The girls’ hockey season ended with a regular season record of 16-3-1 and made the “Elite Eight” in the MIAA playoff tournament, led by senior captains Oliva Bower of Hudson and Kaitlin Mathews of Nashoba, alongside assistant captains juniors Bryn Domolky of Algonquin and Emily Johns of Clinton. Domolky recounts the team’s successes from this past season.

How was the season overall? What worked for your team and what did not work?

“I think this year and last year especially, we’ve just really had a good team bond. We have pasta dinners after practice at least once a week, we do a bunch of team bonding activities. I think this is really beneficial for us and it shows both on and off the ice.”

What is your team dynamic like and how do you work together?

“There is a lot of team chemistry between everyone. On the ice, our coaches and the team itself strives for communication, teamwork. In games we try to work for our teammates instead of just ourselves. Moving the hockey puck around and passing it to each other instead of using just one’s self talent alone helps us win games.”

What was the most challenging part of this season?

“I think the most challenging part of this season was definitely trying to live up to last season because we won the State Championship [last year]. I was very nervous about trying to be as good or better that we were last year, but I think we’ve definitely exceeded expectations.”

What was a highlight of this season for the team?

“A highlight of this season would have to be the first playoff game we had. A freshman [Brooke Cutler] scored the winning goal and it just proved that there’s really no social hierarchy on the team. We just supported each other and it was really awesome; she scored in overtime and we all piled up celebrating.”

What players especially stepped up this season and how?

“Our assistant captains from last year were named captains this year [and] really stepped up: [Nashoba senior] Kaitlin Matthews and [Hudson senior] Olivia Bower. Kaitlin is in her first year playing as the head goalie and she’s done a great job.”

What is coming up for the team and what do you think next season will look like?

“As for next season, we have a lot of very talented freshmen coming in and we’ll be keeping a lot of our very talented players from this year. As we come into next year, we’ll have a very stacked team.”