Celebrate the Season!
Month: December 2011
Exciting OT Victory for Huskies
On Saturday night, in the final round robin game of the E.G. Watkins tournament, Northwood had a dramatic victory that went to 5 rounds of OT before Erin B. scored the game winning goal. Playing against the New Hampton Huskies, Northwood came out strong but couldn’t get on the board despite many quality chances. New Hampton scored half way through the first after a bad Northwood turnover. Casey K. tied it up when she shot quickly and beat the goalie five-hole. But New Hampton was not going to let up, and they scored to take the lead minutes later. After a long injury time out, Northwood was determined to tie it up and eventually win the game. They went on the power play, and Erin B. converted to score her first goal of the night. The two teams went into overtime, playing a full 5 minutes. They then played 1 minute of 4v4 play, 1 minute of 3v3, and 1 minute of 2v2. The last overtime period before shoot-out was a 1v1, and Erin B. was called upon to give her best. She beat the New Hampton player on the face-off and went in on a breakaway but missed wide. She regained the puck, and created some time and space before trying again. This time she took a low hard shot that beat the goalie for the win. Gabi P. made 18 saves for the win.
In the consolation game the following morning against Culver Academy, Northwood again found themselves down 2-0, but not because of lack of effort. It wasn’t until the third period that Northwood could tighten the margin, when leading scorer, Erin B. sniped one high. Even with pulling the goalie in the last two minutes, the Huskies could not tie it up. Nicole G. turned away 21 shots in a strong game, and Erin B. was named to the all-tournament team.
Battle Until The Very End Against Gilmour
The Huskies second game of the Cushing tournament was against Gilmour Academy. The team made it their goal to come out flying and to shoot, shoot, shoot on net. At the end of a hard fought first period, the game was scoreless. Shortly into the second period a scramble in front of the net allowed Gilmour to go up 1-0. The girls did not hang their heads, quite the opposite, they turned it up a notch and a couple minutes later a rush from Erin B tied the game 1-1. With the momentum on their side the game was in their hands and it was just a matter of the right bounces to net goal number two. Unfortunately, with 16 seconds to go Gilmour scored to go ahead 2-1. The Huskies played hard for a whole game and even though it ended in a loss they held their heads high.
Flat Opening Period Leads to Loss in Opening Game
As the Huskies began their Holiday break, they drove to Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, MA for the annual E.G. Watkins tournament. Northwood faced the home team in the marquee game of the night with college scouts and home team fans lining the bleachers.
The Cushing Penguins came out of the gate running and set the Huskies back on their heels in the first five minutes. Though they held them to only four shots, the Huskies were clearly outplayed and outworked. In the last 5 seconds of the period, the Huskies lost a defensive zone face-off and the Penguins took the lead. They scored again at the start of the second to make it a two goal lead. The Huskies regrouped a bit, but basically just weathered the storm with strong goaltending by Gabi P. With the break at ice cut, Northwood came out stronger and more determined. They began to control more of the game, but when one of Cushing’s best players broke free in the d-zone she converted to widen the lead to 3-0. Still, the Huskies battled, hoping to chip away at the lead, but again, Cushing converted first, scoring again. Proudly, Northwood kept going, not allowing Cushing to become comfortable. They got on the board while on the power play when Jess B. took the puck down the left boards and sniped a quick shot past the Penguins goalie. Erin B. scored just two minutes later to lower the scoring margin when she came off the half wall and beat the goalie low. The Huskies ran out of time though, and the game ended 4-2.
First College Acceptance
Congratulations to Alexa C. who opened the first college acceptance letter of the year. Alexa was accepted at Salve Regina University, a small liberal arts school in Newport, RI with a tradition of great hockey. More acceptance letters are surely on the way for the Senior class.
Northwood Drops Two to Lawrenceville
Northwood returned to the ice this past weekend to take on Lawrenceville School from New Jersey. On Saturday, the teams met at Union College to play at Achilles Arena. After watching the Union women play a strong game against Maine, the Huskies took it to Lawrenceville. Although they started out strong, Lawrenceville got on the board first off of a quick shot from the slot. Cassie K. put Northwood back in it on a great heads-up play that caught the goalie out of position. Lawrenceville scored again, and again Northwood tied it up, this time with great puck movement in the zone that gave Halle K. a chance to even it up. Despite outshooting and outplaying their opponents, Northwood could not find a way to gain the lead. In the last five minutes, some bad defensive decisions led to the last Lawrenceville goal to make the final score 3-2.
The next day, the two teams played again at the Olympic Center. On Sunday though, Northwood came out flat and allowed Lawrenceville two weak goals in the first. They picked it up in the second and again out-shot Lawrenceville but could not score on a stellar goalie. In the third, a lack of urgency and focus led to three more goals against for the Huskies.
After regrouping, Northwood looks to get back in the win column when they travel to Cushing Academy for their annual tournament. One of the most important tournaments of the year, the Huskies will play with a real purpose and a will to win to end out 2011.
Huskies End Weekend With Win
The Northwood Huskies ended their weekend road trip to New Brunswick with a big 6-0 win against King’s-Edgehill School from Nova Scotia. Scoring started off on the first shift when Casey K. buried a rebound goal. Seconds later Jess G. sniped five hole to put the Huskies up 2-0. Rachael P. took a hard shot from the point that found a home in the net and then Halle K. scored her second of the weekend to end the scoring for the first period. In the 2nd period, Erin B. scored on a beautiful power play goal. She scored again in the third to finish off the game. Nicole G. turned away 12 shots and played the puck very well throughout the game.
In the previous game against Stanstead on Saturday night, the Huskies found themselves in a battle of attrition. With over 20 penalties called throughout the game, Northwood was either on the PP or PK for a majority of the game. Stanstead’s first goal was on a power play in the first. They scored again on a 5 on 3 in the second and followed that with another power play goal to close the period. In the 3rd, Halle K. got Northwood on the board with a beautiful shot that beat the Stanstead goalie high. Although Northwood outplayed the Spartans in the third, they couldn’t close the scoring gap. Gabi P. played solidly throughout the whole game.
On the way home, the girls stopped by the University of Maine to walk around campus and take in 2 periods of the Maine game against BC. They watched Northwood alum, Blake ’09 as she led the Eagles in the charge against the Black Bears.
Pictured above are the girls in front of the Maine Black Bear. Below are Nicole G, Jess B, and Casey K with Blake carrying the puck in the background.
Two Ties and Playing Tourist
For the first time, the huskies made the trek to New Brunswick for an opening weekend of league play. They started the four game round robin with host team RNS. The girls came out flying and dominated in the offensive zone outshooting RNS 40-5. RNS’ outstanding goalie Jane H. played an amazing game in net. Erin B. scored the lone goal on the power play. The game ended in a tie 1-1.
The Huskies took on the Rice Knights from Burlington, Vermont in the second game of the weekend. Again, the Huskies dominated and battled a stellar goaltender. The power play proved to be their weapon when junior Erin B netted the lone goal again. The game ended in a 1-1 tie giving the Huskies 2 league points so far.
After the Saturday morning game, the girls visited “Uptown” Saint John where they walked and shopped through the Saint John Market Square, a beautiful enclosed market. They also walked to the Harbor and then met with Santa Clause. He told them he’d bring them more wins this Christmas!
Northwood School Girls Hockey 