Big wins over Hingham and Marshfield, followed by a week layoff due to last week’s snow storm, didn’t seem to affect the DHS girls’ hockey team, as it continues to roll along in its quest for the program’s first state championship.

Taking on Sandwich (3-3) on Saturday afternoon at The Bog, the team didn’t have one of its better performances, yet broke away from a 1-1 tie midway through the opening period and beat the Blue Knights, 4-1.

Duxbury started strong in the opening minute when senior defenseman Olivia McCarthy had her shot slide behind Sandwich goaltender Meg O’Connell and narrowly miss the post. It would be the first of many scoring chances for the Lady Dragons, who managed to out-shoot the visitors 18-3 over the first 15 minutes.

Just minutes after McCarthy’s scoring bid, sophomore Hannah Murphy lit the lamp for the Lady Dragons when she came flying down the right side and picked the top corner to beat O’Connell and give her team a 1-0 lead.

The one-goal lead didn’t last long, as Sandwich’s Katie Flynn scored the equalizer 31 seconds later to tie the game at 1-1.

It seemed like it was a night for the Duxbury defense to display its offensive weapons, and it was junior Martha Findley who gave Duxbury the lead at the 7:06 mark, as the talented defenseman came in from the right point and beat O’Connell to the top right corner for a 2-1 lead that they never relinquished.

The offensive surge continued for Duxbury, as Lily Connolly was sent in on a break-away and Briana Connolly was taken down twice over a span of four minutes that produced consecutive power play chances for the Lady Dragons.

While Duxbury dominated play, it didn’t translate into scores, keeping the Blue Knights in the game as the period ended.

The Lady Dragons would finally get some breathing room in the middle period, as freshman Liz Collins took a pass from classmate Zoe Griffin and finished off a 2-on-1 to beat O’Connell with 11:38 left in the period.

The period ended with Duxbury on a power-play, but for all its domination it wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard.

The shot totals (57-10) continued to mount in the final period, as Briana Connolly sent Lily Connolly in alone with six minutes left in the contest, only to see her move on O’Connell end in a save.

Findley continued to show off her offensive skills when she went deep into the Sandwich zone and circled the net, trying to wrap her shot around the post. But O’Connell was quick to the post and stopped the junior to keep her team within striking distance at 3-1 with 3:33 left in the game.

With time ticking down, the Blue Knights pulled their goalie in hopes of getting closer. But with 18 seconds left in the game junior forward Colleen Leddie hit the open net to ice the 4-1 victory with Findley and McCarthy assisting.

“This game was tough for us,” said Coach Friend Weiler. “We kind of got derailed by the snowstorm on Wednesday, and it’s also the time of year with Christmas break and exams. I thought they rebounded well in the third period because things weren’t clicking today. We overcame some of the obstacles and worked our way through it. The girls did a pretty good job of putting traffic in front of their net and I think we did a good job of getting into space. Overall, the girls worked hard, and sometimes when the puck doesn’t bounce your way it’s nice to get the win.”

The victory raised Duxbury’s record to 7-1, as they got ready for a Monday trip to Wellesley and an even lengthier trip to Martha’s Vineyard on Saturday.