By Meghan Foley
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
Last year, varsity girls’ hockey was 6–15–1 and qualified for the playoffs after defeating Ursuline Academy 11–5, but were eliminated by Hingham High—who went on to win the tournament—in the next round. This season, the Raiders were 1–3 when they went up against the Newton North Tigers on December 29th.
The two teams played each other twice last year, tying the first game 2–2 while the Tigers came out on top 3–2 in overtime of the second game. This season, they already played each other once on December 17th, Wellesley losing 2–3. Last year the Tigers were 10–8–1 and entered this game 2–1–1.
The Raiders began the game with a strong start, scoring three goals in the first period while keeping the Tigers from scoring at all. In the second period, Wellesley increased their lead to 4–0 when senior Margaret Redgate was able to get it by the Tigers’ goalie, but Newton got their first goal seconds later, the second period ending 4–1. A little over a minute into the third, the Tigers continued to close in with a second goal. However, the Raiders didn’t let them celebrate for long, junior Jillian Sjostedt earning their fifth goal only 23 seconds later with an assist by freshman Anna Frost. Frost also assisted on their final goal when sophomore Sabrina McGahn scored after a faceoff in the Tigers’ end.
The Raiders left the game with a 6–2 win, bringing their season record to 2–3.
The Raiders’ next game will be at home at Boston Sports Institute on Saturday at 5:30 where they will look for revenge against the Needham Rockets after losing 3–4 to them last year.
Then on Wednesday, January 14th, the Raiders will travel to Chase Arena to face the Natick Redhawks at 5:40. Last year, the Raiders were defeated by the Redhawks 0–1 and 7–10.
The Raiders’ full schedule can be found at: www.arbiterlive.com.
