The girls’ hockey team ended their regular season with a record of 13-6-1 and is entering the MIAA Division II state tournament seeded fifth, with their first game on Feb. 29. The team is led by senior captains Bryn Domolky of Algonquin and Emily Johns of Clinton. Domolky shares highlights from the team’s regular season and what the team is looking forward to in the playoffs.
How is the season going overall?
“It’s definitely going really well right now. We started off kind of rocky, but we do every year, bringing a bunch of girls together from different schools, different areas and teams. Sometimes it can be hard to get chemistry at the beginning of the year, but then over the season, we bonded in and out of practice and in [games] and out of games, which really strengthened our chemistry on the ice. I think that plays a huge role, and we’ve definitely grown a lot since the beginning of the season.”
What was a highlight of this season so far?
“I think beating Shrewsbury was definitely the highlight of the season for me because my coach has coached this team for seven years, and she’s never beat them. I’ve never beat them either, and they’ve kind of always been our rivals, even though they’re in D1 and we’re in D2. We beat them four [to] nothing on their senior night, so it was awesome.”
Who are some of your key players? What players especially stepped up this season and how?
“Our goalie [sophomore] Addy Cagan really stepped up this season. We had a different starting goalie last year and she graduated, so for Addy as a sophomore to step up and really make a huge difference is really impressive and we couldn’t do it without her.”
What is your team dynamic like and how do you work together?
“We’re really close; we do a lot of bonding outside of the scheduled times that we practice. Our chemistry off the ice really translates when we play on the ice and it’s really noticeable.”
What do you think was the most challenging part of this season?
“I think the most challenging part of the season was definitely the beginning, because we were losing a lot. We had all the right components to be a great team, but we just weren’t putting pucks in the net and we just weren’t coming out with wins. I would say about halfway or like 60 percent through the season, we started winning and then we couldn’t stop; we were just on a roll.”
What is coming up for the team?
“What’s coming up is playoffs. Hopefully we’ll take it all the way to the [TD] garden like we did two years ago. I’m really hopeful. The team’s looking really good.”
