Coming back to take a one-goal lead in the third period against a strong Trumbull/St. Joseph team, the scene was set for Greenwich High School’s girls ice hockey team to earn a spirited, feel-good Senior Night win.

Yet it just didn’t happen for the Cardinals, as the visiting Eagles had other plans.

Trumbull/St. Joseph scored the equalizer with 3:17 remaining in the third period, then netted the game-winning goal 5:00 into overtime to register a dramatic 4-3 comeback win over Greenwich at Dorothy Hamill Skating Rink Thursday night.

The Cardinals (3-12-1) rebounded from the tough loss by skating to a 7-3 victory over Fairfield at Dorothy Hamill Skating Rink on Saturday. Though the Cardinals were defeated by Trumbull/St. Joseph, they produced one of their better performances of their season on Senior Night.

“They battled hard, it’s a wonderful group of young athletes,” Greenwich coach Doug Jebb said of his squad. “They came back from behind, they came back from 2-1 down. Trumbull, give them credit, they made one more play than we did.”

On Senior Night, Greenwich celebrated seniors Lindsay Allen, Lila Fulton, Mackenzie Newi and Grace Popp. Allen and Fulton are team captains, along with junior Aubrey Roth and all four seniors have meant so much to the program over the years – showing commitment and dedication to the team.

“They have provided tremendous leadership throughout the season,” Jebb noted. “It’s a hard one on Senior Night, you want to win. We had it in our grasp and they just made two more plays than we did.”

Following a first period in which the Cardinals outshot the visitors, 11-10, St. Joseph/Trumbull scored the matchup’s first goal with 8:25 remaining in the second period. Junior forward Kelsea Flanagan got her stick on the puck off a rebound and knocked it past GHS sophomore goalie Sophia DiPietro, making it 1-0. Freshman defender Ellie Simon was credited with an assist on the play. The Cardinals came right back, tying the score at 1-1 at the 5:05 mark of the second period.

Freshman forward Aliza Torop got loose on a breakaway, skated down the right wing, then put a nice move on Trumbull/St. Joseph sophomore Lucy Kimberly, before converting a shot from close in, evening the score at 1-1.

“Aliza has grown a lot this year,” Jebb said. “She’s a tremendous skater and she really showed it tonight. She battled, she won the 50/50s and she was robbed on two occasions on glove saves.”

DiPietro made 10 saves in goal for the Cards in the opening period, then stopped 13 more shots in the second period. Trumbull/St. Joseph held a slight 15-13 shots-on-goal advantage on GHS during the second frame.

“Sophia DiPietro is a first-year hockey player and we would not be anywhere if it weren’t for her,” Jebb noted. “She has shown tremendous growth in stopping pucks. If you watched this game, you would not know that this was her first year of hockey.”

Senior Sophia Couture, a center, scored off a rebound on a shot from junior linemate Luna Arar, giving Trumbull/St. Joseph a 2-1 edge with 3:12 to go in the second period. Yet Greenwich evened the score again.

This time, Roth tallied off a one-timer after being set up nicely by freshman defender Carlyn Duffy with 8:54 remaining in the second period. Roth’s goal, which was also assisted by Torop tied the score at 2-2.

With 7:32 left in the final period, the Cards went ahead, 3-2. Another well-executed move by Torop resulted in her second goal of the game, putting the hosts on top, 3-2. A Senior Night victory was near for the Cards.

However, the visitors knotted the score at 3-3 with just 3:17 to go in the third period. Junior defender Sadie Plotkin lifted a shot from the right faceoff circle that whizzed by several players and found its way past DiPietro into the left corner of the goal, evening the score.

Then came overtime and both squads had their chances early, as they each had tested the goalies with shots. The game-winner occurred with 5:00 to go in the eight-minute overtime period.

Stowe’s goal off a pass from freshman forward Sara Melton gave Trumbull/St. Joseph the win, their 11th win of the season.

Still, Jebb knows his Cardinals squad competed hard throughout and played well enough to win on this night.

“I just can’t say enough about Lindsay Allen who competes 110 percent every second she’s out there, Aubrey Roth and all the skaters, who skated so well, they never give up,” Jebb said. “We had some opportunities, and their goalie made some great saves.”

It has been a challenging season for the Cardinals, whose roster includes a lot of underclassmen and some first-season varsity hockey players.

“The captains never allowed the team to get discouraged and provided tremendous leadership,” Jebb noted. “These are the type of lessons that they will carry with them their whole lives.”

Greenwich has not qualified for the four-team FCIAC Tournament or the state tournament, so it will conclude its season with a home game against non-conference foe Hall High School Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.

On Saturday, Greenwich snapped an eight-game losing streak with a convincing 7-3 triumph against Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe co-op at Dorothy Hamill Skating Rink.

Torop continued to excel offensively, recording a hat trick to pace the Cards’ win. Roth tallied two goals and two assists, while freshman forward Eleanor Fine had one goal and one assist in the winning effort.

Freshman forward Mady Jones added one goal, while Allen assisted on a goal for the Cards, who led 6-2 following the first period.