Photo: Belmont’s fans and the team celebrate the Marauders 1-0 shutout victory over Reading in the MIAA Division 1 Girls Hockey state tournament.

Belmont High’s MacKenzie Clarke has a knack for scoring big goals against Middlesex Liberty rival Reading Memorial on the field hockey pitch. In October, Clarke – a Boston Globe All-Scholastic – scored twice in a 2-1 win over a top-10-ranked Rockets, propelling the Marauders to a league title. 

You can now add the ice rink where Clarke broke Reading’s heart as the junior forward buried a power play goal with two minutes left on the clock to put Belmont in the Division 1 state Elite Eight as the Marauders defeated Reading, 1-0, in a Sweet 16 match held at Watertown’s Ryan Arena on Saturday, March 1. 

Belmont, the eighth-seed, will now face the epic challenge of facing number one-ranked Hingham High at Stoneham Arena. The puck drops at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 5.

Clarke’s game-winner came while Belmont was on a 5-4 power play after Reading was called for a trip with 2:40 left in the third period. Off the face-off, first-year forward Alexcia Fici took the puck at the left circle and slotted a pass to Clarke who was waiting in the slot. With senior co-captain Sadie Taylor camped in front of the goalie, the season’s leading scorer redirected the puck into the back of the net with approximately 2:30 remaining. 

“That was our first powerplay of the game, and we have been working on being up a player. We finally got into our positions … and Lexi Fici passed it to me, and I just tipped it in,” said Clarke.

The league rivals faced off on Saturday for the third time this season, with Belmont claiming a victory and a tie. Familiar with each other approach to the game, the match was tightly fought over the 45 minutes. 

As throughout the season, Belmont’s second-year Head Coach Brendan Kelleher relied on his top defense pairing of sophomore Elise Lakin-Schultz and eighth grader Amelia Long to stifle Reading’s quickness. All-star junior goalie Jil Costa (giving up less than one goal on average per game) was solid in the net, especially when the Rockets swarmed the crease.

“Anxiety does have a tendency to build as a tie game goes on,” said Costa. “I instead focus on what I can control, which is keeping my body forward, keeping my hands in front, cutting off whatever angles are possible. My mentality the whole time is just save the puck and win the game.” 

Belmont had its chances on offense with Taylor, the team’s only senior, showing her dominance along the boards, both behind and in front of the net. Taylor had a golden opportunity in the second period when she nearly slipped in a loose puck in the crease only to see it sneak off her stick’s blade. 

The Taylor, Clark, and Fici line created scoring opportunities but could not find the finishing touch in the game. It didn’t help that Reading stole the momentum on three consecutive power plays, two in the second period. The Marauders’ second line of first-year Mia Smith, junior Sydney Mun, and eighth-grader Mackenzie Tierney effectively put their time in the offensive zone. 

As the third period was winding down and the players and fans were preparing for sudden-death overtime, fortune struck for the Marauders when the Rockets were called for a consequential trip in the Belmont zone, a decision that isn’t usually called so late in a playoff game. 

And Reading would be punished harshly for the infraction with Clarke’s poke. The Rockets did make it interesting in the final two minutes by pulling the goalie, a decision that Clarke nearly made them pay for when she rocketed a rink-long attempt that clanged off an inside post.

After a sigh of relief, Belmont’s attention now turns to Hingham (21-1-1) which defeated Shrewsbury, 4-2, on Saturday.The Harbormen have held the top spot in the D1 power rankings and the Boston Globe Top 20 poll for most of the season, while Belmont (17-1-4) is 17th in the Globe.

“It’s not worrying about their place in the tournament; it’s about fighting as hard as we can,” said Clarke. “It will be a hard game, but I think we can still give them a good fight.”