The best part of this win was easy: everyone had a hand in it.
Madeline Moell’s first period goal stood up as the game winner as the Nichols School Prep A girls hockey team blanked Havergale College, 1-0, in their Conference of Independent Athletic Association game that was played at the Dann Memorial Rink, Wednesday afternoon.
Moell banged the rebound past Havergale goalie Cassie Reale off a shot that was originally taken by linemate Katy Knoll.
“We broke out of the zone pretty good. A complete break out,” Moell said. “Then in the neutral zone we had some movement. We made it (into the offensive zone) from there. Then Katy Knoll took a shot and we got the rebound.”
Offensively, the Vikings created plenty of chances as they kept Havergale pinned in its end most of the game. If not for the remarkable play of Reale, who is headed for DI Princeton, the final score would have been much different.
Though they didn’t add to the score sheet Nichols head coach Shelley Looney was very happy with the fact that her team did not take the foot off the pedal and rest on that one goal lead.
“That’s the best thing, when you are still getting the same amount of shots you did in the first as you are in the third,” Looney said. “I think they were actually more quality shots. That goalie is outstanding. She is going to Princeton. The whole thing is I rolled lines. Everybody played, which doesn’t always happen. It’s kinda nice to get the girls out there and kind of interact them with different players, cause you never know what you’re going to get in the future.”
Knowing that all three goalies would be rotated into the game was extra motivation for the players so they remained aggressive on offense and focused on on the defensive side of the game because they didn’t want to put any undo pressure on Kenyon and Finach, because it’s already challenging enough to come into a game cold.
“We had to keep working,” Moell said, “because we didn’t want them to score a goal and we didn’t want our goalies (left hanging).”
But what made Looney smile the most was the fact that every girls was able to get quality playing time which made it feel like a true team effort.
“When you play everybody, everybody is rooting for everybody,” Looney said. “So the ones that might not get enough ice time or the goalies that don’t see a (ton of time) the girls are out there patting them on the pads going-here it is (here’s your chance).”
The best example was the fact that all three goalies played a period. No.1 goalie Jada Brenon, a junior, set the tone by playing the first. Followed by sophomore Rachel Kenyon and eighth grader Emily Finach who played the third period. For Kenyon and Finach, being able to step between the pipes for a full period was their chance to show the coaches that they can been counted whenever
“It’s a great gift to have a game like that,” Finach said, “and hopefully I’ll have some more in the future.”
Finach added how much she appreciated the fact that her teammates kept pushing for more goals in the third
“They did a great job tonight. They put forth a really good effort,” said Finach.
Cortney Staniszewski also assisted on Moell’s game-winner.
Improving to 7-4-2 on the season, Nichols’ next home game will be Jan.18 against Appleby College at 5pm.
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