By Paul Vozzella
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
Powerhouse teams are a rarity, but Westwood girls hockey is just that. A talented roster from top to bottom with head coach Lauren Hillberg at the helm, the Wolverines finished the regular season with an 18-1-1 record after ripping off an impressive 17-game win streak.
The Wolverines did not get an ideal start to the season with a 5-5 tie against Medfield. They held a 5-1 lead heading into second intermission and Hillberg knew the game was all but over.
“I remember walking into the locker room between the second and third period and I told them ‘there’s 15 more minutes of hockey,’” said Hillberg. “You need to get out there and play 15 minutes hard. You haven’t won anything yet.’ Unfortunately, we went out there and I don’t think they fully took what I was saying. We were a little asleep for the first couple minutes. [Medfield] scored three goals in a minute and thirty seconds… Usually every team has an eye-opening game – sometimes it’s five games in, sometimes it’s ten games in. Ours was the first game.”
The team learned its lesson quickly, evident in the ensuing win streak. Anchored by goalie Jennifer Lin, who finished the season only allowing 18 goals and six shutouts, and senior Kate Sullivan, who scored 35 goals and tallied 24 assists, the Wolverines worked their way to the best record in Division 2. They did so in dominating fashion, as well, outscoring opponents 97-16 during the win streak.
Sullivan is not the only player racking up points for the team, either. Other top contributors during the regular season included Maggie Ash (15 goals, 22 assists), Abby Pressly (15 goals, 21 assists) and Elizabeth Levering.
“A few years ago, we really only had one or two scorers on our score sheets by the end of the year,” said Hillberg. “This year just about everyone that plays is contributing.”
Impressively, Levering is one of six eighth-graders playing for the team, leaving a bright future for the program. “We have a predominantly young team between our eighth graders and freshmen. They’re seeing a lot of ice time. Our sophomores, too.”
The win streak came to an unfortunate end against undefeated Division 1 opponent Hingham. The Wolverines fought valiantly in the 4-2 loss and took a lot of positives away from the matchup.
“I can’t say anything really went wrong,” said Hillberg. “They went out there and they gave Hingham a very strong game… There were a couple of fluke goals that I think if we gave a little bit more effort, we could have stopped them.”
The Wolverines did not let the loss stunt the rest of the season, however, bouncing back with a 4-1 win versus Braintree.
Westwood kept momentum going with a 7-0 stomping of Walpole in the first round of the playoffs. Hillberg now looks to lead the Wolverines past the second round for the first time in her tenure as head coach with a matchup against Leominster.
