CHS girls hockey opens with 2 big nonleague wins
By Jay TurnerPowered by a deep and talented corps of defensemen, the CHS girls ice hockey team has hit the ground running in 2019-20 with back-to-back shutout victories to open the season.
Senior Rose Malloy (Mike Barucci photo)
In both games last week, the lady Bulldogs looked downright dominant, outscoring Sandwich and Whitman-Hanson by a combined 9-0 margin while out-shooting them 69-25.
New goalie Carolyn Durand was perfect in her first two career starts and she also got a lot of help from the Canton blueliners, led by the top D pairings of Meg Aldrich and Allie McCabe and sisters Alexa and Olivia Maffeo. Recent transfer Maya Battista also saw action in both games and is proving her mettle as a rock solid, stay-at-home defenseman.
While overall team defense is poised to be a strength this season, head coach Dennis Aldrich said he also expects a lot of their offense to originate from their defense, and that was certainly the case in the first two contests. Rookie Olivia Maffeo, a special talent who Aldrich said “comes as advertised,” has already proved to be a difference maker with two goals and an assist, while veteran Meg Aldrich is tied for the early lead in goals after scoring in both games last week. Both girls are part of the power play unit along with a third defenseman, senior Alexa Maffeo, who already has a pair of helpers and a team-best plus/minus of +5.
On the forward lines, while the Bulldogs may not have anyone with the pure scoring ability of 2019 graduate and reigning league MVP Maggie Malloy, they still have plenty of talent and arguably even more depth than last year’s group. “We’ve got four lines that I really don’t have any problems playing, and we’re as deep I think as we’ve ever been,” said Aldrich.
The top line of Maria Femia (5 assists), Lizzie Tassinari (1g, 1a) and Tess Khoury (1g, 2a) is off to a very strong start, and the team has gotten great secondary production from the likes of Ellie Rae Roberts (2g, 1a) and Caroline Tourgee (1g, 1a). Other key rotation pieces include freshman Audrey Koen along with returning players Rose Malloy, Payton McDonough and Faith Nelson.
As for overall team goals, Aldrich acknowledged that they still have a “ways to go” in order to reach championship contender status, but he has high hopes for this season and is already confident that his team can skate with anybody.
“They seem to have great chemistry and they’re very, very fun to coach,” he said. “I think as long as we stay together and keep up our work ethic, then we can be very successful. Certainly when your best players are your hardest workers then you don’t have too many problems as a coach.”
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=62942
Posted by Jay Turner
on Dec 21 2019. Filed under High School, Sports.
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