MALDEN – When the going gets tough, the locked-in Hingham girls hockey team keeps answering the call for a clutch play.

In a heart-tugging back and forth between powers striving for the Div. 1 Final Four and beyond, Caroline Doherty’s go-ahead goal with 3:24 lifted the top-ranked Harborwomen (8-0) to a sensational 5-4 win on Saturday over a No. 3 Malden Catholic group that matched punches with them all night.

Twice the Lancers (6-2) knotted the score after Hingham built an early two-goal lead. They even took their own lead in the second period, and forced a 4-4 tie in the final five minutes to really challenge the Harborwomen’s composure.

But between Doherty (two goals, assist), Addy Garrity (two goals, assist), Callie Crean (goal), some clutch stops from goalie Izzy McGarr (30 saves), and depth all over the ice, Hingham had a response at every turn for yet another signature win despite missing key contributor Hannah Lasch.

“I thought Malden Catholic battled really hard … the girls just found a way,” said Harborwomen head coach Courtney Turner. “I think it’s just a little bit of maturity. The past two years, we had a really young team, and we might’ve panicked in those situations, and then we get down by two, three goals and everyone kind of hangs their head. … I think (we have) just the communication from the captains down, to trust ourselves and trust our teammates that we can get it done.”

“We knew it was going to be hard, but I think being able to just dig deep in the last third period, and really give it our all, helps,” Doherty added. “I think we know this is a good team and these are the games that we’re going to have to work extra hard. And in-between periods, in the locker room, we’re all just helping each other and giving each other confidence.”

Hingham jumped in front with two goals about a minute apart in the game’s first six minutes. Shea Richardson (two assists) threaded a pass to Crean for the first, and Doherty’s feed to open ice was finished off by Garrity for a 2-0 advantage.

Four penalties were mostly all killed by the Harborwomen, but not without the Lancers getting a goal back on Avery White’s power-play tally late in the first. Hingham killed off two consecutive penalties in the second period, only for Malden Catholic to tie the score midway through the frame on an Ellie Ferguson goal. And as goalie Megan Mullarky (15 saves) stood out, Brianna Dacey buried a deflection for a 3-2 Lancers lead.

But that advantage lasted only three minutes, with Doherty crashing on a rebound during a power play in the second period’s final minute. Just 36 seconds later, Garrity did the same to take a 4-3 lead.

“We work on it in practice all the time, stopping on pucks and stopping on the net,” Doherty said. “We just knew if we have the puck, try to get it to the net and everybody go.”

Mullarky needed to be replaced by freshman Izzy Silva (four saves) between frames from an injury expected to be minor, and Malden Catholic kept pucks off her while applying heavy pressure. A 12-shot period was capitalized on with 5:42 left, as Kate Rynak’s goal pulled teams even again.

That is, until Garrity set up Doherty for a move at the right wall to find open space, and she banked a highlight-reel goal top-shelf off the left iron for the game-winner.

The goal was Doherty’s 19th this year for another shining moment, but chemistry and depth around her is what’s really setting Hingham apart early on.

“I think Caroline is the finisher, but there’s a lot that goes into it,” Turner said. “I thought Addy Garrity played her butt off today. …  Being able to have other players contribute on the scoresheet, and even just on the bench and in the locker room, the chemistry is great. I think just the team chemistry overall is what we’ve been focusing on from the beginning of the year.”

“I can’t emphasize enough, off the ice, we’re all just really good friends,” Doherty added. “And I do think that helps us.”