Girls hockey program looking to take the next step

The Whaler girls hockey team is getting ready to begin their third season in program history. Senior captain Evelyn Fey will lead the way for the Whalers and look to lead the team in scoring again after burying 15 goals last year. This is expected to be a team that will again focus on taking small steps to establish a foundation that can be built upon to create a steady, successful program year in and year out.

“I think it is important for the girls to understand and accept that we are still a young and developing program and it takes years to build a successful, established program,” head coach Liz Collins said. “With that being said, we saw improvements last year. We won our first game in program history, had four ties, and we were hanging with a lot of teams for early stretches of games before our lack of depth came back to hurt us. I think by the end of this season, we can definitely be better than last year.”

But this is a roster that won’t just be young. This team will feature several seventh and eighth grade players, some of which are former figure skaters.

“If you are a figure skater your edges in skating are phenomenal,” Collins said. “I think that has really helped some of our younger players who are new here. Believe it or not, this was the first year where every player was able to skate at the first practice. We have some talent on this team and while we are young, we now have some players who have experience at the varsity level.”

Sophomore forwards Bailey Lower and Emerson Pekarcik, along with junior captain Lydia Johnson will play key roles in the Whaler’s top six forward group this season. Hannah Evens and EJ Hemingway will play heavy minutes on defense. All five players played important roles for the varsity team last season.

“I think Claire Misurelli could break out this season too,” Collins said. “She spent the offseason on the Bay State Breakers.”

Defensively, Collins believes a player to watch will be seventh grader Mia Beaudette.

“Mia is extremely fast and has excellent edges,” Collins said. “Having a lot of these girls playing other sports year-round has also helped them improve their hand-eye coordination. I think we are in as good of a position to begin the season as we have been in our first three seasons.”

Sophomore Caroline Allen will be the starting goaltender to begin the season, Collins said, filling the skates of Shea Harnishfeger, who graduated in June and was the starter for the program’s first two seasons.

The Whalers will have a pair of scrimmages this weekend, but their first official game is Saturday, December 11, when they host the Marshfield Rams at 5:15 p.m.