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WESTMINSTER SCHOOL won its first New England Girls Prep Division I title with a 3-1 win over Lawrence Academy.

The Westminster girls hockey team has been very successful the last few seasons, but hadn't been able to reach the championship game.
   This season, however, the Martlets found their way to the big game. And, not only that, they won it.
   For the first time in the program's history, Westminster is the New England Girls Prep Division I champion, as the Martlets took down Lawrence Academy, 3-1, in the title game held at Berkshire School.
   In the post-season, Westy also beat Williston 3-0 in the quarterfinals and defeated top-seed and unbeaten Choate is the semifinal round, 2-1.
   "It is a fantastic feeling," said Westminster coach Dave Pope. "Being around prep school hockey since 1986, I really know how difficult it is to win a New England championship, frankly, how difficult it is to just win a playoff game. We lost to Berkshire in a heartbreaker (with two weeks left in the regular season) and since that game have played every minute like it was our last shift.
   "Our team came together and became a resilient group of athletes that really were more concerned about team goals putting personal achievements aside."
   Lawrence Academy, which posted two impressive post-season wins of its own, defeated #2 seed Brewster Academy 5-2 in the quarterfinals and then dethroning two-time NE champ and ISL rival Nobles 2-1 in the semifinals, actually took a 1-0 lead in this game at the 6:46 mark of the first period on a goal by Danielle Doherty, assisted by Ashley Vesci and Amanda Movsessian.
   That would be the only goal the high-powered Lawrence offense would get on the day.
   "We forechecked with incredible tempo, led by Tourney-MVP Paige Decker," Pope said, "which stopped many of their rushes before they even started, especially in the third period. Our defense also played very well. Tori Pizzuto and Amanda Boulier were outstanding."
   Before the first period would come to a close, Westminster drew even. Decker took a back pass from Sara Ugalde and fed a streaking Rachel Kennedy, who fired one home to make it 1-1.
   The Martlets assumed control in the second period. Pizzuto scored the game-winner during a power play at the 2:40 juncture, blasting home a slap shot after a pass from Boulier.
   Later in the period, Decker got the huge third goal with a nifty, individual rush while Westminster was shorthanded. She weaved her way through a pair of Lawrence defenders, cut to the left and buried a wrister far side.
   The Spartans gave it their all in the third period, but the Westy defense and goaltender Carmen McDonald held on and the Martlets had their first New England title.
   "After the first period, we made some adjustments in our break out, and this helped us spend less time in our own zone," Pope said.      "That is always a good thing especially when you have scorers like Lawrence does. We also generated a lot of scoring chances. Again, you need lots of shots to put the puck past a goaltender as good as

* Polls Updated

GOVERNORS ACADEMY won its third consecutive New England Girls Prep Division II title, sneaking past Southfield Academy 5-4 in overtime. The Governors finished the season at 21-1 overall

With the way Governors Academy had dominated its Division II opponents all season, the post-season seemed like a mere formality in the Governors quest for a third straight New England title.
    Outscoring their first two playoff opponents to the tune of 16-2, it certainly seemed like that would be the case when the Governors lined up against Southfield School in the championship game, a team they defeated in last year's title match and by a 6-1 score during this regular season.
    And, it certainly seemed the case when junior Kate Leary scored a pair of goals 21 seconds apart early in the first period to stake Governors to an early 2-0 lead.
    But, Southfield would have none of it. Coach Amy Cokinos called timout after Leary's second goal, tied the score at 2-2 before the period would end, and eventually extended Governors to overtime before the defending champs would prevail 5-4 on Leary's third goal of the day.
    "They (Southfield) knew we could put the puck in the net and that they would have to play solid team defense to keep us off the board," said Governors coach Babe Ceglarski. "They seemed to pack their defense in around the net and had great pressure on our forwards as they tried to move to the boards all afternoon. Amy is a great coach and she had a pretty solid game plan."
   Cassie Turner cut Governors lead to 2-1 at 10:52 of the first period, and just over a minute later, Alison Quinn evened the score at 2-2 with an unassisted tally.
   Alanna McDonough put Governors ahead 3-2 in the second period after taking a great pass from defenseman Natalie Sullivan. But just 39 seconds later, Erin Hall evened matters again for Southfield.
At 5:11, Tourney MVP Alex Carpenter, who assisted on all three Leary goals, put Governors back on top 4-3 with a power play tally.
   The Governors killed off a pair of third period penalties while preserving the 4-3 advantage, but couldn't hold it, as Casey Stathopoulos notched an unassisted goal with 2:58 left in regulation to make it a 4-4 ballgame.
   But, Governors never got rattled, They killed off another penalty in overtime and finally got the title clincher with 3:33 to play in the extra session.
   A battle for the puck was won along the boards and the puck was put in front. Southfield goalie Lauren Howard made a great save, but Leary was there to put home the rebound. Leary also had the OT game winner in the title game two seasons ago and another New England OT winning goal this past fall in field hockey.
"We play a pretty solid schedule late in the season and games against Andover, Rivers, St Paul's, Lawrence and Nobles helped us stay focused as the season ended." Ceglarski said. "I think we played with a target on our back all season and that, too, helped us stay focused."