Girls’ Hockey redeems previous loss to Greenwich

Photograph taken by Kim Persky
Photograph taken by Kim Persky

Emily Greene
News Editor

On Saturday January 30th, the Varsity Girl’s Hockey team got sweet revenge against their Greenwich rivals, winning their second game against them by a final score of 3-2, New Canaan.

Coming off a 2-0 win against formidable Simsbury, the team was looking to avenge their one
loss of the season against Greenwich. On Saturday they got their chance. The Rams faced the Cardinals for the second time this season, this time at home at the Darien Ice Rink.

Going into the game the Rams had a record of 11-1-0, and the Cardinals 10-1-1. The last time these two teams met, Greenwich won 2-1, despite New Canaan out shooting the Cardinals 32-15. Junior tri-captain Jana Persky scored the only New Canaan goal in the first match-up, with 44 seconds left.

Head Coach Rich Bulan said there wasn’t much the Rams could do the first time against strong Greenwich goalie Addie Mckeon and the rest of the team. “We played a very good game. They got two goals, we got one,” he said. “They played hard and deserved [the win].”

However, Coach Bulan was confident that after the Rams beat Darien in overtime and conquered Simsbury, the Rams could use their momentum to handle this game like “business as usual.”

The Rams dominated the first two periods with strong offensive efforts by the first two lines, and had many opportunities to score. Freshman Corbett Ripley got the ball rolling with a goal on a one timer, assisted by sophomore Holly Burwick, with 1:12 minutes left in the first period. There was another close opportunity to score with 40 seconds left in the period.

Three minutes and 48 seconds into the second period, Persky shot high over the shoulder of McKeon with 11:12 minutes left, assisted by senior captain Maggie Burke and Holly Burwick, making the score 2-0.

The third goal was scored by freshman Madzie Carroll with 5:34 left in the second period after freeing the puck loose from a struggle in front of the net, making the score 3-0. The goal was unassisted.

Although New Canaan was in the Cardinals’ half for the majority of the two periods, the Rams defense, led by senior captain Shelby Barada, senior Kelsey Durkin, and senior goalie Charlotte Sptizfaden, kept it scoreless until the end of the second period when Greenwich forward Hannah Jeffery netted a goal for Greenwich, making it 3-1.

Charlotte handled breakaways well, successfully stopping two, and picked up 12 saves for the game.

In the third period the level of play evened out, and Greenwich pressed harder.    With 3 minutes left in the third period, Burke got a holding penalty, and Greenwich capitalized on the power play when Meghan Spezzano scored.

With the score at 3-2, Greenwich pulled their goalie in the final minute in hopes of tying up the game. However, the Rams stepped up on defense and did not allow a tying goal. The final score was 3-2 New Canaan.

The Rams’ advanced to 12-1 in CIAC, and their next game is on Feb. 3 against Notre Dame-Fairfield at 4:20 pm at Terry Connors Ice Rink in Stamford.