By Max Clifford
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Saturday was opening day for Medfield Varsity Girls Ice Hockey who saw their first regular season action on the road against Walpole. The game was a back-and-forth affair through two periods, but the Timberwolves eventually outlasted the Warriors, taking the game by a final tally of 4-2.
Walpole dominated the battle of shots on goal from the opening whistle of Saturday’s game. Medfield’s Katelyn Nicotera stood strong against the barrage in the early goings until a well-placed pass off the boards put her in a one on-one with Walpole’s Elena Govoni. Govoni used some stick work to shake Nicotera, putting the puck in the net to open the scoring.
Medfield came out of the first intermission intent on pulling even with the Timberwolves. It took just over five minutes of play in the second period for Maeve Kelly to navigate the Walpole defense and cash in for the tying score.
Nicotera’s presence in goal paced the Medfield defense throughout the second period. Stuck in another one-on-one - this time with Walpole’s Annie Flippo - she held her ground and snaggedthe Timberwolves best opportunity yet. She continued to stand tall with the Warriors down a skater, killing off the games first power play with just under four minutes to play.
With the skaters back at even strength, Walpole finally found a gap in the goal with Fiona Bligh feeding Brooke Reilly the assist for her first goal of the year. Medfield’s Parker Kathan hardly gave Walpole time to celebrate their newfound lead before knotting the game right back up. She sent her shot from the blue line straight through the Walpole five-hole to tie the game at two.
The Walpole lead reemerged just as quickly as it had disappeared. With just 40 seconds left to play in the second period, Lexo Guindon gathered the rebound off a teammate’s missed shot and found twine to cap off a stretch of three goals in three and a half minutes of skating.
In the third period, Walpole’s Ava England and Nora Kelley stepped up defensively, recording momentous body blocks to snuff out Medfield’s best looks at the goal. A penalty on the Timberwolves with 30 seconds left to play gave Medfield a final opportunity to tie the game. Their lone shot of the possession was met with a save.
Pulling their goalie to get a two-skater advantage to close the game left the Medfield goal without an occupant to contest the Timberwolves’ final shot of the night. The late score iced the 4-2 season-opening defeat for the Warriors.
