With a determined finish, Kacey Curran carries Bishop Stang girls' hockey to its first postseason victory

Boston Globe

28-02-2025

With a burst of speed through center ice, the senior captain put the 15th-seeded Spartans ahead with five minutes to play at Hetland Arena in New Bedford, taking down No. 18 Winthrop, 4-2, in a Division 1 first-round win — the program's first in the postseason.
'Every single shift, especially in the third period, I got on the bench and I'm like, 'no, I'm not doing another close game in the third period again,' Curran said. 'I just had that drive. I had it on my mind, and I did it.
'It just feels so great to do it and move on.'
Kacey Curran gives Stang the lead with five minutes to go!
Great acceleration through traffic and she picks her spot high to put the Spartans up, 2-1. First lead of the day.
— Mike Puzzanghera (@mpuzzanghera)
The Spartans (15-5-1) will face No. 2 Notre Dame (Hingham) in a second-round matchup Saturday at Rockland Arena (7:50 p.m.).
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.
Enter Email
Sign Up
Sophomore Isa Rioux hit the empty net twice in a wild finish in which the Spartans surged ahead by a pair, then let up a power-play goal from Amelia Spencer as the Vikings (14-4-1) fought back before Rioux found the net again.
Advertisement
Chaos in the final minutes!
Isa Rioux hits the empty net to put Stang up 3-1. Then after the Spartans take a penalty, Amelia Spencer scores for Winthrop to cut it back to one. Then Rioux hits the empty net AGAIN!
4-2 Stang in the final minute
— Mike Puzzanghera (@mpuzzanghera)
Angela Coscia put the Vikings ahead in the opening minutes before Avery Frias scored a coast-to-coast power-play goal to tie it in the second period. From there, the game continued to grow in physicality before Curran shot the Spartans ahead.
Angela Coscia goes bardown to give Winthrop the early lead!
Just two and a half minutes in, Coscia rips this one high to put the Vikings on top.
1-0 with over 12 to go in P1
— Mike Puzzanghera (@mpuzzanghera)
Stang ties it on the power play!
Great rush all the way through from Avery Frias, and she slides it in to tie the game at one midway through the second.
— Mike Puzzanghera (@mpuzzanghera)
'It's very gratifying,' Theodore said. 'These girls have worked so hard all year. We've had our ups and downs, so many one-goal games, but they just battle.'
Division 1 State
Notre Dame (Hingham) 6, Newton North/South 0 —
In a balanced offensive effort, Kaitie Ryan, Chase Harmon, Emma Burke, Jocelyn Gray, Morgan Brady, and Emily Coughlin scored to propel the second-seeded Cougars (14-3-3) to a dominant first-round victory over No. 31 Newton (10-9-1) at Rockland Ice Rink.
Division 2 State
Marshfield 2, Hanover 0 —
Kayla Leonard netted both goals for the seventh-seeded Rams (12-7-2) in a first-round victory over the No. 26 Hawks (8-11-2) at The Bog in Kingston.
Advertisement
Pembroke 3, Martha's Vineyard 2 —
Freshman Grace Kazolias netted the overtime winner and sophomore Hannah D'Angelo buried both goals in regulation to power the No. 21 Titans (9-11-1) to a first round triumph over the No. 12 Vineyarders (11-9-1) at Martha's Vineyard Arena in Oak Bluffs. D'Angelo's first goal of the afternoon also marked her 100th career point, and the victory also was the 150th for head coach Bill Flynn.
Sandwich 4, Melrose 1 —
Elisabeth Stutzman lit the lamp twice, Darby Rounseville racked up a goal and two assists, and Casey Pestilli added a goal and an assist to lead the No. 10 Blue Knights (13-9-1) to a first-round win over the No. 23 Red Hawks (11-9-1) at Gallo Arena in Bourne.
Boys' hockey
Division 1 State
Hingham 7, Lincoln-Sudbury 1 —
Cam McKenna, Nick Bigelow, and Conal Mulkerrin racked up two goals each and Colin Lasch added a shorthanded score to power the third-seeded Harbormen (17-4-2) to a rout of the No. 30 Warriors (8-14) in a first-round matchup at Pilgrim Arena in Hingham.
Division 2 State
Tewksbury 7, Westfield 1 —
Tyler Bourgea and Peter Civitarese fired in two goals apiece and Jack Ryan, Anthony DiFranco, and Jake Cunha also tallied for the fourth-seeded Redmen (16-4-1) in a first-round triumph over No. 29 Bombers (12-5-3) at Breakaway Ice Center in Tewksbury.
Division 3 State
Danvers 4, Nashoba 3 —
Josh Henry, Cooper Dunham, and Keegan Crowley struck consecutively in the second period and Seamus Cary added a tally in the third frame to lift the 16th-seeded Falcons (8-11-2) to a tight victory over the No. 17 Wolves (12-7-2) in a first-round clash at McVann-O'Keefe Memorial Rink in Peabody.
Advertisement
Division 4 State
Northeast 2, Martha's Vineyard 1 —
After jumping ahead 1-0 in the first period on an own goal, Cash Kearney doubled the lead in the second period on a wrister from the high slot which proved to be the difference for the No. 19 Golden Knights (14-7) in a first round triumph over the No. 14 Vineyarders (9-10-2) at Martha's Vineyard Arena in Vineyard Haven.
Norwell 4, Abington 3 —
Joe Perniola put up two goals and and assist for the No. 12 Clippers (12-8-1) to direct a first-round win at The Bog in Kingston. Knox Poulin and Matt Cerruti added goals.
Sandwich 3, Greenfield 2 —
Reece MacKinnon broke the seal in double overtime on a feed from Ty Creighton to vault the No. 16 Blue Knights (9-10-2) to a thrilling first-round win over the No. 17 Green Wave (12-8-1) at Gallo Arena in Bourne. Both of Sandwich's regulation goals came in the opening period, with MacKinnon and Connor Reid finding the back of the net 40 seconds apart.
Stoneham 4, Worcester 1 —
Trailing 1-0 in final minute of the second period, Mike Taranto delivered the equalizer with 15 seconds remaining in the middle frame and Jacob Minsk (2 goals) and Sonny Saporito (goal) built the lead in the third period to secure a first-round win for the top-seeded Spartans (15-6) over the No. 32 Patriots (11-10-1) at Stoneham Arena. Worcester captain Joey Fisher made 56 saves in the losing effort.
Wilmington 4, South Shore Voc-Tech 1 —
Jake Tucker, Isaac Tavares, Brennan Walsh and Ryan Archer netted one goal apiece to propel the eighth-seeded Wildcats (5-16) to a first round victory over the No. 25 Vikings (14-6-1) at Breakaway Ice Center.
Advertisement
Matty Wasserman also contributed to this story.
--