On paper, Winchester and Notre Dame of Hingham are the eighth and ninth seeds, respectively, in the Division 2 girls’ hockey tournament. On the ice, both are premier contenders in the division.
So when the two met in the first round of the playoffs Saturday at O’Brien Rink in Woburn, what played out was a match that could have been held at TD Garden in two weeks.
Eighth-grader Gabrielle Roy scored twice to lead Notre Dame (15-4-2) to a 2-1 victory in an instant classic. The Cougars advance to the quarterfinals next Saturday against top-seeded Methuen/Tewksbury .
“This was a hell of a game by both teams,’’ said Notre Dame coach Jean-Yves Roy. “I think it goes to show when you play a tough schedule during the season, you come down to these games in the tournament and you’re well prepared. That team was very strong and I’m proud of the girls for the way we responded.’’
“This should have been a state final game,’’ said Winchester coach Craig Seabury. “That’s how fast it was, how much we competed. It’s unfortunate that one of us had to lose, and that was us.’’
After a timid opening to the first, a tremendous effort by Roy resulted in the game’s first goal.
With just under five minutes left in the first period, Roy rushed in on a breakaway and got hooked to the ice by two Sachem defenders. As she fell to goalie Vicki Wallace’s left, Roy managed to get enough on the shot to score.
“I honestly didn’t think it was going to go in,’’ said Roy.
At 9:56 of the second, Roy snapped a shot off a draw by senior Caroline Hocking off the far post and in to make it 2-0.
“We do that play almost every game . . . that’s the first time it ever worked,’’ said Roy. “It was really exciting to see it work.’’
Two minutes later, Winchester (16-6-0) answered on the power play. Senior Melissa Zavez fired a shot off Notre Dame goalie Elizabeth Bell’s right pad, and sophomore Mariah Redler pounced on the rebound to cut the deficit to 2-1.
“I thought we came on in the second half and started to feel like we belonged, and we did,’’ said Seabury.
The Sachems had more quality chances in the third, but the Cougars held strong to preserve the win.
“Obviously would have been nice to get to the Garden,’’ said Zavez in her home rink. “But you can’t beat this. This was still a heck of a game.’’
Division 1 State
Austin Prep 2, Acton-Boxboro 0 — Kylie Currier two power-play goals for the second-seeded Cougars.
St. Mary’s 1, Haverhill 0 — Maggie Flaherty scored in overtime, assisted by Aylah Cioffi and Vanessa VanBuskirk.
Duxbury 2, Andover 0 — Jill Cosgrove and Jackie Hayden scored for the Green Dragons.
Cam McCrystal earned the shutout.
NEPSAC Division 1
Nobles 2, Kent 1 — Junior Becca Gilmore’s third-period goal was the difference.
Boys’ hockey
Division 1 North
Reading 2, Andover 1 — Matt Thomson scored in overtime for the Rockets.
Kevin Tobin also scored for Reading.
Division 1 South
Natick 1, Duxbury 0 — Matt Murphy had the only goal during the shootout and Joe Sharib stopped all five shots for the Redhawks (17-4-2).
Division 2 South
Canton 3, North Attleboro 0 — Jim Jenkins opened the scoring for the Bulldogs.
Division 3 South
Hopkinton 4, Cohasset 1 — Senior Will Karpenski, sophomore Owen Delaney, and freshmen Steve Simoes and Jack Sloan scored for the Hillers.
Sophomore Dylan O'Leary stopped 24 shots in the win.
NEPSAC Piatelli/Simmons
Rivers 3, Dexter 2 — Senior Frank Boie scored the winner with 5:32 to play in overtime.
NEPSAC Martin/Earl
Thayer 3, Cushing 2 — Junior Casey Carreau scored the winner in overtime.
Boys’ basketball
Division 2 North
Brighton 74, Danvers 62 — The Bengals knocked off the defending state champs behind Jordan Galloway’s 19 points and seven assists.
Sophomore Jerrod Clark added 13 points and 10 rebounds, senior Izaiah Winston-Brooks had 12 points and seven rebounds, and junior Tyrone Perry had 11 points and seven rebounds.
Division 3 North
North Reading 61, Watertown 53 — The Hornets rallied from a 16-point deficit at the end of the first half, and sealded the victory with a 30-4 run.
Division 3 South
Rockland 60, Burke 52 — Stephen Norris poured in 28 points to lead the top-seeded Bulldogs (19-2).
Apponequet 68, Old Rochester 63 — Senior Chad Gaucher scored 23 points and had eight assists for the Lakers.
Girls’ basketball
Division 4 North
New Mission 78, Lowell Catholic 63 — Taneja Drayton had 28 points and Denia Davis-Stewart had 17 points and 19 rebounds for the Titans.
New Mission faces Fenway in the semifinals, a rematch of the Boston City League final, which was won by Fenway.
Division 2 South
Hingham 51, Norwood 39 — Junior Abby Landry had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Harbormen.
Senior Sydney Blasetti added 11 points in the win.
Falmouth 59, Foxboro 57 — Senior Taylor Miller scored 28 points, including the 1,000th of her career in the third quarter.
Division 3 South
Fontbonne 46, Martha’s Vineyard 43 — Sophomore Ari Sauvignon Howard netted 19 points to lead the Ducks.
Sophomore Annabelle Larnard added 13 points in the win.
NEPSAC Class A
Nobles 64, Worcester Acad. 58 — Julia Ford had 21 points to lead the Bulldogs to the finals.
Aliyah Boston had a game-high 24 points and Lexi Hackett added 18 points for the host Hilltoppers.
More highlights at bostonglobe.com/schools
