DEDHAM, Mass. — Nobles knocked off St. Paul's, 4-0, to win its sixth Harrington Invitational Tournament title in the last eight seasons. Anya Zupkofska (Braintree, Mass.) had a shutout, and four different skaters scored for the Bulldogs.
After a back-and-forth start, Nobles began to turn the tide in its favor with a power play in the back half of the first.
Gretta Hulbig (Foxborough, Mass.) opened the scoring 10 seconds after the advantage expired, putting home a loose puck to the side of the net late in the period. Hulbig flashed great hands in tight as she located the puck and chipped it in from a tight angle after a long-range shot.
Freshman Lily Bromley (Carlisle, Mass.) continued a hot start to her prep career, doubling Nobles' lead in the closing moments of the second. Her goal helped the Bulldogs seize most of the momentum heading into the third period.
The third followed a nearly identical script. After Nobles' special teams came through early on, killing off a St. Paul's power play, Calleigh Brown (Foxborough, Mass.) potted a late goal to put the game firmly out of reach. Rachel Zhao (Westwood, Mass.) made a great pass to Brown on a 2-on-1 in tight, and Brown made no mistake against the Big Red's Ally Martiniello (Salem, N.H.), burying a shot just over her right pad.
Molly MacCurtain (Reading, Mass.) added an empty-netter before the final horn.
The Bulldogs completed a 4-0-0 sweep of the Harrington, improving to 7-0-1 on the season. It was the third time since 2016 that Nobles and St. Paul's met in the tournament final. The former won in 2016, and the latter came out on top in 2018.
Let's dive into some takeaways from the game.
1. I wrote about Nobles' forecheck after catching their 3-0 win over Loomis Chaffee at the start of the season, and I'm here again to write that Tom Resor's group is flat out dominant on the forecheck.
The Bulldogs came at St. Paul's in waves. It didn't seem like there was a single easy breakout for the Big Red throughout the game. Every reverse behind Martiniello's net and every spin off of pressure seemed to be met with another Nobles forechecker. It clearly took a toll on St. Paul's as the game wore on, especially in the third period. The Big Red struggled to exit the zone with possession and generate much in transition as the Bulldogs kept them hemmed in with fast, physical puck pursuit.
2. Nobles' depth was on full display throughout the tournament. It was especially true on Sunday as a pair of underclassmen came through on the first two goals before some of the Bulldogs' headliners, Brown and MacCurtain, put the game away late.
Bromley and Hulbig, a sophomore, each had phenomenal tournaments. We'll have more on the entire Harrington this week. Hulbig's goal on Sunday was particularly important after St. Paul's and Nobles' top lines nearly cancelled each other out at 5-on-5 for most of the first.
I thought Bromley, Hulbig and Zhao, a sophomore, were all effective on the forecheck. Zhao could have had a goal herself, making a slick deke around a defender below the dots before Martiniello saved her shot. She showed great touch to slip her pass to Brown for Nobles' third goal.
It seemed abundantly clear that the Bulldogs could rely on each line to execute.
3. Don't let the final score fool you. Martiniello was sensational for St. Paul's in the loss, capping off what was a great tournament for her individually.
The Bulldogs' forecheck had St. Paul's under duress for some extended stints in their own end, particularly in the third. But Martiniello stood tall and kept the Big Red in it until Brown's third-period goal essentially put the game away. Similar to what I had seen from Nobles going into Sunday, they were content to fire everything on net and play for second and third-chance opportunities. Martiniello was up to the task, doing an excellent job of tracking pucks through traffic and reacting on rebounds.
My vantage point for most of the game was almost directly behind her net in the first and third periods. There were some shots I couldn't believe she made saves on simply because of the traffic front of her. She's sound positionally and does a good job of steering rebounds away from dangerous areas.
4. I think St. Paul's is better than they showed on Sunday, and their performances earlier in the tournament prove that. But Nobles' goals seemed to come at back-breaking times for the Big Red, who looked out of sync for most of the game. A lot of that is definitely due to just how good the Bulldogs were defensively and on the forecheck.
Cami Bell's (Barre, Vt.) skillset alone made her one of the Kelli Mackey's most dangerous players. But Nobles did a good job accounting for her defensively. The Bulldogs gave her nothing in middle ice and forced her to settle for low percentage shots.
Either way, Bell and St. Paul's impressed me a lot this weekend. Again, I'll have more on them this week.
5. Nobles' defensive effort was impressive all game on Sunday, and not just when it came to neutralizing Bell.
The Bulldogs had some strong offensive showings during the tournament, including Sunday. But it's clear their foundation lies on the blue line and in the crease. That's probably not any sort of revelation, either. Whether it's Boston College commit Olivia Maffeo (Canton, Mass.), fellow BC commit Jaime Griswold (Concord, Mass.), Yale commit Sophia Levering (Westwood, Mass.) or Middlebury commit Ainsley Gray (Wellesley, Mass.), Nobles usually has one or two standout, experienced defenders on the ice at any given time. It's truly a murderer's row.
Nobles' defense did an excellent job of keeping St. Paul's to the perimeter for the majority of Sunday's championship, and they were quick to kill plays with good stick and body positioning. Save for some pockets of pressure for the Big Red in the first and second, the Bulldogs' defense had success on the breakout. They were good at identifying lanes to skate the puck out themselves or making quick reads on passes. Nobles defended its blue line well, too, especially late. They gave SPS fits trying to break the puck in during the empty-net situation late in regulation.
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Zupkofska wasn't as busy as Martiniello, but she was strong when Nobles needed her. She didn't give up much of any rebounds that led to second-chance looks for St. Paul's. SPS had some of its best looks in the first period, and if it weren't for Zupkofska, things could have played out differently had the Big Red struck first.
