Melrose St. Mary hockey players are State Champs

IT WAS nothing but smiles from these state championship Melrose hockey players from St. Mary’s of Lynn, who beat Notre Dame of Hingham in triple overtime, 5-4, to become D1 State Champs on Sunday. From left: Dee Dee McCarron, Kiera Twomey, Reagan Sullivan, Katie Sarazen and Audrey Zinck. (courtesy photo)

By JENNIFER GENTILE 

BOSTON—Luck of the Irish? It was a gripping finale for the St. Mary’s of Lynn girls’ hockey squad, who prevailed in triple overtime in the Div. 1 State Finals against Notre Dame of Hingham, 5-4, at the TD Garden to become state champs for the fist time since 2013 on Saturday, March 17. 

And five Melrose players helped make it happen. 

Deidre McCarron, Kiera Twomey, Regan Sullivan, Katy Sarazen and Audrey Zinck are all state champions after their No. 2 Spartans team prevailed in triple overtime, 5-4, off a goal by teammate Alyssa Norden with 2:26 left in third overtime. 

The Spartans (23-3-1) went in against top seed NDA and took an early deficit but refused to be rattled. Spartan goalie Gianna Tringale had 39 saves at net. The Cougars had tied it up 4-4 in the closing seconds of regulation to force overtime. The first two overtime periods saw St. Mary’s draw penalties and saves goals on net. 

Melrose’s Audrey Zinck had an early equalizer to match the Cougar’s opening goal to make it 1-1.  Her goal was five minutes into the game and put NDA on notice that they’d have to fight tooth and nail for a win. 

A FINE quintet of Melrose players helped St. Mary’s of Lynn skate away with a state championship. From left: Keira Twomey, Audrey Zinck, Reagan Sullivan, Katie Sarazen and Dee Dee McCarron. (courtesy photo)

The team still didn’t fold when NDA’s Sarah White scored twice to take a larger 3-1 lead in the second. St. Mary’s Alyssa Norden and Bella Freitas would tie it up, 3-3, and Freitas scored the go-ahead towards the end of regulation but saw NDA tie it again with just seven seconds left. The rest is (overtime) history. 

St. Mary’s, coached by Frank Pagliuca, fell to Shrewsbury last season in the Div. 1 finals, so the victory is all the more sweet. Of the Melrose players, all but Sullivan will return next winter.