One thing you have to like about Briana Connolly is that her wheels never stop turning. Wednesday night at The Bog the sophomore forward used her speed and skating ability to rescue her teammates by scoring the winning goal with 54 seconds left in the game to lift Duxbury to a 2-1 win over Dedham.

The victory over the ninth-seeded Marauders propels the Lady Dragons to the Division II State semi-finals on Thursday night at 7:30 against Fontbonne at the Gallo Arena in Bourne.

Being the top seed in the tournament is no easy chore for Duxbury, as they will get everyone’s best shot night in and night out. Playing against Dedham required an all-out effort, as the Bay State League entry is a former Division I team that dropped down to Division II.

Playing in the Bay State League is tough, and with a team of just 12 skaters showing up on Wednesday, it looked like Duxbury’s depth might present some problems for the visitors.

“They were a strong, well disciplined team,” said Coach Friend Weiler. “They had a lot of experience and played a lot of tough teams this year. They used to be a Division I program, now they’re down in Division II.”

It appeared early on that Duxbury would test Dedham’s depth, as they dominated play in the first two minutes. However, nothing came of it before the Marauders went on the power-play at the 12:28 mark and nearly pulled ahead when a shot from the high point was deflected over the Duxbury net.

Midway through the opening period momentum swung slightly to Dedham, as Duxbury goaltender Julia Hannon was forced to make some key saves after some sloppy play by the Lady Dragon defense.

Another Dedham power-play with 7:12 to go forced Hannon to come up big once again with her teammates coughing up the puck in their defensive zone.

After killing off their third shorthanded situation in the first period, the Lady Dragons broke out of their zone with senior captain Anie Grunwald combining with sophomore Molly O’Sullivan to give Duxbury a 1-0 lead with 1:36 left in the period.

Despite holding the lead, Duxbury continued to play loose defense, as Hannon once again bailed out her teammates and stopped a pair of Dedham forwards who were left unprotected in the slot with 41 seconds remaining.

Dedham came out strong in the second period and tied the score at the 12:50 mark, as Meaghan Dwan broke over the blue line with Tyla Goyette and beat Hannon with a high shot that handcuffed the Duxbury netminder.

The Marauders continued to pressure the Duxbury defense with several man-advantage breakouts throughout the second period. However, the best chances of the period came off the stick of Connolly, who twice tried to stuff the puck past Dedham netminder Sarah Mosca.

“We were really pinching more than we should have,” said Weiler. “We knew they had a good goalie, so we wanted to force the issue and get some scoring opportunities. I guess we were pinching just a little too much.”

With 15 minutes left in the season for one team, it was imperative that both squads keep their errors to a minimum.

Fortunately for the Lady Dragons, Hannon was at her best as she stopped a point blank shot in the first two minutes that came as a result of sloppy play in front of her.

The pace picked up with Duxbury getting a 3-on-2, and Dedham coming right back to test Hannon on her right side. However, the best chance of the period may have been when O’Sullivan crossed the blue line and ripped a shot at Mosca, who made the save but dropped the puck by her side as O’Sullivan skated by.

With 3:15 to go in the game, Duxbury almost committed its biggest mistake of the night, as Weiler went to change up five players as Dedham scoped up the puck at center ice.

What looked like a 4-on-0 break-in was suddenly squashed when the Dragon defense rushed off the bench to break up the play and preserve the tie.

As the game approached its final minute, Connolly and Kaitlin Sullivan broke out of the Duxbury zone with a pass from Taryn McCall. As the two crossed the blue line, Sullivan held the puck and waited for Connolly to clear the defense before sending a crossing pass to her left that Connolly knocked home for the game-winner.

“The girls dug deep, never gave up, and kept going to the net just like we asked them,” said Weiler. “I was very pleased with the way they played tonight.”