Walpole came into the game as the #17 seed with an 11-8-1 record, but had given the Lady Dragons all they could handle when the two teams met earlier in the year.

In that first encounter the Rebels held a 3-1 lead after the first period of play, but Duxbury stormed back with five goals in the final 30 minutes for a 6-3 win.

The win now sends Duxbury into quarterfinal action against #7 seed Archbishop Williams of Braintree on Saturday night at the Gallo Arena in Bourne.

The Bishops clobbered #8 seeded Marshfield 8-1 in their first-round game.

Duxbury’s Liz Collins and Walpole’s Olivia Knight had the best scoring chances for their teams in the first period, but neither player could get it past Walpole goalie Bethany Welch or Duxbury’s Rachel Myette.

It looked like Duxbury would be the first to break the ice when Fichter broke through center ice and down the slot, going in alone on Welch, who robbed her with glove hand just 28 seconds into the period.

The rest of the period would be filled with power-play opportunities for both sides. But once again neither team could capitalize with Myette making the biggest save of the period on a 2-on-1 Walpole rush with 4:45 showing on the clock.

The pressure was mounting for Duxbury as the third period began and they kept the action in the Walpole end with Meredith Wright pushing the puck toward the goal and forcing Welch to sprawl on her back and make a save with 7:03 left in the game.

Duxbury wouldn’t let up. But Walpole continued to stymie every Lady Dragons threat, especially when Hannah Murphy ripped off a high wrist shot that Welch deflected away with the flick of her stick hand.

It looked like a matter of time before the dam would break, as Walpole took chances by pushing its defense up to help out. As they moved the puck along the left boards, Murphy intercepted it and banged it off the boards with a streaking Fichter picking up the puck and getting by the defense. She went in alone on Welch and faked her to the ice before flipping a backhander into the net for the game-winner.

“I give a lot of credit to Walpole,” said Duxbury Coach Friend Weiler. “They had a terrific game plan and stuck to it, and their goalie made some great saves and swung the momentum. We’re a young team and this was the first introduction to play-off hockey for a lot of them. Now we’ll take a day off and get back to action on Sunday.”