The East Bay Co-op girls ice hockey team lost its semifinals series against LaSalle, 2-0, last weekend.

Eagles head coach Mike Cox said his team played great hockey in the series opener on Saturday night. East Bay trailed 1-0 heading into the final period of the game against perennial powerhouse LaSalle. East Bay goalie Sara Turillo was playing well in net, while her teammates were skating hard against the Rams, said Coach Cox.

But hopes for an upset win against the Rams were dashed later in the game, as LaSalle netted a second goal and skated to a 2-0 victory over East Bay.

“We played great Saturday night,” Coach Cox said. 

East Bay was unable to rebound against the Rams on Sunday, losing 5-1 and dropping the series 2-0. Coach Cox said LaSalle has been hard to beat for years. 

“We just didn’t have the horses,” he said. “They’re a strong team.

“We’re all disappointed. We wanted to play one more week of hockey.”

Sunday’s loss marked the end of the season for the Eagles. Coach Cox said his team had a slow start to the regular season, losing its first four games. But the Eagles bounced back and picked up some key wins late in the year. Coach Cox said the high-point in the season was a weekend sweep against Burrillville.

“Our goalie stood up and played well,” he said. “We were really feeling good about ourselves (entering the playoffs). We were really optimistic. And we were really optimistic down only 1-0 in the third period.”

Coach Cox praised his entire team, and especially the play of his goalie, Turillo, and Addyson Whittet. “She played very well for us in the playoffs,” he said. 

The coach also credited his senior captains, Taylor DeFraitas and Layla Rappleye. Coach Cox said sophomore Hannah Leblanc also played well late in the season. 

“She was awesome,” he said. “She’s really getting excited about hockey.”