Archbishop Williams girls hockey uses three-goal flurry to oust Weymouth in playoffs

CANTON - In three dominant minutes you can accomplish a lot, including punching your ticket to the next round of the playoffs.

The Archbishop Williams High girls hockey team did all its scoring in quick succession Wednesday night at Canton Sportsplex in a 3-1 win over Weymouth in the Division 2 state tournament opener.

Grace Mottau sandwiched a pair of goals around one from Karaline O'Toole as the 13th-seeded Bishops (13-5-3) busted open a scoreless game with three strikes in the span of 2:33 in the second period. No. 20 Weymouth (10-9-1) answered quickly with a goal from Mairead O'Connell but could get no closer, thanks to strong work from Bishops senior goaltender Amy Donnelly (19 saves).

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"You put one in the net and then everyone can build off that momentum," said Mottau, a junior forward from Avon. "We really needed that. Coming off the first period tied zero-zero, we really picked it up after that."

Mottau's first goal came when she pounced on a loose puck on the left wing and beat Weymouth goalie Alyssa O'Connor (22 saves) with a wrister to the blocker side with 8:24 left in the second period.

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O'Toole, a senior forward from Quincy, made it 2-0 just 57 seconds later with a shot from the outer edge of the left-wing circle. Mottau finished off the flurry with another wrister from the slot with 5:51 remaining.

"I just think we stuck with the process," said Archies first-year coach Doug Nolan, a Quincy native who had an 11-year pro career spent in the minor leagues and Europe. "We were patient. We were getting chances. It was frustrating that we hadn't scored a goal to that point, but we're pretty resilient. The girls kept battling and if you keep putting pressure on, eventually the goals are going to come.

"We had a couple of good shifts (leading up to the outburst). We were in their zone for a couple of sustained minutes, so I thought if we kept that pressure, eventually they would break down and we could get a couple of goals."

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Archbishop Williams advances to the Round of 16 and awaits the winner of Thursday's first-round matchup between No. 4 Pembroke (15-5) and No. 29 Walpole (8-12).

The win was the Bishops' first in the postseason since the 2017-18 team advanced to the Div. 2 state semifinals.

"This is just the beginning," Mottau declared. "With our new coaching staff, this is the start of a great program. We're still hungry. We're going to keep moving forward."

Nolan said it was no coincidence that Mottau was front and center when the game was decided. The center certainly has the bloodlines -- she's the niece of former NHL defenseman Mike Mottau, who played at Thayer Academy and won the Hobey Baker Award at Boston College. Grace Mottau wears No. 19, just like her dad Rob did at Archies.

"Grace has been our best player the whole year -- offensively, defensively," Nolan said. "When there are tough times and the team gets down, she steps up. She's a true leader for us. She's been great to coach, great to work with."

GOALIE WINS SHOWDOWNS

Of course, Mottau's heroics might not have happened if Donnelly hadn't saved the day in the first period, stopping high-flying Weymouth freshman winger Ella Bates on a pair of solo breakaways.

"Her speed is phenomenal," Nolan said of Bates. "She gets great separation (from whoever is trying to defend her). She thinks the game well. She's a game-changer. Every time she was on the ice we were definitely aware of her."

The first one-on-one duel came two minutes into the game when Donnelly just got a piece of her glove on Bates' shot. She did it again late in the period, this time using her left pad to deny Bates on a similar play.

"It was hard; she's a really good player," Donnelly said. "I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous. I knew I just had to read her move and do what I do best."

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"She was great," Nolan said of Donnelly. "I can't say enough about our goalies. From the start of the year, whether it's Amy or (eighth-grader) Evelyn (Lacey) they've (succeeded). We put a lot of pressure on them and every time they get put in a tough situation they've lifted us up. It's great for our team to feed off that energy that they're providing for us."

Despite the loss, Bates' play, and that of sophomore winger Wren Abboud, her linemate, give Weymouth a couple of fine building blocks for the future.

"They're very good players," said assistant coach John Heffernan. "They're right up there in terms of the top players in the (Bay State Conference)."

HITTING THEIR STRIDE AGAIN

While the Wildcats have to wait until next year, the Bishops can continue to dream big. Williams' season can be broken up into three distinct parts: a hot start (6-1-1, including an opening-day 6-2 win over Weymouth); a mini-slump in mid-January (three straight losses, to Austin Prep, King Philip and Weymouth in the rematch); and a fast finish (the Bishops are 7-1-2 in their last 10).

"I mean, Austin Prep's a wicked good team," Donnelly said of the unbeaten top seed in the Div. 1 tournament. "(The losing streak) brought us down a little bit. Coach did well bringing up our morale by having good, fun practices. That's what brought us back."

"We're a young team," Nolan said. "We're learning how to win, learning how to play in tough games. It's a process, definitely. We had our butts handed to us by Austin Prep (in an 11-1 loss). We took a step back there a bit. The girls had to battle through some tough times there. We lost three games and kind of went into a shell for two weeks.

"We had some tough practices, but the leaders showed up and guided us through those tough times. Once we got that winning feeling back it just took over again. It was nice to see a young team respond like that."

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Archbishop Williams girls hockey topples Weymouth in Div. 2 playoffs