DEDHAM, Mass. — Nobles is on top of the NEPSAC mountain once again.
The Bulldogs put a stop to Williston's reign, knocking off the back-to-back defending champions with a 3-1 win in the girls Elite 8 title game on Sunday.
Catherine McCool (West Roxbury, Mass.), Sophia Levering (Westwood, Mass.) and Olivia Maffeo (Canton, Mass.) each scored for Nobles. Anya Zupkofska (Braintree, Mass.) earned tournament MVP, making 30 saves.
The win marks longtime coach Tom Resor's 11th title at the helm of the program. Resor, who previously said this season would be his last, announced this week that he's returning for another season.
Riley Stocker scored for Williston, and Olivia Ferebee made 20 saves.
BRACKET: Click or tap here for all of the results from the girls Elite 8
McCool opened the scoring just over four minutes into the game on the first of four first-period power plays for Nobles. She jammed in a rebound to the right of the crease.
Williston gained some momentum before the end of the second with Zupkofska coming up big against Monique Lyons (Bedford, Mass.), the NEPSAC's leading scorer. But the Wildcats couldn't break through.
Nobles started hot in the second, looking to build on their lead, but didn't find the back of the net again until late in the period.
With the Bulldogs scrambling in front of their net on the penalty kill, Levering found the puck, skated it out of trouble and motored into the offensive zone. The Yale commit ripped a wrist shot into the top left corner from the left dot for a shorthanded goal to make it 2-0 with 39 seconds left in the period.
The Wildcats continued to pour shots on in the third period, forcing Zupkofska, a Brown commit, to make 12 saves in the frame. She denied Lyons, also a Brown commit, again with a lunging right-to-left save early on.
LARGE SCHOOL: BB&N takes down Dexter 1-0 for title
Moments later, Maffeo made it 3-0. The Boston College commit jumped into the play to lead the rush while Nobles changed. She shielded the puck as she worked toward the slot and chipped it over Ferebee.
Stocker got Williston on the board on the power play with 6:17 left when her shot in front of the crease squeaked past Zupkofska's left pad. The Wildcats also hit a post on a later power play.
Here are four takeaways from the game.
1. Zupkofska was Nobles' best player, and they needed her to be against one of the NEPSAC's most explosive offenses. She showed plenty of poise throughout the game, even when under heavy pressure around her crease. She controlled rebounds well all game and killed plays when she needed to. The most impressive part of her game Sunday was her ability to track pucks through traffic. The Wildcats had tons of bodies in the slot and around the net all game.
2. Nobles also needed its heavy-hitters on defense to be at their best, and they were. BC commit Jaime Griswold (Concord, Mass.) did a tremendous job in 1-on-1 battles, using effective stick positioning and her size to win pucks. Maffeo and Levering came through in the clutch. Each of their goals could not have come at better times. The Bulldogs defense also did a great job of keeping Williston's shots to the perimeter, for the most part.
SMALL SCHOOL: New Hampton beats Groton 2-1 to repeat as champs
3. Williston did a tremendous job in the first period, killing off three more power plays after giving up an early power play goal. It's a huge credit to Christa Talbot Syfu's team to respond and bear down defensively under the circumstances. If Nobles scored even one more goal, the game could have gotten out of hand.
4. The Wildcats had more than their share of chances to score, throwing a heavy number of shots on net. Zupkofska was busy throughout the game, and she had almost every answer for them. Although she didn't find the back of the net, Lyons proved why she's dominated the NEPSAC the last few seasons at Williston. She generated most of the Wildcats Grade-A chances, and could have turned the tide of the game on multiple occasions. She got absolutely robbed to the right of the net early in the second.
