BOURNE — For the first time in program history, the Bishop Stang High School girls hockey team celebrated a state tournament win this season. And now, after a 1-0 win in the Elite Eight against Bishop Feehan Thursday, March 6, the girls will be heading to the semifinals. 

“I think it’s a relief,” said senior forward Kacey Curran. “I think it was really hard to overcome the first tournament win and now that we’ve done that, we’re rolling.”

Even though the team has qualified for the state tournament eight times previously, the team struggled to advance any further, according to Head Coach Bill Theodore.

However, as they continued to win this season, “they started believing in themselves and here we are,” Theodore said.

In his 11th season with the team, he added it was “surreal” to have made it this far. 

“I’m so proud of this group,” he said. “They’ve just come together at the right time.”

First period saw a bit of “timid” play from the girls, but they quickly found their momentum, Theodore said.

Toward the end of the second, sophomore forward Madison Lewis scored the game’s only goal, with Stang’s freshman goalie Vivienne Norcott making 23 saves across the three periods.

“It felt awesome,” Lewis said of her goal. “I feel like it really did pick up our team and make us put our head into the game. We played great after that.”

Though Stang’s team is quite young this year, with its starting six including three sophomores, two freshmen and a single senior, there are four seniors who will be graduating from the team this year. 

Among them is Curran, who celebrated her 100th career point at the Feb. 12 game against Archbishop Williams High School.  

“I call her a power forward because she’s so strong on her skates,” Theodore said. “She’s just a tremendous player.”

Playing hockey since she was “3 or 4” years old, she said it was “so exciting” to see the team advance this season. 

“I knew we had it in this group of girls,” Curran added. “I’m just so proud of each and every person on this team — whether they played, they were on the bench supporting — it took everybody to get this win today and every other win this tournament.”

Also graduating this year is Giselle Souza. Originally a forward, Souza transitioned to a goalie when the team was in need. “She works very hard and she’s come a long way,” Theodore noted.

Senior defensemen Lilly Cook and Natalie Carrico will also say their goodbyes this year. Though new to the team, Cook has quickly become a “special teammate,” who has an opportunity to play field hockey for Berkley in the fall. As for Carrico, Theodore said she is “always supporting the girls and plays well.”

Despite the majority of its players being sophomores and freshmen, like Curran, many of these athletes have been playing hockey since they were little. Theodore noted it was a matter of them learning the high school game — which they’ve clearly managed to do.

“I’ve been skating since I could walk,” Lewis said. “I just love the sport. I love making new friends and I love the co-op with a bunch of different schools because I met so many new people.”

Stang’s hockey team is a co-op that consists of 10 area schools, including Dartmouth, New Bedford, Durfee, Greater New Bedford, Somerset Berkley, Fairhaven, Seekonk, Apponequet and Dighton-Rehoboth.

“I was so happy to play tonight,” Lewis added. “I think our whole team was ready and I’m really excited to play in the Final Four.”