LYNN – Though the St. Mary’s girls hockey squad defeated Catholic Central League foe Arlington Catholic both times that the schools played last season, the Cougars ended up wearing the state crown.Arlington Catholic invaded Connery Rink Saturday evening, but the Spartans skated away with a 6-3 triumph to remain unbeaten at 4-0 between the first meeting of two of the top programs in the state.The Cougars (2-1) had just evened the game at 3 on a Lauren Lepore offering midway through the final stanza before St. Mary’s took advantage. Two penalties were assessed against the Cougars just 21 seconds apart, giving St. Mary’s a 5-on-3 power play opportunity, and the Spartans wasted little time in scoring the eventual game-winning goal.Defenseman Christen Hart, positioned to the direct right of goalie Ashley Tolman, grabbed the rebound of teammate Abby Gauthier’s (two goals, three assists) from the left of the net. The puck rebounded off the goalie to Hart, who lifted the puck into the net.”We took advantage of playing both on the power play, and while shorthanded,” said St. Mary’s coach Frank Pagliuca. “We did that against a very good team, and that was good to see.”Gauthier extended the lead to 5-3 less than three minutes later, as she bounced a shot off Tolman virtually from the goalie’s right. Forward Michelle Macchione ended the scoring moments later, rebounding the initial save by Tolman off a Gauthier slap.”Playing two men down like we were never helps, as that put us behind the eight-ball,” Cougars coach Ed McDonald said. “They move the puck as well as they do, and they took advantage of our mistakes. As long as we can stay within a goal, we knew we had a chance, but they just added to their lead after scoring (on the two-man advantage).”It took the Spartans several moments to get going after the opening faceoff, as the club failed to register any shots on net. Yet the team took a 1-0 lead midway through the period. Gauthier skated from out behind the Arlington Catholic net towards the boards on the near side. She backhanded a pass to linemate Courtney Winters, who was literally in front of the goal. She one-timed her shot, firing the puck over the right shoulder of Tolman for the game’s first goal.St. Mary’s was assessed a penalty midway through the period, and the Cougars soon had a 5-on-3 power play, with the Spartans having another player sent off the ice during the latter stages of the prior penalty. The team killed off the first one, but Arlington Catholic’s Sheri Larsen tied the game at 1 with six seconds remaining on the man advantage, directing the puck past goalie Kelsey Magrane.The Cougars took the lead less than two minutes later. Forward Michelle Conway, who had been a member of St. Mary’s championship team in 2005 before transferring to Arlington Catholic, skated down the left side of the ice into the Spartans zone. She swooped towards the net, and slid the puck past Magrane for a 2-1 Cougars edge.”We really didn’t come out too strong (in the opening period) while they did,” said Pagliuca about both squads. “We were flat early, and they outworked us. They have so many skilled players.”But so does Pagliuca, and some of them came together to put St. Mary’s back in the lead in the second stanza. Winters fed Gauthier with a crisp pass near the Cougars net, and she beat the goalie to tie the game at 2.Less than two minutes later, it would be Bridget Mini’s turn. Standing just inside the near point, she grabbed a pass from Hart, and fired it past Tolman to give the Spartans a 3-2 favor.”We came out with a plan, and we executed it,” Pagliuca said. “It was an encouraging comeback against a good team, and we showed a lot of character in doing so. We didn’t panic when we were down.”