By Meghan Foley
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
On December 31st, varsity girls’ hockey had a home game against Wakefield Memorial High School. Last year, Wakefield was 2–17–1, but this year defeated Winchester 4–3 after losing 1–5 to them last season. They entered this game with a 3–3 record to the Warriors’ 3–1. They did not face each other last year, when Medfield earned a 12–7–2 record before going on an exciting run in the postseason, winning the championship at TD Garden despite being seeded 13th.
In their matchup on the 31st, both teams were scoreless by the end of the first period, but that changed five minutes into the second period when Kate Grzeskowiak put away a goal with an assist by Abby Herman. A few minutes later, Genna MacDonald raised the score to 2–0, assisted by Abby Cucchiara.
In the final few minutes of the third period, there were a flurry of goals. First, Leah Carlson took a shot that was saved by the Wakefield goalie, but the offense stayed on them and came away with a goal by Carlson, assisted by Cucchiara and MacDonald. This caused Wakefield to pull their goalie, which allowed Abby Herman to earn an empty-netter goal on a breakaway while a defender chased her. Unfortunately, in the final two minutes of what would have been a shutout, Wakefield got their own breakaway and scored on a one-on-one. Still, this was a definitive win for the Warriors, ending with a 4–1 win they could add to their previously 3–1 season record.
On Saturday, January 3rd, the Warriors bumped their record up to 5–1 after they shut out the Norwood Mustangs (2–3) at the Skating Club of Boston. Last year, Medfield won their first matchup 7–3 but fell to Norwood 3–4 later in the season. This year, the Warriors won 4–0, but the Mustangs will have their chance for revenge on February 11th.
The Warriors will next play at 5:10 on Saturday on their home ice at Canton Ice House, where they will take on King Phillip Regional High School, who beat them 2–1 last year. Then on Monday, they will travel to Bajko Rink in Hyde Park to face Dedham at 3:00 after last season’s 5–1 and 4–3 wins. The Warriors’ full schedule can be found at: www.arbiterlive.com.
