Madeleine Greenfield ’26 prepares for a face-off on the ice.
2/22 – Andover: 5, Worcester: 0
2/26 – Andover: 1, Loomis: 2
Girls Hockey (15-3-4) triumphed in a decisive shutout against Worcester Academy (Worcester) on Saturday, following a previously winless two-game stretch. On Wednesday, however, it narrowly lost against Loomis Chaffee (Loomis).
Alexandra Burkina ’28 described Girls Hockey’s shutout versus Worcester as a collective effort. Burkina emphasized the contributions of every player.
“The result of the game against Worcester was really good. We had a strong 5-0 win, and it felt like everyone really contributed and came together as a team. It took us a little bit to get on the scoreboard, but we dominated most of the play in general and then the goals came along with it,” said Burkina.
Kimberly Duplessis ’27 recalled the team’s consistency against Worcester, a team that had improved from past seasons.
“It was a good game to try new things and focus on keeping our level of competition consistent throughout the game. Worcester was definitely a fast team, definitely faster than they were last year. Last year they were not as strong, so we knew going into the game that this would be an opportunity to try out some new things before playoffs,” said Duplessis.
Burkina echoed Duplessis’ statements and noted that Girls Hockey maintained a high level of play throughout the game to match Worcestor’s fast-paced style. She also praised Goaltender Lauren Kennedy ’28 for her performance.
“Our successes in this game were moving the puck quickly and just playing at a fast pace almost all the time. We obviously had some moments that were not as strong, but our goalie Lauren Kennedy made some really good saves in those times to limit Worcester’s opportunities,” said Burkina.
Playoffs are nearing, and while its loss against Loomis could affect Girls Hockey’s momentum, Duplessis disagrees. She described the team’s detail-oriented adjustments following its loss.
“There are times where we have one person who says ‘hey we need to fix this,’ or ‘maybe we should change this,’ but other times we come together as a team and decide certain things that we need to work on. It just depends on the situation, sometimes it’s one person who thinks they need to change, or a group of people have to change, and sometimes it’s team-wide,” said Duplessis.
The team has one more regular season game against Exeter Academy (Exeter), until it reaches the playoffs, where it is set to play Nobles and Greenough. Burkina expressed that a win would stem from high energy and strong preparation.
“We have one last game against Exeter, but after that we will be focusing on playoffs. Our first game will probably be against Nobles, whom we tied last time. We will have to work hard and win all of the 50/50 battles. We’re gonna have to bring so much energy too,” says Burkina.
Similarly, Duplessis stressed how losses serve as learning opportunities. The team will now focus its attention toward climbing the rankings.
Duplessis said, “I think the season has been going well so far. We’ve had a couple of losses, but they were definitely all learning opportunities. We’ve also had some pretty huge wins and were now focused on moving up in the rankings and keep competing going into playoffs.”
Girls Hockey will play at two p.m. on March 1 at Exeter for Winter A/E.
