Above: ARHS Athletics has been posting updates on teams still in the state tourneys. At this point, that’s just one. (images edited from ARHS Athletics’ Instagram)
Two more Algonquin teams fell out of the state playoffs on Friday night. That leaves one Titans team still standing — the Girls Hockey co-op that includes players from Hudson, Marlborough, Nashoba, Clinton and AMSA.
Before getting into their success and next game, I’ll catch readers up on the teams that aren’t moving on.
Both ARHS Basketball teams were underdogs entering the MIAA Division 1 Round of 32 on Friday night.
The #25 Boy’s Basketball went up against #8 Malden Catholic. The Titans lost to the Lancers 54–74. An hour after the Boys hit the court, the #23 Girls Basketball challenged #10 Billerica. They lost by a narrower margin, 42–50.
I don’t have any details to share, since it looks like none of the papers or sports websites covered either game. But, for the Boys, the Lancer’s Athletic dept proudly posted the below highlights reel from the winners’ perspective:
View this post on Instagram
The odds looked better for ARHS when Girls Hockey faced off against the Lancers on Sunday. The #3 Titans, with only one loss this season, hosted #14 Malden Catholic in the Sweet 16 at New England Sports Center.
According to the Boston Globe’s coverage, the game started out surprisingly rough for the Titans. Malden gained an early lead and maintained it:
until the waning moments of the third period. With desperation setting in, [Emily Kazmierczak] managed to finagle the puck into the net to force overtime, where goaltender Addy Cagan made a collection of remarkable saves.
The story began by recounting Kazmiercaki’s game-winning second goal:
With her Algonquin team shorthanded three minutes into double overtime, the puck found the freshman’s stick. After muscling past two defenders, she sniped it into the top of the twine to give the third-seeded Titans a hard-fought 2-1 win. . .
“I don’t really remember most of it. It was crazy,” said Kazmierczak.
Read the full story here. And check out the team’s joy below in the pics posted to Instagram by photographer Jeff Slovin:
View this post on Instagram
Algonquin will still be the top dog in the Elite Eight scheduled for tomorrow night against #6 Methuen. But they (and fans) will have to travel for the game. That’s 5:00 pm on March 4th at the Chelmsford Forum in North Billerica. Tickets are available here.
If the Titans prevail and the semi-finals are scheduled for this week, I’ll post an update in advance. Otherwise, stay tuned for an update on Monday.
