New Hampton School took home the NEPSAC Dorothy Howard Small School championship Sunday, besting Groton, 3-1, in the title game.
The Huskies were the #3 seed in the six-team post-season field, and reached the finals after one-goal playoff wins over Portsmouth Abbey (3-2) and Cushing (2-1).
Against Portsmouth Abbey, KK Michaud-Nolan’s shorthanded goal proved to be the game-winner. Tourney MVP Julia Pellerin and Kennedy Walker also had goals. Pellerin and Walker had the goals in the Cushing win.
In the title game, it was a scoreless contest until late in the second period, when Averi Curran put New Hampton on the board, assisted by Michaud-Nolan.
Early in the third period, Pellerin scored again to make it 2-0 for the Huskies. Jansen Lucas had the assist.
Groton (18-4-4) fought back with 9:43 remaining when Cristina Scalese put one home setting up a frenetic rest of the period.
New Hampton iced the title with the insurance marker with just 16 seconds to go by Lucas, off an assist from Lucie Legro.
The win capped a strong finish to the season for the Huskies, who went 7-0-2 down the stretch after losing four of five games in early February.
Groton had one of its best seasons in a while, losing regular season games only to Nobles, Tabor and St. Paul’s, all playoff teams.
