With the LS girl’s varsity hockey season coming to an end, there are many moments to reminisce about. With records broken and memories made, this season is one that will live on, regardless of the results.
The 2023-24 season threw many challenges at the LS girls team when they were added to a new division: the Dual County League (DCL) Large as well as the overall Division 1. With the start of a new league also came the introduction of new teams, but that did not slow this team.
Not only were they facing more difficult competition in the league, but they were also facing challenges on the bench. Last season, the team’s goalie graduated and there was no one to fill her spot. Because of this, Coach Paul Hardy had to go through the 8th-grade waiver process.
Along with the two goalies who were brought up, the waiver also allowed four other players to come into the team and led to the final 22-player roster. With these players, the LS girls team was able to have a full four lines and allowed many players to be available in the case of an injury or missed game.
Together, the team worked every day to prepare for this opportunity, which allowed them to come into their season prepared. The season opener occurred on December 13th against HPNA, where the LS girls showed that they were ready to fight with a 3-0 victory, and they didn’t stop there.
The team proceeded to win the annual Warriors for Warriors game 7-0 against Concord-Carlisle High School and brought home the cup in honor of Scott Milley. This streak continued onto their third game of the season until an away game vs Shrewsbury High School ended in a 1-1 tie, and the following game against St. Mary’s resulted in a loss.
After these games, the girls were able to bring back their winning streak with six straight wins until an unfortunate 1-2 loss against HPNA brought it to an end. Regardless of this loss, the girls were able to keep pushing and seal their playoff position in a win against Billerica Memorial High School. With their 3-2 win against Andover High School, the LS girl’s team officially named themselves the MVC/DCL Large champions in their first season. With a record of seventeen wins, two losses, and one tie, the team came out flying with an ending regular season ranking of #3 in the Division 1 Power Rankings, but they weren’t done fighting.
On February 28th, the playoffs kicked off with a home game against Arlington Catholic High School. Tensions were high – if the team lost, they would be knocked out of the playoffs. That didn’t faze these girls though, and they came out fighting to secure a 5-0 win. In a home game that occurred on March 2nd, the LS girl’s season came to an unfortunate end when #14 Belmont won the game 4-1. Though the season definitely ended sooner than the girls wanted, the season had been successful, and there was a lot to be happy about.
Early on in the season, Captains Sophia Romm and Harper Friedholm stated that coming into the season, resilience and hard work were needed to make the team the best it could be, and these girls showed time and time again that they were ready for whatever was thrown at them.
