By Cary Shuman
There’s something to be said about home-ice advantage in the early rounds of the MIAA Tournament.
Coach Butch Martucci’s Northeast Hockey League co-champions not only faced a difficult draw in a red-hot Bishop Stang hockey team, but there was also the prospect of a long road trip from Winthrop to New Bedford for the game.
“Let’s just say, the two-hour and five-minute bus ride didn’t help, with the traffic and getting off the bus with only 20 minutes to spare before the game,” said Martucci.
Winthrop, the No. 18 seed, fought hard against No. 15 seed Bishop Stang, but the Spartans prevailed by a 4-2 score, with the hosts accounting for two empty-net goals late in the third period, the latter goal following senior captain Amelia Spencer’s goal that had closed the margin to 3-2.
Angela Coscia opened the scoring for Winthrop, assisted by senior captain Talia Martucci.
Bishop Stang tied the game on a rarely seen 200-foot coast-to-coast goal on a power play.
The Spartans broke the deadlock on a semi-breakaway, created by a dash between two players at the blue line.
Bishop Stang added an empty-netter, before Spencer provided some hope with the final goal of her stellar six-year career, but the hosts’ second empty-net goal sealed the triumph.
Winthrop encountered a lopsided penalty column, with the Vikings whistled for six infractions while Stang was assessed two penalties.
“They were the on the power play for over 11 minutes,” said Coach Martucci. “But Stang was very good. It obviously showed when they went on and beat the No. 2 seed Notre Dame of Hingham (4-0) and they now have a chance to get to the semifinals. It was a tough way to end our season, especially for the seniors. We just didn’t get that third goal for Riley [Towse], who played another great game in net.”