By Eli Braginsky
Sports Reporter
The Newton South/Brookline girls’ hockey team clinched a playoff berth with an 8-1 win over Shawsheen at the Dexter ice rink on Saturday, improving its record to 9-6-4 and qualifying for the state tournament for the first time in the program’s history.
The Warrior-Lions started the season with a disappointing 1-2-2 record, but turned it around with huge wins over Martha’s Vineyard and Newton North. The team is currently on a three game winning streak and has only lost four of its last 14 games.
Head coach Meg Lloyd said that the team has been working hard to achieve its success.
“The biggest factors have been teamwork, hard work and smart hockey,” Lloyd said. “The team has worked incredibly hard to be in good shape, to get faster, and to be stronger than their opponents.”
“They work to keep each other focused on and off the ice and have been amazingly good at bouncing back when things are not going their way,” she said.
“The team has worked both on the skills and on being a tight-knit group of girls,” senior captain Emily Visco said. “We’ve had a lot of great practices that really helped us master some techniques, like back checking and breakouts, that’s helped us keep up with really good teams.”
South freshman Daphne Frantzis, the team’s starting goalie, has been a key player for the team’s success. The starting line has also been a powerhouse, scoring most of the goals for the team.
Brookline sophomore Julia Kibrick and Newton South freshman Abby Smith have been consistent scorers, and have each recorded a hat trick. Freshman Willa Frantzis has also performed well, playing solid defense and scoring a game-tying power play goal for the Warrior-Lions in a game against Natick High School earlier this season.
Brookline senior captain Abby Hryniewicz believes that high energy is a key for the Warrior-Lions going forward.
“To keep succeeding, I think we definitely need to keep our energy up and go into games working our hardest and playing our best from the very beginning,” Hryniewicz said. “We run into trouble when we start slow, so I think this will be really important to our success.“
Coach Lloyd praised the team’s captains for their leadership and play on the ice.
“Our captains, Emily Visco, Julia Gropman, Abby Hryniewicz and Lucy Battite have been stellar team leaders on and off the ice,” Lloyd said.
“The biggest key for success in the playoffs will be working together as a team and keeping this intensity that we’ve had the past few games,” Visco said.
The Warrior-Lions will look to build on their success on Wednesday when they travel to Milton for a game on Wednesday. Their game against Cambridge that was scheduled for today will be postponed to a later date.
The team will end its season with a home game against Matignon, which will also be senior night for the Warrior-Lions.
