Walpole Girls Hockey (10-8-2) came into the Division 2 MIAA tournament seeded 24, but after two upsets over nine seed Mansfield/OA/Foxboro and eight seed Cohasset/Hanover, the Rebels have proved that seeds will not dictate their destiny. On March 11, at Gallo Arena in Bourne at 3:15, the Rebels took on one seed Notre Dame. Although the Rebels lost 2-0, the game marks the furthest a Walpole Girls Hockey team has advanced in the postseason.
Two minutes into overtime against Mansfield/OA/Foxboro, sophomore forward Olivia Malone scored the goal to seal the 1-0 overtime win.
The Rebels second round game was against Cohasset/Hanover at the Bog in Kingston on March 5. The game went scoreless throughout regulation with both teams missing out on major scoring chances especially on the power-play. The game would go through the first overtime without scoring a goal even though it was in the Rebels offensive zone most of the period.
“We dominated the whole game and their goalie played really well. We did not capitalize on our opportunities throughout the game,” said Johnson.
Eventually in double overtime, freshman Catie Martin scored the winning goal with an assist from Johnson.
About their next game against Notre Dame, Johnson said, “We are going to have to be aggressive and capitalize on their mistakes since they are a very strong team.”
Walpole and NDA went scoreless through the majority of the first two periods. Notre Dame was the first to score with 2:31 left in the second, when a poorly timed line change for the Rebels lead to a three on one breakaway for NDA.
For the remainder of the third period, the Rebels and NDA were at each other’s throats — Walpole trying again an again with multiple scoring opportunities, trying desperately to tie up the game; NDA fending off the Rebels with one of the better breakouts that Walpole has seen this year. With 4:30 left in the third period, NDA scored their second goal, despite all of the Rebels’ bench and fans pointing out that the net was dislodged.
For the rest of the game, the Rebels could not manage to score a goal, and with the sound of the final horn, came the end to the Rebels’ season.
