Mercy’s Varsity Ice Hockey team captured the state title by beating the second place Bloomfield Blackhawks 7-0 in exciting fashion last week.

Mercy opened the scoring in the first period as freshman Emily McCann received a breakaway pass from senior captain Anna Julien and put it past Bloomfield goaltender Sophie Hurwitz.

Both teams took penalties: Bloomfield’s Lauren Ahlgren for interference and Julien for tripping. With just under two minutes left in the period, Mercy struck again as sophomore Maddie Jones scored unassisted to give the team a two point lead.

Moving into the second period, tensions ran high between the teams, resulting in six penalties and a player leaving the game with a concussion. Bloomfield took a penalty early in the period for having too many women on the ice, and Mercy capitalized. Julien scored and freshman Cara Hodgins got the assist for the 3-0 lead.

Seconds later, Bloomfield’s Brittany Koch took a tripping penalty which resulted in another goal for Julien, assisted by Jones and Hodgins. Koch would later leave the game with a concussion after taking a hit from McCann that got her a checking penalty.

Bloomfield captain Justine Abbo took a hooking penalty that resulted in another Mercy power play goal. Mercy’s all-freshman line got the credit as Makena Duval got the rebound past Hurwitz. Hodgins and Maddie Rennie got the assists.

Now down by five, Bloomfield’s Stephanie Peach started a fight with McCann and both went to the box for roughing.

The third period featured two more Mercy goals and a penalty for each team. Mercy sophomore Mary Reeber took a slap shot for the sixth goal and was assisted by sophomore Natalie Vaitas and senior Julia McAree. Sophomore Sophia VanAcker tapped in the rebound from her own shot for the final goal with two minutes left in the game.

Junior goaltender Caitlin Somerville withstood a round of Bloomfield shots and a breakaway late in the game for the shutout.