ROCKLAND – As defense and goaltending continues to be the recipe of success for the Notre Dame Academy of Hingham girls hockey team, it seems its only kryptonite early on this year is running into another signature goalie performance.

Saturday night, though, that wouldn’t get the best of the Cougars in a battle between Div. 1 powers.

By sneaking in two early goals and limiting dangerous scoring opportunities most of the way in a defensive showdown, No. 4 NDA (6-2-1) handed No. 3 Malden Catholic (6-1-1) its first loss of the year with a 2-0 shutout. The Lancers didn’t seem to have their typical mojo in the first period, and Cougars goalie Ava Larkin (23 saves) wouldn’t allow a rally.

Coming off an overtime loss to Boston Latin, this was a signature win for NDA.

“We got beat by two goalies – St. Mary’s goalie and Boston Latin’s goalie. We had 40 shots in each game, we just couldn’t score,” said Cougars head coach John Findley. “They were a good team, a well-coached team. … They kept us off stride. But we had our goaltending. Our two goaltenders are the best.”

Between an NDA defense that’s allowed just six goals over nine games, and a Malden Catholic group that hadn’t allowed more than one goal in a game entering the matchup, the two blue lines mostly played as expected. A combined 44 shots on goal had about a dozen come in dangerous spots, and Taylor Daley (19 saves) matched Larkin with shutout second and third periods.

The first period, though, was a bit of a different story.

Despite coming out with control in the offensive zone over the first minute of play, Malden Catholic saw its first deficit of the year come when Devon Moore’s shot bounced off Daley into the net on NDA’s first shot of the game. The Cougars had a bevy of other chances to extend their lead by getting pucks into scoring spots inside, but they couldn’t get shots on target.

Malden Catholic didn’t come out how it normally does in the first period, and NDA made it pay further about six minutes later when Ella Faherty finished off a rebound for her first career goal and the 2-0 lead.

“We scored early, we had the momentum,” Findley said.

Malden Catholic settled down after a timeout to play an even-matched game for the rest of the first period. It then controlled possession for a vast majority of the second, outshooting NDA 11-3. But most of the shots were forced to come from the outside, and Larkin saw the puck well while limiting rebounds.

The Cougars were sound defensively the whole way, and didn’t allow more than one shot on net over two penalty kills in the second and third periods. Findley felt Sarah Francis, Luci DelGallo, Ashley McGuire, Reese Engel and Emma Burke all stood out on defense, and NDA controlled possession for much of the third period to seal the win.

“(Our defense) is as strong as any,” he said. “They’re great kids and great hockey players. … The strength of our team is defense.”