By Avonlea Cummings
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
The Westwood Youth Hockey PeeWee AAA team clinched the program a Mass State Hockey championship title over St. Patrick's Day weekend, securing a hard-fought 4-2 victory against Falmouth. The triumph underscored the team's unwavering determination, strong camaraderie, and effective leadership throughout the season, celebrating their collective efforts and resilience displayed during the Valley League season.
Under the guidance of head coach Noah French, the PeeWee AAA team went 8-0 during the Mass State Hockey championship weekend from 3/15 to 3/17. The boys played five games at the Marlborough New England Sports Center over the weekend, one on Friday, two on Saturday, and two on Sunday. Prior to the championship weekend, the PeeWee AAA team secured their spot among the eight teams at the Mass State Hockey tournament after winning three playoff games in November and December of 2023.
After defeating Falmouth once on Saturday, the PeeWee AAA boys faced them again for the championship title on Sunday afternoon. The Westwood PeeWees, with 12 of their 17-man roster comprised of second-year PeeWee players, displayed strength on the ice. In the championship game, the PeeWee AAA boys fiercely competed against Falmouth, resulting in a close 3-2 game. Westwood scored an empty-netter to finalize the score 4-2, leading to the team's jubilant celebration.
Head coach Noah French attributed their success throughout the weekend to their goalie, second-year Aiden Jin, who proved to be an impenetrable barrier to any offense. French also highlighted the significant contributions from the first-year PeeWees, complementing the mature play of the second-year PeeWees on the ice: “I actually think the key over the weekend was defense and goaltending, our goal tender showed up very solid for the entire eight games, but particularly that weekend,” said French.
French has been a part of the Westwood Youth Hockey program for about six years, coaching his sons as they grow their passion and love for the sport. Throughout his time with the program, he has seen the program grow tremendously. “The program in general has grown tremendously. Typically Westwood was a small-sized program, I want to say two years ago the whole program was bumped up to a medium-sized program. That has a lot to do with the leadership, particularly the president Ed Galvin who has grown the program since he took over the program probably seven to ten years ago,” said French.
Throughout his time with the program, French has coached a majority of the kids on his PeeWee AAA team as he’s moved into coaching the older teams as his eldest son continues to grow in the program. After such a successful season this year, French hopes his group of 11 - 13-year-old young adults will take the lessons learned in hockey and be able to apply them to other aspects of life as well, and he reflected on the biggest takeaway from this season.
“A lot of it was leadership, learning and understanding your roles, and how different people contribute in different ways. I think the overarching lesson or theme would definitely be team play, when they play ‘team hockey’ versus when they play ‘individual hockey’ is when they have the most success… My hope for the team was to really take the successes and the lessons from the year and be able to apply them to life or other sports,” said French.
Being a part of the Valley League, the PeeWee AAA team has shown great determination and a strong mindset throughout the September to early April season. Many of their games have been close one-point games, and coach French praised the boys’ resiliency.
A huge congratulations on such an outstanding season boys on behalf of Hometown Weekly!
