[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Coming off a 6-3 victory at Framingham on Friday afternoon, the Medfield/Norton High girls varsity hockey team returned home to Rodman Arena on Saturday night to open up TVL play against rival Westwood. Like the Warriors (1-2-0, 0-1-0) the Lady-Wolverines (2-0-0, 1-0-0) also entered Saturday’s tilt coming off a victory after taking down South Shore power Hingham (2-1) in their season opener on December 8.
Behind a pair of goals by senior captain and forward Kat Keith, as well as a 14-save shutout by senior captain and goalie Caroline McDonough, Westwood outlasted the Mia Prego-led Warriors by a 3-0 final to win their second straight game to begin the 2018-2019 season.
Emma Conway got the Wolverines on the board first at 11:07 of the opening period when the junior winger put home a rebound on a net-mouth to seize the early 1-0 lead. Lauren Sleboda nearly evened the game at one for Medfield on a two-on-one bid just moments later, but the senior captain was turned away by the left pad of McDonough. The game remained 1-0 in favor of Westwood after one period.
A series of sprawling saves by Prego kept it a one-goal game with time winding down in the second period. With 30 seconds to play, however, Keith broke through for the Wolverines by firing home a wicked wrist shot up high after receiving a feed from linemate
Krista Anderson (2) moves the puck up the ice for Medfield. Photos by Michael Flanagan
With seven minutes to play in the game, Keith delivered the dagger, hammering home a power play goal for her third point of the contest (two goals, one assist) to make it a three-goal game. The Wolverines preserved the shutout for McDonough and emerged with the 3-0 victory.
Westwood returns to action against Needham on December 22 while Medfield will look to get back on track against Canton on December 27.
For funny and incisive sports analysis, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter at @fLAno0.
