Girls’ hockey falls to Hingham, beats KP

Still riding high off its recent four-game winning streak, the CHS girls’ ice hockey team fell back to earth a bit last week after a 9-2 road loss to nonleague Hingham. Fortunately, the team was able to bounce back on Saturday with a 6-1 win over King Philip at the Foxboro Sports Center.

Sophomore Jill Eckler (Mike Barucci photo)

With the win and the loss, the Bulldogs are now 8-5 overall, but they possess a stellar 6-1 mark in the SEMGHL West Division and are currently just a point below Franklin, which entered the week at 6-1-1.

The girls have not fared as well against nonleague opponents, however, and the struggles continued on Wednesday at Pilgrim Arena, where the Harbormen — last year’s Division 1 state champions — jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never looked back, adding three more in the second period and another three in the third.

Head coach Kelly Rider said the Bulldogs actually started strong, but two defensive breakdowns and an unlucky bounce put them in a deep hole before they could get any offense going.

“Hingham is a good team,” said Rider, “and when an opponent has a breakdown you can count on them to take advantage of the opportunity.”

Despite the final score, Rider was pleased with her team’s effort, especially in the final period, when Canton managed to score back-to-back goals on a single penalty kill. Junior Meaghan McKenna had the first goal while senior captain Haley Gaughan added the second, with an assist going to Meghan Lennon.

“I think our team learned a lot from the loss and what it takes to win against a very competitive opponent,” said Rider after the game. “I fully expect us to come out with more consistent play in every game the rest of this season.”

The Bulldogs apparently took the message to heart, as they came out flying against KP and outshot the Warriors 25-3 in the first period on Saturday. Still, they only led 2-1 after the opening frame before blowing the game open in the second with four consecutive goals.

Of the team’s six total goals, McKenna had a hand in five of them, netting four while assisting on one more. Gaughan and Michelle McNeil scored the other two goals, while Lennon contributed with three assists. Nicole Sennett got her first win in net, and Emily Buckley came on to play a scoreless third period.

After the game, Coach Rider stressed the importance of the win over KP. “While we have five losses this year, we still have managed to bounce back after every loss with a win,” she said. “I think it shows a lot of resiliency and that we also have a lot of fight and pride in our team.”

The Bulldogs had a critical three-game stretch this week with three straight division opponents — all on the road. The team was due to face Medway/Ashland on Tuesday, followed by division leader Franklin on Wednesday and Medfield on Saturday, February 11.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Feb 8 2012. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.