Brinity-Bow sophomore forward Kaylee Jacques netted a hat trick against Concord to push her team to a Division I girls’ hockey victory, 3-2, on Wednesday night at Everett Arena and leapfrog the Crimson Tide girls in the state standings with only a few games left in the season.

The last time these two teams faced off, just over a month ago, it was a tight contest. Concord’s defense held strong and managed to win the game, 2-0, but Brinity-Bow showed up for the rematch to try and flip the script.

“We were telling ourselves all day: Pretend this is the championship,” Brinity-Bow senior defender Meghan Schmidt said. “We’re playing for our honor, winning the championship, we’re playing for each other. We’re playing for the loss we had last time.

“It’s one of our three losses, so we were focused on the win. In practice, we were focused on today.”

Division I girls’ hockey is top-heavy, and the margins are tight at the top this season. Going into this game, Brinity-Bow was only a half-game behind Concord and having played one more contest, meaning that whoever won could get a huge advantage for playoff seeding. 

The first period was a fierce back-and-forth affair that saw both teams trading shots on goal. Both goalies, Concord’s Kaylee DelloIacono and Brinity-Bow’s Lyrah Lydon, faced many shots early.

With six minutes remaining, a puck bouncing around in the middle of the ice fell to sophomore Kaylee Jacques, who looped a wrist shot into the right side of the net from a decent distance to put Brinity-Bow ahead, 1-0. Concord did not stop playing its style and found good space close to goal to shoot, finishing the period ahead in shots, 9-8. 

The Tide kept the pressure on and forced a tripping minor penalty from Schmidt. Toward the end of the penalty, senior forward Claire Brown shot an absolute rocket across the goal nestled in the top right corner, assisted by junior Eliana Wing and sophomore Brooke Nelson, to tie the game. Less than two minutes later, Nelson scored one of her own, unassisted, off a shot that ricocheted off the post and in to turn the tide on Brinity-Bow and go ahead 2-1.

Schmidt returned to join senior defense partner Kylie Palmeter, as they both play every minute for Brinity-Bow. The excitement did not stop there as Jacques answered 30 seconds later to tie the game, assisted by junior Audrey Starr and senior Alison Pelletier.

The game on the ice got hot, and at that point, it was anyone’s to take. 

It became a true battle on the boards where both teams kept trading blows and both goalies faced intense pressure. After eight minutes of Concord keeping its foot on the gas and outshooting Brinity-Bow, a stroke of luck fell in Brinity’s favor. Jacques netted her third goal from a puck that rebounded off of DelloIacono’s chest that she raced to control, beating the defense trying to clear it. 

“It’s all-around; it's our full team. We all put in the effort, and it feels good,” said Jacques. “I just saw it, and I got there, and I honestly didn't even know how I did that. I was pretty surprised.”

The third period was decisive. Tor the first half, it seemed like Brinity might pull away as its kept attacking with the lead in hand. However, another penalty was called, this time on Starr, and Concord had the opportunity to tie the game again. Brinity’s penalty kill was not crazy but it got the job done, and it survived with five minutes remaining. 

“They took it to us when they got it in our D zone; they had a pretty strong forecheck on us, and we didn’t necessarily react as strong,” Concord coach Kate Billings said. “We tried pretty hard in the third period there. We took it to them, but it just felt like our energy level just didn’t match what they were sending at us.”

This game was a test, for both teams. 

Brinity’s win proved that, on any given night, a matchup like this can swing one way or another. Come the playoffs, the experience gained for both teams will be essential to make a championship run with a few games left in the season to define seeding.

“All are going to be challenging games for us. We can’t count any of the teams out, but we’re looking forward to finishing off the regular season and getting to the tournament,” Schmidt added.

Similarly, Concord will work on shoring up its defense and net-front battles to prevent fighting from behind. In Billings’ words, the Tide’s offense is strong and it was in this game, but controlling the momentum through its defense will be key to competing for the championship.

Alexander Rapp can be reached at arapp@cmonitor.com.