After scoring three goals in the second period to tie Westford Academy, 4-4, junior forward Lachele Pace netted a shorthanded tally just a minute into the third to lift the Needham girls' ice hockey team to a 5-4 win.
"I think that we didn't come out to a strong start in the first period," said Needham coach Allisyn Furano, whose charges scored one goal in the first stanza. "We didn't get a chance to pick up [the pace] until the second period."
It didn't help that Needham, which has only 15 players, was missing a key defensive cog.
The Lady Ghosts quickly took advantage, with captain Crissy Connor scoring two goals in the first period and forcing the Rockets to adjust.
"We were short a defenseman, so we dropped a forward to play four back," Furano said.
Connor - who had all four goals for the Lady Ghosts - was the only attacker to touch Rockets goalie Emma Cotton.
"She had a great game," Furano said of Connor, before praising the work of her freshman goalie. Cotton, one of six freshmen on the Needham roster, stopped 16 shots to keep the Rockets in the game.
With Cotton keeping it close, captain Sara Reddington had a hat trick - including two goals in the second-period burst - to give Pace a chance to win it.
Middlesex: Sophomore Lindsey Downie had two goals in Woburn's 3-1 victory over Belmont . . . Lexington used a hat trick from sophomore Sammy Woodward to beat Wakefield, 3-1.
Boys' hockey
Commonwealth: Dylan Smith made 20 saves for Northeast/Malden to preserve a 1-1 tie with Rockport.
Boys' basketball
Boston City: Peterson Bernard scored a team-high 11 points to power Madison Park past league rival O'Bryant, 50-46.
Catholic Central: Bill Williams, a 6-foot-5-inch center, had a double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds) in St. Clement's 68-64 win over Marian.
Girls' basketball
Nonleague: Senior guard Jaci Goodwin had 22 points, 8 rebounds, 9 steals, and 6 assists in Mystic Valley's 52-24 win over Provincetown.
