Chaplain’s hat trick propels St. Mary’s past Matignon for Catholic Central Cup crown

STONEHAM — In a season that started off with a loss to Matignon, St. Mary’s persevered to finish at the top of the Catholic Central League.

Thanks to a second-period hat trick for sophomore Jenna Chaplain and three assists for sophomore Maggie Pierce, St. Mary’s edged Matignon, 3-2, in the Catholic Central Cup final at Stoneham Arena on Saturday night.

“I think it’s great,” said Spartans coach Frank Pagliuca about winning the CCL Cup. “I think the CCL has done it right giving us a platform to play for something, especially since we didn’t have a state tournament. This is a great experience. I hope we keep this, in the future, with a state tournament. It just adds a little more rivalry and a little more competitive nature throughout the year.”

After a first period that saw Matignon (12-1) outshoot St. Mary’s (15-2-3), 10-4, the Spartans got on the board first as Chaplain found the back of the net at the 9:05 mark of the second.

The Warriors answered about three minutes later with two goals 89 seconds apart as sophomore Lizzy Greeley and senior captain Erin Bennett put Matignon in front 2-1 with 2:13 left in the period.

From there, Chaplain put on a show as she scored twice in 9.2 seconds, with her second coming off the faceoff after she scored with just 31.3 seconds to go in the second.

“Jenna has been outstanding all year,” said Pagliuca. “I think you could see how elite an offensive player she is. The goals she scored tonight were goal scorer’s goals. Not many people at this level can score goals like that. I’m very proud of her.”

In the third, St. Mary’s killed off two penalties over the final 8:16 while sophomore Ang Catino notched seven of her 22 saves in the third to complete the win.

“I thought we did a really good job on it,” Pagliuca said about keeping Matignon off the board on those power-play chances. “We really forced them out of what they wanted to do. So, that was great to see.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3k7Qbyy