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Once-beaten Arlington Catholic held off Andover, 2-0, in a non-league girls hockey matchup. Coach Kevin Drew's Andover squad fell to 6-11-2.

Julia McDonald scored with 7 minutes to play to help North Reading field hockey beat Arlington Catholic 1-0, punching North Reading's ticket to the state tournament.

LOWELL – The team nobody was talking about just two weeks ago is now two wins from a state championship. Finishing the shocking trip through the Division 3 North sectional in style, Pentucket ousted No. 3 Arlington Catholic, 70-52, to claim the championship here Saturday afternoon on “Beach Day” at the Tsongas Center. Seeded 5th and now 17-5, Pentucket moves to the Eastern Mass. championship game Tuesday afternoon (4 p.m.) at the TD Garden against the winner of last night’s Old Rochester-Norton South championship game. “This is fantastic, no words to describe it. It’s just great to prove all our doubters wrong,” said sophomore Pat Freiermuth, who led the way with 23 points, 13 rebounds and three assists. “The seniors have really stepped up. They knew we could get this far and they pushed us. Our defense has been fantastic. It’s made a huge difference. If we didn’t play defense like this in our tourney opener, we wouldn’t be here now. It’s a team thing.” Defense and execution. Sound familiar? It’s a formula the Sachems have masterfully employed repeatedly, taking 15 of the last 16 – a streak that stretches back into the first week of January. Nothing came easily for Arlington Catholic, Pentucket’s fourth straight playoff victim to be held under 60 points. “They made some shots, a few three-pointers, but a lot of them came off of deflections, or loose rebounds or some kind of crazy play,” said Pentucket coach Ed Hickey. “For the most part, our defense was great. “We turned the corner because (of our defense). One of the things I noticed early in the season as we lost a couple games (they had just a 2-4 start). I was focused on the offensive end, and we were giving up way too many points. We put a little more emphasis on the defensive end there, and the kids have responded incredibly.” Pentucket clamped down hardest in the second and third quarters – a stretch in which the Sachems outscored AC, 26-18, to carry a 42-33 advantage into the fourth. From there, Pentucket just pounded the basketball to the big fella, Freiermuth, who drove the winners’ bus home. The 6-foot-3 swingman netted a dozen points in the fourth, keeping AC at arm’s length the whole way. “He’s a kid that can create mismatches, whether inside or outside,” said Hickey. “We have guys capable of making plays. Today several guys did.” Patrick Beaton added 18 points and Jeff Porter 13 while Will Sullivan scored 10 points and held AC big man Matt Wesoloski to only seven. Pentucket’s win continues a run of strong tourney performances from the Cape Ann League, which had Hamilton-Wenham stroll to the Division 4 North title on Friday night. H-W is the only team to beat the Sachems since the early season. “To be called North champion is pretty amazing,” said Patrick Beaton. “Nobody believed we’d be here, being on top is just amazing. Having nobody believing in us just makes it even better.”   Pentucket 70, Arlington Catholic 52 AC (52): Michael Maher 6 0-1 14, Louis Doherty 3 3-6 9, Peter Kelly 1 1-2 3, Nicholas Carvello 1 0-0 3, Edwin Woods 6 0-0 16, Matt Wesoloski 3 1-3 7, Totals 20 5-12 52 Pentucket (70): Patrick Beaton 7 2-2 18, Ryan Beaton 1 0-0 3, Brendan Sullivan 1 0-0 3, Jeff Porter 4 4-4 13, Will Sullivan 5 0-0 10, Pat Freiermuth 6 7-11 23, Totals 24 13-17 70 3-pointers: AC — Maher 2, Carvello, Woods 4; P — P. Beaton 2, R. Beaton, B. Sullivan, Porter, Freiermuth 4 Pentucket (17-5):     16 9 17 28 — 70 Arlington Catholic (17-6):     15 8 10 19 — 52

BILLERICA — The disappointment was clear on the face of Andover coach Chris Kuchar as he led his team into the locker room for the final time. But the first-year head man chose to look on the positive.

Senior captain Christian Thompson broke a scoreless tie with five minutes left and Central Catholic held on to beat Arlington Catholic 1-0. Pat Schena (20 saves) posted the shutout.

The Andover girls hockey team shocked highly regarded Arlington Catholic, a veteran team that was a Division 1 state finalist each of the last three years, 2-1. JoJo Olson and Jillian Hughes scored for the Warriors, Jess Leone had two assists and Meghan Johnson stood out with 31 saves.

WEST NEWBURY — Things went so well for Pentucket yesterday that one of its eight scoring possessions required less than a second — seven-tenths to be exact — to find success.

But it was an afternoon of successful results for the Sachems who routed visiting Arlington Catholic 53-0 before a small, but satisfied crowd.

"It's the second to last game for the seniors, so definitely we were motivated," said Andrew Noyes, who scored a pair of touchdowns while leading a balanced yard-eating ground attack with 114 yards. "All we have left is Thanksgiving (at home against Triton), so naturally we're motivated.

"Some of us aren't going to play football ever again. Everyone says you don't know how fast it's going to go by. It turns out it goes by reaL fast."

It was the Pentucket offense that played fast yesterday. After a three-and-out first possession, the Sachems (5-5) scored each of the next seven times they had the ball. Bouncing back from a shutout loss last week, Pentucket finished with 330 yards on 32 carries and 396 total yards on 40 plays.

"It's hard to tell who's going to come to play," longtime Pentucket coach Steve Hayden said. "I think our guys worked hard and played hard during the week. We got back to some basics, which is good,"

In addition to Noyes, Jeff Porter ran for a score and caught another from Pat Freirmuth, who also ran for two. Chris Muello capped the scoring with a 70-yard blast with 7:23 left.

The defense also set up their offensive mates in great field position:

— A Liam Sheehy fumble recovery set up the first of two Jeff Porter touchdowns and got Pentucket on the board.

— A Noah Malhi fumble recovery set up a four-play drive that ended with a Jack Richard 6-yard run and a 20-0 lead.

— A Porter interception at the goal line shut down AC's best scoring chance and led to the Freirmuth-to-Porter scoring pass.

— A 27-yard Freirmuth interception return set up the Sachems at the AC 1-yard line (hence the sub-second possession).

— A Ben Thornton fumble recovery set up Noyes' final scoring run for a 46-0 lead with 5:27 left in the third.

One week after giving up 413 yards rushing in a 21-0 loss to North Reading, the Sachems shut down the Cougar attack. After 30 carries, AC finished with negative-11 yards, which included 54 yards lost on six sacks. Pentucket's front line of Thornton, (who added a sack), Sean McGrath (in on two sacks) and Joe Raimondi helped stuff 14 of the rushing attempts for zero yards or fewer.

"We knew they were going to be more of a threat through the air, so we've been working on a lot of coverages this past week. We did what we had to do. We had our toughest week of practice all year, and that probably made the difference."

  Sophomore Matt McCarthy scored 5 TDs as North Reading rolled over Arlington Catholic, 54-6, in a non-qualifier. Four of his TDs came in the first half.

Andover stunned Arlington Catholic, the top-ranked team in the ESPNBoston statewide poll, 2-1. With the score deadlocked at 1-1, Veronica Alois' unassisted goal in the third period won it for the Golden Warriors. Brianna Deloury scored in the first period. Meghan Johnson (22 saves) stymied the potent Cougar attack.

Andover defensemen Jack Wilkie and Andrew Soucy made the all-tourney team. They and goalie Pat Schena (35 saves) starred in a 4-0 loss yesterday to powerhouse Arlington Catholic.