After a 9-0 pasting of Scituate earlier in the week, the Duxbury girls’ hockey team had its hands full on Saturday afternoon at The Bog, escaping with a 2-1 win over Franklin.

The Panthers looked to be one of the Lady Dragons’ toughest challenges on the schedule, and they proved to be just that despite their 5-4 record.

With outstanding goaltending from sophomore Kailyn Burke, Franklin was able to keep the game close throughout until sophomore Brianna Connolly’s goal with 6:02 remaining in the game proved to be the difference.

Things didn‘t start smoothly for Duxbury, as they were forced to play shorthanded just over a minute into the game. However, they overcame that obstacle quickly and jumped into the lead at the 10:18 mark when a persistent Siobahn McCarthy kept jamming away at a loose puck near the post that eventually went by Burke for a 1-0 lead.

The lead lasted 40 seconds, as Franklin defenseman Rachel Porter unloaded a wrist shot from the left point that found its way through a screen and eluded netminder Julia Hannon to tie the game at 1-1.

Both teams had chances the rest of the first period, as Franklin’s Katrina Corriveau blasted a slapper from the right wing that Hannon gloved, while Duxbury’s Kaitlin Sullivan had a goal disallowed on an apparent kick-in, and Jen Baran watched her shot dribble past Burke and head for an open net before it was brushed aside.

It didn’t get any easier for Duxbury early in the second period, as the Lady Dragons were hit with consecutive penalties that overlapped by two seconds. Despite being a player down, it was Duxbury that had the best chance to score, as Sullivan almost tucked in a shorthanded goal past Burke with 11:40 to go in the period.

Two minutes later Duxbury freshman Colleen Leddie suffered what appeared to be a knee injury, as she was carried off the ice. Nevertheless, it seemed to motivate her teammates, as Meg Johnson and Cory Connolly had a strong rush up ice, creating a scoring opportunity that went up and over an empty net.

The Lady Dragons continued to keep the visitors in the game, as they ended the second period and started the third shorthanded. However, a hooking call on Corriveau took the sting out of the second one to make it four-on-four.

The teams traded power-play chances midway through the period, and it was just two seconds after the Panthers’ advantage ended that Connolly potted the game-winner on a beautiful feed from senior captain Meg Muncey that capped a 2-on-1-break.

Duxbury continued to give Franklin another lifeline, as a tripping call put the Panthers a man up with 3:15 to go. A Hannon save preserved the one-goal margin and sent sophomore Molly Sullivan back up ice for a serious scoring bid that Burke turned away.

The Panthers continued to pressure Hannon and looked like they were about to tie the game, but their shot went over the crossbar of the wide open net with 26 seconds remaining.

Now sporting an 8-2-1 record, the Lady Dragons will try to sew up a tournament berth this week when they take on Quincy/NQ at 6 on Wednesday night in Quincy, followed by a 3:20 p.m. start on Saturday afternoon at The Bog against Falmouth.