BOSTON — Leading by a goal with less than two minutes remaining, Methuen/Tewksbury team leader and “playoff hero” Ella Duffy outraced two defenders to pick up a loose puck and slide it into the empty-net.
Fifty-seven seconds later, Duffy and her Red Ranger teammates threw up their gloves, sticks and helmets and smothered goalie Lydia Barnes, celebrating a hard-earned 2-0 win to capture the Division 1 girls hockey state championship over Archbishop Williams played before a packed house at the TD Garden.
With her eyes filled up, Duffy, along with her teammates and interim head coach Ryan Sheehy, said the championship is in honor of late coach Dave O’Hearn, who lost his battle with pancreatic cancer last spring just a few months after guiding the team to the state semifinals.
“My whole family, Dave’s whole family, and everyone else out there watching (was great),” said Duffy. “We had such a huge group of supporters. Being able to win it for them and especially Dave’s family and to see that, the impact that he had on us just means everything to me. And that final push to get that final goal, it’s just — huge relief. The rush of feelings that you get is, I always cry.”
This marked the second state title in program history with the first coming in 2019 when O’Hearn was an assistant coach.
Sunday’s win also marked two milestones: Barnes surpassed 1,000 career saves, and the Red Rangers finished as the only unbeaten team in the entire state.
“The excitement of throwing our gloves and my stick up in the air was awesome and I wouldn’t have wanted to do with any other group of girls,” said Sammy Ryan. “We were unbeaten all season and it was just incredible.”
Barnes was tested right away in the first period, turning away all seven shots she faced, and she continued that in the second period with five more stops including two right pad saves off the sticks of Catherine Lacey and then Ella Cummings.
About three minutes later, the Red Rangers struck when Ryan scored after Bishops goalie Maggie Shea went to clear out her dump in shot but whiffed and the puck went to the back of the net. It was Ryan’s 17th tally of the season.
“I don’t think I intentionally put it on net but somehow it went in,” said Ryan, who was snake-bitten the last few playoff games. “I literally erupted into joy. It was so amazing. It wasn’t a great goal but it went in and that’s all you need (sometimes) is a crappy goal.”
From there, Barnes did her thing with pad, glove and blocker saves. She turned away all 18 shots and registered her 14th shut out of the season. She allowed just 12 goals all season on 251 shots.
“We expect no less from Lydia. She is our brick wall,” said Duffy. “You don’t get a better goalie or a better leader. She’s amazing and we love having her. We knew that she wasn’t really tested (that much this year) but going into this game, we were reassured that if it comes down to it, Lydia has our backs.”
In front of Barnes, the team’s lock-down defense was once again stubborn and stingy, not allowing the Bishops’ forwards to get into open spaces, or to get any second chances. Lyla Chapman, Kenzie Dunnett, Maeve Burns and Lauren Ryan once again were stellar on the blue line.
“Making sure we have a good, solid defense is a credit to Dave,” said Sheehy. “That’s where it all started. Just because someone is gone doesn’t mean you don’t forget what they taught you.”
“Our defensive core is super strong and we have the brick wall back there in net (with Barnes). We know that defense wins championships. The entire team deserves this. They worked so hard to get here. The seniors worked so hard the last four and five years. They put the time and the effort in and just love this game.”
After Archbishop Williams pulled Shea with 1:52 to go, the Red Rangers’ defense once again didn’t allow any legitimate scoring chances. Chapman stopped an oncoming rush and was the one who pushed the puck ahead, so Duffy could bury her fifth playoff goal — and bury the team’s state title.
“I knew this game was going to be emotional. I knew either way (win or loss) there would be tears for Dave,” said Duffy. “This is just an amazing, amazing season. Every single person on this team contributed, starting with the little eighth graders all the way to the seniors. We all played a part. I just can’t say enough about this team and it’s the most fun experience I have ever had. We did this together.”