Red-hot girls’ hockey team opens season 3-0

Senior captain Meaghan McKenna has a team-high 9 points in 3 games. (Mike Barucci photo)

Although hockey championships are not won in December, the CHS girls’ team has to be considered one of the early favorites in Division 2 after opening the season with three straight impressive victories.

Already the Bulldogs have racked up 25 goals in wins over King Philip (10-0), Sandwich (7-5) and Franklin (8-1), and new head coach Dennis Aldrich expects them to only get better as the season wears on.

“I’m expecting some pretty good hockey out of this team this year,” said Aldrich, who previously coached baseball and hockey at CHS before spending seven years with the Stoughton hockey program. “As long as we play as a team and not as individuals, I think we’re going to be extremely tough to beat.”

Aldrich said this year’s team is going to be a “very entertaining group,” and that was certainly the case in the season opener against KP as the Bulldogs unleashed 53 shots on net and dominated the game from start to finish on the Warriors’ home ice.

Every player saw ice time in the victory, and 14 players finished with at least a goal or an assist. Six of those players had multiple points, led by senior captains Meaghan McKenna (2 goals, 3 assists) and Meghan Lennon (3 assists), as well as Julie Nagel (2 goals, 1 assist), Jackie Martin (1 goal, 2 assists), Emily Lanci (2 goals), and Katie Kelleher (1 goal, 1 assist).

The team’s third senior captain, defenseman Bethany Kelly, also had a goal in the win, as did fellow defenseman Elise Barry.

Freshman Lindsey Nolte earned the start in net and saw just nine shots all game, collecting her first career shutout.

Nolte also got the nod in the Franklin game while junior Emily Buckley manned the net against Sandwich last Wednesday. Aldrich said he plans to rotate the two goalies for now, although he intends to play the hot hand in some of the tougher matchups coming up.

In the Sandwich game, the Bulldogs got off to a fast start in front of their home crowd, scoring three straight goals in the first seven minutes of the opening period. Sandwich — a tournament team from last season — managed to come all the way back and tie the score at 4-4, but the Bulldogs regained control thanks to a dominant third period by McKenna, who finished with four goals and “carried the team on her back” late in the game, according to Aldrich.

“She was just an awesome force and would not be denied,” he said.

Other top performers included Lanci, who had her second straight two-goal game, Lennon, who collected two more assists, and junior defenseman Casey Considine, who scored her first goal of the young season. Kelsey Trerice also chipped in with two assists while Martin and Kelleher added one apiece.

Saturday’s game against Franklin was also at home, and Aldrich could not have been happier with the team’s performance, describing it as a “total team effort.”

“Franklin is very physical, but we didn’t back down one bit,” said Aldrich.

Lanci continued her hot start with a team-high five points in the win; Lennon tallied four points, including three more assists, and Kelleher added two goals and one assist. Martin and Nagel also scored goals while Kelly, Jill Eckler, and Mary McNeil each had one assist.

Overall, Aldrich has been thrilled with the Bulldogs’ performance as well as their “incredible” work ethic thus far. He also praised the leadership of the team’s three senior captains, and he firmly believes the team has the talent to go “deep in the tournament” this year.

This week, the Bulldogs were due to host Dover-Sherborn on Wednesday and will then travel to Duxbury for a highly anticipated showdown with the defending state champion Dragons. The team will then resume play after the New Year, beginning with a game at Westwood on Wednesday, January 2.

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