FALMOUTH — With its second 3-2 win over Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland in two weeks Thursday night, Greely essentially sewed up the No. 2 spot in the girls’ hockey North Heal points and relegated the Red Hornets to No. 3.

Ellie Schad’s goal 9:33 into the second period proved the difference in the Rangers’ latest triumph at Falmouth Family Ice. The Red Hornets (9-4-1) got back to within a goal on Angel Drouin’s power-play goal with 1:34 left in the third, but Greely controlled play in the third period and got solid goaltending from Nica Todd (15 saves) on the Red Hornets few chances.

“After talking in the locker room, we knew we needed to win this to get home ice in the playoffs. This is a really big game for us,” Schad said.

“They beat Scarborough and we tied Scarborough. Other than that, our schedules are identical,” Red Hornets coach Shonn Collins said. “So my expectation was they’re going to finish second. We’ll finish third. And after a quarterfinal game, I expect to see them again in three weeks.”

Red Hornets goalie Maranda Guimond was also excellent in net, stopping 22 of 25 shots. She had no hope of seeing, let alone stopping, the screen shot by Bridget Roberts that gave the Rangers the lead for good, 2-1, at 12:46 of the first.

Chances were otherwise pretty slim for both teams through the first two periods, even though Saige Arsenault scored just 24 seconds in to give the Red Hornets the lead on the game’s first shot.

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“I thought both teams played pretty well defensively and limited each other,” Collins said.

Emilee McGillicuddy tied it for the Rangers at 2:54 by wheeling around from the left circle to the right hash, and firing one past Guimond.

Greely came out strong for the third period, outshooting the Red Hornets, 12-4.

“We were able to regroup a little bit and come back harder,” Guerin said. “We limited our chances by doing some of the little things right and keeping the puck deep in their end, which I thought the girls did pretty well.”

The Rangers got the insurance goal they were looking for when Schad shot across the slot to beat Guimond, who may have been screened again.

“I got it on the point and I had some space, so I took it forward, made a move around a person and took a shot,” Schad said. “It was kind of a blind shot, but it got past the goalie. I honestly didn’t see it.”

“She’s a pretty dynamic player. She can find a way to get it to the net,” Greely coach Nate Guerin said. “You see her, almost every shift, she’s doing something offensive back from the blue line.”

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