Magical McKenzie: Falmouth Freshman Haberl Leads Clippers to State Championship

BOSTON – It could not have been any more perfect.

Tied 2-2 against Wellesley Sunday afternoon in the MIAA Division 2 girls’ hockey state championship game at the TD Garden, a freshman with nine goals in five tournament games made it all happen.

Already with one goal to her credit in regulation time, Haberl made her second breakaway in as many minutes and made it count as she picked off the puck at mid-ice and sped past

Falmouth freshman McKenzie Haberl pumps her arms triumphantly after scoring her game-winning goal Sunday as Wellesley’s Danielle Hickman holds her head in shock.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports

Wellesley defenseman Danielle Hickman and Korinna Garfield and one-timed it past goalie Meghan King for the sudden death overtime, 3-2 Clipper victory.

It was the first girls’ ice hockey state title in Falmouth High School history and it was the third Division 2 state championship game in four years that the Clippers had earned a right to be at. Falmouth finished at 20-4-2 on the campaign.

It was a wonderful end to a high school career for four-year varsity goalie and Capecod.com All-Cape & Islands Girls’ Hockey Player of the Year Madison Scavotto. Scavotto had played in each one of those previous state championship games only to suffer defeat until tasting sweet victory on the Garden ice. She made 29 saves on the day. All totaled, Scavotto holds a stunning 13-3 lifetime postseason record, including today’s win. The St. Anselm College-bound netminder played brilliantly while under constant attack by the Raiders.

Just three weeks ago, Wellesley defeated Falmouth, 4-3, in the final game of the Cape Cod Classic Tournament.

Falmouth forward Shannon Upton, only a sophomore, was the Clipper who got things rolling just 3:27 into the first period when she backhanded it off an Ericka Meissner feed, and straight past Wellesley’s King for a 1-0 lead. McKenzie Haberl also assisted on the goal.

Eight minutes later, Wellesley made a true game of it when junior forward Carley Boyle took a vicious, screened slap shot that literally froze Scavotto in place because the Clipper netminder couldn’t see who was shooting or where the puck was coming from. The game was tied at 1-1 with just 3:34 remaining in the first frame. Kiely Noonan and Amika Witt both assisted on Boyle’s goal. The first period ended at 1-1.

At the outset of the second period, an untimely minor penalty for tripping on Falmouth’s Callan Small offered Wellesley a huge power play opportunity it did not waste. Just 0:24 seconds into the power play at the 11:40 mark, Raider senior captain Cecily Docktor beat Scavotto to make it 2-1 in Wellesley’s favor (assisted by Keely Corscadden).

Senior captain Madison Scavotto made 29 stellar saves in Falmouth’s thrilling, 3-2, overtime win Sunday at the TD Garden.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports

Both teams exchanged minor penalties, including Mckenzie Haberl on a holding call, but as soon as that penalty ended Haberl was unchained.

Down 2-1, Haberl took the puck alone from the Falmouth end and skated the entire length of the ice before beating Raider goalie King on the near side. Her goal tied it at 2-2 (7:21). Falmouth senior assistant captain Kelly Ferreira and junior forward Emily Sanidas assisted on Haberl’s goal.

Falmouth spent the final minutes of the second period bombarding Wellesley’s King with shots on net and if King hadn’t done such a superlative job staving off Falmouth’s onslaught, the damage would have been irreparable. When the dust settled, King was responsible for 17 saves in the second period alone and the two-period tally had escalated considerably with Wellesley firing 19 shots on Scavotto and the Clippers drilling King with 26 shots.

Knotted at 2-2, the third period foreshadowed a thrilling end. The question remained, however, thrilling for whom?

As it turned out, Falmouth got itself into quite a pickle in the third stanza, committing a pair of penalties against a Wellesley team that thrives on the power play. Sophomore defenseman Brooke Bowman got nabbed early in the third (13:15) for body checking and just over three minutes later, Upton took a body checking call as well.

But the Falmouth “penalty kill may have saved the day,” Clipper head coach Erin Hunt said and the effort given by senior Madison Haberl, McKenzie’s older sister, was superlative.

“She was a power house today,” Coach Hunt said. “She shut down players in the offensive and defensive zones.”

The Falmouth Clippers hoist their state championship trophy in front of their loyal fans.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports

With 1:27 left in regulation, Wellesley took a time out. Falmouth had a couple of opportunities to go ahead, but King valiantly maintained her ground. The third period ended at 2-2 and the game went into a 12:00-minute, sudden death overtime period.

Four minutes into sudden death overtime, Falmouth had mustered just three shot on King and Wellesley mustered just one. It seemed like the seconds were ticking off the TD Garden score console at a machine-gun clip.

But at 6:03, with the entire audience on the edge of its collective seats, McKenzie Haberl lit the lamp one final, magical time for the 2014-15 season and in so doing gave the promise of yet one more crimson and white state championship banner that will hang forever at home.

The ghosts of state finals past had been exorcised.

“Feeling good after the win,” Coach Hunt said.

— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm