The No. 1-ranked Duxbury HS girls’ hockey team took on its biggest challenge of the young season on Wednesday night at The Bog when it defeated No. 2-ranked and undefeated Hingham HS, 4-2.

The game pitted the top ranked team in Division I against the Division II State champs for dominance in South Shore high school women’s hockey.

This has always been a heated rivalry with Hingham dominating the early years of the Duxbury program. But the tide has now turned with Duxbury holding the edge over the past couple of seasons.

Duxbury’s senior captain Hannah Murphy was the game’s star, as she registered a hat-trick that gave the Lady Dragons a 3-0 lead late into the second period.

“I can’t say enough good things about Hannah, “ said Coach Friend Weiler. “She always plays big in the big games. She’s a hard worker and a great kid. She is really the heart and soul of our team.”

Murphy’s first-period goal was a beauty, as she cruised through the Hingham defense into the slot on a pass from Zoe Griffin and ripped off a shot that beat Hingham netminder Taylor Walsh to her right-hand side for a 1-0 lead at the 5:35 mark.

It was Duxbury’s only dangerous shot in a first period that saw both squads go up and down the ice with few scoring attempts.

The Lady Dragons got some breathing room at the 9:57 mark of the second period when Murphy was perfectly positioned at the blue line, picking up a clearing pass  that caromed off the boards high in the slot from where she moved and blasted a shot past Walsh for a 2-0 lead. Griffin once again registered an assist on the goal.

It only took a few minutes for Duxbury to put itself ahead by three goals when Ally Hammell and Marissa Fichter fought for a loose puck behind the net and centered it out front to Murphy, who beat Walsh once again to the lower left corner.

It looked like the Lady Dragons would go into the locker room after two periods with a comfortable three-goal margin. But the team fell asleep in the closing seconds, allowing Hingham’s Jane Freda to beat Duxbury goalie Rachel Myette 1.5 seconds left in the period.

The tally seemed to take some air out of the Duxbury bubble, as the Lady Dragons came out slow for the final 15 minutes and were made to pay six minutes in when Hingham’s Emily Falvey walked out of the corner on a power-play and beat Myette inside the left post to cut the deficit to 3-2.

Duxbury stepped up the pace and prevented Hingham from any serious scoring bids, finally solidifying its lead with 4:19 left in the game when freshman forward Julia Nolan beat Walsh with an unassisted goal for the final score of the night.

The Lady Dragons now stand at 5-0, as they get ready to face Falmouth on Saturday night at The Bog at 5:30.