MARLBORO, Mass. — Once Caroline Averill scored, Assabet never looked back.
Averill (Wayland, Mass.) made it 2-1 on the power play with 5:43 left in the first period, and Assabet tacked on three more unanswered goals en route to a 5-1 win over NAHA to capture the Massachusetts girls 19U state championship at the New England Sports Center.
With the win, Assabet automatically earned a bid to USA Hockey Nationals, which will be April 1-6, 2025, at NESC.
Averill and Molly Boyle (Scituate, Mass.) each finished with a goal and an assist for Assabet, and Taylor Senecal (Essex Junction, Vt.) had three assists. Tina Scalese (West Boylston, Mass.), Maggie Averill (Wayland, Mass.) and Maddie Murphy (Dorchester, Mass.) each scored. Elizabeth Luong (Framingham, Mass.) earned the win in net.
Ella Johnson scored for NAHA.
Scalese opened the scoring for Assabet 2:58 into the game with a shorthanded goal on a 2-on-1.
Johnson answered for NAHA with 7:27 left in the first when she got in alone behind the defense off a feed from Kassidy Carmichael in transition.
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Averill restored Assabet's lead less than two minutes later when she buried Boyle's rebound from the left circle on the power play.
Boyle made it 3-1 just over four minutes into the second on a long-range shot that found a way through NAHA goalie Evelyn Brown. Just over a minute later, Caroline Averill found Murphy at the right circle to make it 4-1 with another shorthanded goal.
Maggie Averill made it 5-1 with 11:01 left in the third with a wrister from distance with Peyton Kennedy (Sudbury, Mass.) providing a screen in front.
Here are seven standouts from the game.
Caroline Averill
Assabet/Phillips Andover, 1/14/07, F, right shot, 5-7
Hometown: Wayland, Mass.
NCAA: Princeton
Averill was fantastic offensively both at 5-on-5 and on the power play, and her high IQ was on full display. The Princeton commit read the play well and anticipated open seams. She did a great job finding open space and crashing the net on her goal, making no mistake when she one-timed Boyle's rebound into the yawning cage. She made a phenomenal heads-up pass to Murphy alone at the right dot for the 4-1 goal. Later, she made a slick pass to Scalese for a 2-on-1 chance before finding her again at the far post with a sweet setup.
Tina Scalese
Assabet/Groton, 1/17/2008, F, right shot, 5-3
Hometown: West Boylston, Mass.
NCAA: Princeton
Scalese did it all in every situation for Assabet. She set the tone early with a tremendous effort on her shorthanded goal. Scalese won a puck battle in the defensive zone before fending off a pair of back-checkers in the neutral zone for a 2-on-1. After her centering pass was broken up, she stuck with it and buried a shot under the glove inside the right post. Scalese made another fantastic effort ahead of Murphy's goal. After NAHA played the puck with a high stick and backed off, Scalese pounced on the loose puck and won a battle along the boards, cycling it back out high before Caroline Averill eventually fed Murphy. On the next shift, Scalese lost a face-off but made a beeline to the point, laying out to block a shot.
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Molly Boyle
Assabet/Phillips Andover, 1/5/06, D, right shot, 5-8
Hometown: Scituate, Mass.
NCAA: Yale
Boyle proved that good things happen when you just put pucks on net. She took advantage of some loose rebound control early when she put a wrister on that jumped right to Averill at the left circle for Assabet's second goal. In the second, she did a good job of buying time as Assabet got a change, jumping into the play before throwing another wrist shot on net that managed to beat Brown from just inside the blue line. Boyle was also strong running the point with Senecal on the top power play unit. She moved the puck quickly and decisively, got shots through and led teammates into open space.
Elizabeth Luong
Assabet/Governor's, 05/2007, G, catches left, 5-5
Hometown: Framingham, Mass.
Assabet didn't need Luong to be perfect, but she was pretty close. The Governor's junior made a couple of big saves early on the penalty kill ahead of Scalese's goal, including a big glove save on Carmichael's bullet from the right dot. She made a couple of aggressive plays to deny NAHA in transition, too. In the first, she pushed out to deny Ireland Frederickson's (Concord, N.H.) deflection on a 2-on-1, and in the second, she sprawled to beat chance to the left post in a bang-bang rush. She also robbed Carmichael with the glove again late as NAHA pushed for a goal. Luong did a good job of keeping rebounds out of danger and making saves through traffic. She handled pressure around her crease well.
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Ella Johnson
NAHA, 7/25/07, F, left shot, 5-10
Hometown: Palmer, AK
NCAA: Quinnipiac
Johnson got NAHA on the board with a pretty finish. She got a step on Boyle before freezing Luong with a stutter step and tucking it around her. Johnson consistently made plays in transition, thanks to her speed and long strides, which gave her a big advantage and put defenders on their heels. She broke free a couple of times late in regulation, including a strong chance in alone that missed high.
Kassidy Carmichael
NAHA, 10/14/06, F, right shot, 5-7
Hometown: Westford, Mass.
NCAA: Ohio State
Despite drawing a lot of focus from the defense, Carmichael still did a good job of driving play in the offensive zone for NAHA. Her setup for Johnson was slick, sending her into open space behind the defense for an easy goal. Carmichael also had two of NAHA's best scoring chances. The first came on a heavy wrist shot from the right dot on an early power play, and the second came late after she fended off multiple defenders before cutting toward the slot and using a defender as a screen. Neither could beat Luong's glove.
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Maddie Murphy
Assabet/Dexter Southfield, 4/24/07, D, right shot, 5-9
Hometown: Dorchester, Mass.
NCAA: Boston College
Murphy was one of Assabet's best skaters in all three zones early on, and she got rewarded with her shorthanded goal in the second. She had a strong, active stick defensively, breaking up plays to the middle, and she made some good keep-ins to up the pressure in the offensive zone. She made no mistake on her goal, flying to open space at the bottom of the right dot and roofing one off the post and in. Murphy did a good job of not getting caught in speed mismatches, including a great job sticking with Cassidy Lobisser (Bellingham, Mass.) and breaking up the play in transition. When Johnson beat her on a 2-on-1 in the third, Murphy recovered and made an excellent diving play to disrupt it.
