Milton shuts out NSA, returns to Div. 2 semifinals

KINGSTON — Second-seeded Milton punched its ticket into the Div. 2 girls hockey Final Four for the second consecutive season with a 2-0 victory over No. 10 Norwell/Scituate/Abington Wednesday evening at The Bog.

Milton now awaits the winner of Thursday’s game between Duxbury and Auburn. Duxbury and Milton met twice in the regular season, with each side claiming a victory.

“Nothing is easy at this point, so it’s about getting back to work and continuing just to establish ourselves on how we like to practice every day,” said Milton head coach Matt Lodi, “Whoever we play in the next round, we’ll be ready to go. It’s gonna be a battle.”

Senior captain Mairin Hart scored both goals for the Wildcats, netting the first 14 seconds into a power play in the first period, when the puck bounced into the net off the shoulder of freshman NSA netminder Cadence Dionne off a feed from Elise Hinckle.

In the second, she flung it from the point by Milton’s bench after Noelle Graham won a 50/50 battle off the wall.

Milton kept the shutout intact in the third period, killing a penalty which included a stop on Kaelyn Modder as she was getting ready to shoot in front of the net before being poke checked by the Milton defense five minutes into the period.

The young Milton team, with 15 of the 24 players being sophomores or freshmen, is focused on winning the Div. 2 championship after losing to Medfield at TD Garden last season.

“I feel like we’ve established ourselves as we want the trajectory to be where we are right now. We want our team to play like we did every single year, and that’s what we’re capable of,” said Lodi. “So having that many freshmen allows them to continue to build on the culture that we’ve built in the locker room and to continue to be a really strong hockey team.”

Caera Hart had 13 saves in net for Milton, and Dionne put in a good performance in net for NSA, as she swatted away 26 of the 28 shots from the Wildcats.

“We prepare for the teams by just knowing how they play and to be able to expect what they’re gonna do and to be able to counteract that,” said Caera Hart.

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