DEERFIELD — The Buckingham Browne & Nichols girls hockey team spoiled Deerfield Academy’s first trip to the NEPSAC Large School title game in over 20 years.
The top-seeded Big Green beat No. 5 Governor’s Academy 2-1 in the semifinals on Saturday to move onto the championship game for the first time since 2001.
Neither squad found the back of the net in the first period but the visiting second-seeded Knights pulled ahead 2-0 after the second and tacked two more on in the third to defeat Deerfield 4-1 on Sunday at the Class of 1993 Arena.
“It’s an accomplishment for sure,” Big Green coach Brooke Fernandez said of making it to the title game. “It’s been awhile since we’ve been in this game. For those not graduating, it’s a reminder of where we can be. For those who are, it’s a testament to all the hard work they put in to get us to where we are.”
While the final score didn’t show it, not much separated the two teams in Sunday’s game. DA finished with 24 shots on goal while BB&N tallied 23 shots, but the Knights were able to capitalize on their scoring chances.
The Knights’ speed also led to some breakaway opportunities.
“They’re very fast,” Fernandez said. “I was joking their coach that they could put our jerseys on them and their jerseys on us. We’re very similar teams. They have a touch more speed but we have different elements than they do. At the end of the day, the bounces went their way. They put the puck in on their chances and we had plenty of opportunities but we couldn’t do it.”
After a scoreless first period, BB&N lit up the scoreboard at the 10:28 mark of the second to take the opening lead. It was Hannah Weyerhaeuser who put it in the back of the net for the Knights, tapping in a shot off a scramble in front of the Big Green net.
One minute later BB&N went on the power play and capitalized on it. Cailey Larouco ripped a shot on goal that was saved by Deerfield goalie Grace Caligiuri but Ashley Hallice was right there on the other side of the net to smash home the rebound to make it a 2-0 game with 8:20 to play in the second.
Both teams had opportunities on the power play to open the third period but were unable to capitalize. The Knights once again made things happen off broken plays at the nine-minute mark of the third period, with Sophia Kennedy putting home a rebound off a shot from Weyerhaeuser to make it a 3-0 game.
The Big Green got on the board with 4:40 to go on the power play. Emma Gurnell took a shot that deflected off a stick in front, but it looped up over the head of BB&N netminder Alexsa Caron and into the goal to make it a 3-1 game.
The Knights put the game away with 2:15 to go after Weyerhaeuser sniped a goal on the rush to put Buckingham Browne ahead, 4-1.
Both goalies stood out in the game. Caron was named tournament MVP after her impressive day nearly keeping the Big Green off the scoreboard while Caligiuri was also excellent in goal for DA.
The senior played a big role in keeping the Knights off the scoreboard in the first period. She stopped a breakaway by Gali Levy in the opening minutes of the period, stopped another breakaway at the eight minute mark after a Big Green turnover and iced Meghan Britt on a backdoor opportunity that looked destined to make it to the back of the net just minutes later.
“Grace has been excellent all year,” Fernandez said. “She came up huge today. This game wasn’t even a fair indication of how awesome she has been for us. She’s kept us in each of our last five games. She’s peaking at the right time and she’s going to crush it next year.”