Before Thanksgiving break the Girls’ Varsity Hockey team traveled to Schenectady, New York to play a jamboree tournament at Union College against Lawrence Academy and Buckingham Browne and Nichols School (BBN).  They played two thirty minute scrimmages then worked on special teams doing power play and penalty kill (one man advantage) drills.

This was the first time for a number of girls to put on a Williston hockey uniform. Freshman Tori Palumbo was very excited for the scrimmages. “I was nervous but felt great because all the returners on the team kept supporting me,” said Palumbo. “They were always cheering me on and making me feel confident in my skills.”

The first mini-scrimmage was against Lawrence Academy. Williston started strong right at the drop of the puck. Williston fought hard in the corners and junior goaltender Morgan Fisher continued to be the backbone of the Williston defenses.

The game continued with senior Madison Jerolman going hard to the net and having her stick down to pick up a rebound shot by junior Meg Rickard. Jerolman shot the puck past the Lawrence goalie, putting Williston up 1-0 late in the game.

Strong defensive efforts by sophomore Alexis Ryan and freshman Julia Maclean, with help from Fisher, kept Williston in the game. The buzzer sounded and the final score of the scrimmage was 1-0 Williston.

After finally playing for each other for the first time, Williston was prepared for another win. Williston started off by controlling the game over BBN by cycling the puck in the offensive zone and regrouping when needed.

There was a whistle which led to a faceoff in the offensive zone for Williston. Right off the drop of the puck freshman Marielle McHale picked up the puck and took a shot that went top left right over the BBN goalie’s head.

After that Williston started to control the offensive zone. Williston’s second goal occurred when after a scrum in the corner the puck was kicked out to junior defenseman, Izzy Tegtmeyer. Tegtmeyer took a low hard shot which was tipped by McHale. This was McHale’s second goal of the game while Tegtmeyer assisted on the play.

After this goal Williston made a goalie change and freshman Gabriella Dicomitis went into the game. About thirty seconds later junior Elizabeth Sheline, took the puck wide up the ice. She took a low off-angle shot that went into the low left corner to put the Wildcats up 3-0 late in the game. With a minute left in the game Williston had a defensive zone break down when a Lawrence forward walked off the wall and took a shot that beat Dicomitis.

The final score of the second scrimmage was 3-1 Williston.

Williston, Lawrence, and BBN then worked on their power plays and penalty kills to wrap the day on a good note.