ST. ALBANS — The Middlebury Union High School girls’ hockey team’s season ended on Friday night, when the Tigers fell, 2-1, in overtime to host BFA-St. Albans, in a Division I quarterfinal.
The second-seeded Comets (16-3-1) extended their season to this week’s semifinals, where they will face off against the visiting Rutland Raiders.
Friday’s game was as close as it could get. The first period was scoreless despite the Tigers outshooting the Comets. Play went back and forth, and both goalies, the Tigers’ Abby Hodsden and the Comets’ Macie Boissonneault, made big saves to keep their teams in the game.
The No. 7 Tigers (7-12) dominated the second period, peppering Boissonneault and Madeleine Hungerford, who split the second period in the BFA net, with shots and narrowly missing on several occasions.
The Comets managed to hold on, barely clearing away rebounds, until with 1:50 remaining Tiger senior Helen Anderson broke through. The goal came about 30 seconds into a Tiger power play. Senior Satchel McLaughlin took a shot from the point that was saved, and Anderson gathered it and slid in on the ice into the back of the net. The Tigers held on to end the period with the lead.
The Tigers carried their energy into the third, when for the first half of the period they could do no wrong. But with about eight minutes remaining in the game, BFA capitalized on a scrum in front of the Tiger net. Junior Peyton Dukas, who was sitting on the back post, popped in a rebound to send the game into overtime.
It was the Comets’ turn to dominate, and they controlled the overtime. At 2:48 of the extra time, Linsey Larrow put away the goal to send her team to the semifinal.
Hodsden finished with 21 saves for the Tigers, and Boissonneault and Hungerford combined for 23 saves for the Comets.