St. Mary's has winning touch against Wakefield

Courtney White (left) scored in the second period to give St. Mary's a 5-1 lead, which seemed to please Spartan teammate Erin McAndrews. (Barry Chin/Globe Staff)

In the end, St. Mary’s of Lynn was perfect. Late in the second period last night, Abby Gauthier knew she had to pick up her struggling team, and the senior forward sparked the Spartans by scoring her only goal of the game to give St. Mary’s a 3-1 edge. It was the third of seven unanswered goals for the Spartans (25-0), who rolled to a 7-1 victory over Wakefield at Harvard’s Bright Center to capture the Division 1 girls’ hockey state championship and become the first team since the Catholic Memorial boys in 1998 to finish the season with a perfect record.

‘‘It’s something like I would have never believed, to actually go undefeated. I am so pumped,’’ said goalie Kelsey Magrane, who had transferred from Marblehead. ‘‘At the beginning [of the game] I was really nervous and I kind of let my nerves get to [me], but after that I really got into the game, I really want to get this.’’ Cheryl Pitts scored the opening goal for Wakefield (19-4-1) in the first period, but Courtney Winters got the Spartans going with two scores in 49 seconds midway through the frame, and the Spartans led, 2-1, after one.

‘‘I think that when Winters got that second goal and when we came into the second period and the three captains were in the penalty box I knew I had to do something,’’ said Gauthier, the MIAA’s alltime leading scorer with 179 goals and 179 assists. ‘‘I knew Christen [Hart] would [get] me the puck so when I got that in, it was very exciting.’’

Hart, a senior forward, racked up four assists to reach 200 points for her career. St. Mary’s ran into penalty trouble in the second frame. Only a minute in, two Spartans were sent off, and Wakefield had a five-on-three power play for 1:30. But the Warriors couldn’t connect with the two-man advantage, and they were kept off the scoreboard for another minute and a half with St. Mary’s down a skater.

This proved to be huge for the Spartans. ‘‘I think the penalties hurt us more in the second period than anything else,’’ said Wakefield coach John Foley. ‘‘We got a little flat-footed and we stopped moving to the puck . . . [St. Mary’s] is too good of a team to let them stand alone.’’

‘‘I think Abby and Courtney White really sparked us in terms of their goals in the second period and that’s what we needed. We expect those players to produce and they did tonight and under the biggest stage. That’s why I’m so proud of them,’’ said St. Mary’s coach Frank Pagliuca.

‘‘They just want to play hockey; they’re hockey players. They enjoy themselves, they enjoy their teammates, and you could see after the game, especially the seniors, they didn’t want to leave the ice, and that says a lot about them as people and what they mean to this team.’’ Now the Spartans carry on a new tradition. They are the best girls’ hockey team in the state, and for now, the best in school history.