WESTBORO – On a night its players got to see their longtime banner at NorthStar Ice Sports formally unveiled with their first Div. 1 state championship on it, the Shrewsbury girls hockey team opened the season Thursday with very much of what it used to grind out the trophy last year.

Freshman Allie Martel’s first career goal was the second of two for the Colonials (1-0) in the second period, eventually standing as the game-winner of a 2-1, comeback win over Billerica/Chelmsford (0-1) in MVC/DCL Large action.

Both goals came in the dirty area, overcoming a sensational effort from Lindians goalie Hailey Graybeal (38 saves) while the Shrewsbury defense allowed just 10 shots on Risa Montoya despite a number of threatening moments.

It was a typical result within one of the best leagues in the state, and much of what Shrewsbury head coach Frank Panarelli expected against B/C. But with former captains at the rink to pull the covering off the banner, it wasn’t exactly a typical game.

“The first five minutes of the first period, I think we kind of were basking that (reigning title) a little bit,” Panarelli said. “Obviously we’ve never won a state championship, so the banner reveal was kind of cool. The way we lowered it and everything. … The first five minutes, I said to them, I said, ‘Alright let’s wake up a little bit.’”

Once the Colonials shook off the jitters and the rust, they controlled much of the play to vastly lead the shot battle.

The blue line did a good job of fighting off the speed of B/C star Giovanna Gulinello, though she did draw a short-handed penalty to ultimately put the Colonials at a second-period deficit. Kara Gambale finished off a power play at the left post for a 1-0 lead just five minutes into the frame.

But after a whole first period of the Lindians preventing activity in front, Shrewsbury finally got just that to flip the score. Junior Mia Ryder set up a shot from the point for freshman Paige O’Donnell with 5:30 left in the frame, and Blaire Fay tipped it in for a 1-1 tie. Three minutes later, senior Bridget McLaughlin’s wrap-around was kicked by Graybeal right to Martel for a rebound goal.

Shrewsbury bombarded Graybeal with 17 shots in the third with the help of two B/C penalties, limiting opportunities for the Lindians to tie it back up for a high-quality win.

“Every league game is (hard) like that, no matter who is up or who is down it’s always going to be a battle,” Panarelli said. “When we went down 1-0, it was nice character coming back. … (Graybeal) wasn’t going to give up an easy goal. Our goals, they were two dirty goals.”

“I feel like this just keeps the energy alive,” McLaughlin added. “It was a pretty tight game, but stepping up on the power plays and then just not letting any goals go in after getting down – I think we kept our composure and stayed strong.”

Much of the meaning in this win doesn’t only come in beating an opponent that was a Div. 1 state semifinalist itself last year, but also in the contributions from the younger players.

Two freshmen came away with points to add onto strong efforts from the upperclassmen, and O’Donnell earned player of the game.

“With the new freshman coming on, they’re getting into all the action and seeing what it’s like to be state champions,” McLaughlin said. “It’s really good, we don’t have to worry about having anyone being a weak link. We just have a full team and we can rely on everyone.”

“Them getting exposed to a game like this, where it wasn’t an easy game, it was a such a tough game – their first high school career game – I loved it,” Panarelli added. “They both stepped up