assists on the play.

The second period was scoreless, although similar to the first, with Lexington outshooting Austin Prep. Sophomore Kaleigh Finigan made numerous shot attempts for AP, especially in the final minutes before the third, but wasn’t able to score.

AP tied the game at 14:36 in the third when senior captain Abby Jamieson put in a close-range shot, unassisted.

Shortly after, McNabb got the go-ahead goal. She had the puck at the edge of the right faceoff circle, and it appeared as though she was looking for a teammate to pass to until she flicked her stick, sending the puck flying into the back of the net, past AP goalie Sarah Hatfield. Lexington junior Danielle DelGreco made the assist.

With 1:27 left, the teams took a final timeout.

Back on the ice, Finigan was making a final effort to tie the game. She passed to junior Aly Duplin close to the net, but Lexington deflected the shot, smacked the puck down the ice and a player held it with her skate and stick until the horn sounded, finalizing Lexington’s 2-1 victory.

“I was pretty much clenched the whole time,” said LHS coach Amanda Ciarletta. “It was a close game, going 1-0 into the third and they come back to tie it up and it’s like, okay, they’ve got some momentum… but I just had faith in our kids that they’ll get it done and they know how to work hard and they’re rolling with it.”

With Lexington’s win, the Minutemen ended AP’s chance of skating in the state tournament as well. And Ciarletta said that her coach’s speech prior to the start of the game resounded that note.

“(There was) a little bit more motivation where Austin was on the brink of getting into the tournament and it’s always kind of fun to motivate, to be like, well we can bump a team out. But they just found it within themselves to bear down and do the small, simple plays,” Ciarletta said.

With numerous starters out with injuries and illness, Ciarletta said the team came together as a group to get the win. 

“Basically, we were just like, you know what, we have to rally together as a group and do all the things that we’re capable of doing and we’ll come out on top if we do that," the coach said.

Next up, the team will take a day or two off from practice before looking ahead to the tournament.

“Just to get everybody healthy and ready to go," she said. "Then we’ll wait for the seedings to come out on Saturday and hopefully play a first round game here (in Lexington).”

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