Avalanche Moves to 5-0 with Victory over East Green Wave

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Slideshow v Ridgefield

Ridgefield Slideshow

On Sunday December15, the Avalanche girls hockey team suited up at the Brewster Ice Arena, and the team consisting of schools from all over North Westchester was going for their 5th straight. The girls didn’t wait long to get started either, and first up, Kathryn Lonergan explained her unique shooting style. “Most of the times, I just close my eyes and hope for the best,” said the Westlake skater. Maybe so, the junior apparently has some pretty good radar.

Crossing the blue line, she perfectly placed the puck over the right shoulder of the Green Wave goalie at 13:47, and the goal gave the girls the lead for good in a 2-0 victory.

Back the other way, Erin Samuelson easily transferred the skills she picked up in her three years playing boys varsity hockey for John Jay and ate up three early saves. “Playing with the boys helped me build my confidence,” said the Wolf.

An elusive weave through the East defense showed that Piper Ackner has stored up plenty of self esteem since she first put on skates three seasons ago. Her shot going wide, Coach Stacey Wierl has no problem identifying where the strides come from. “All heart is how she plays ,” said the Coach of the Fox Lane student. “She works harder than anybody I know.”

The East goalie wasn’t done with hers either on the sequence. Melody Dalmer of Pleasantville put a shot on off the face, Sienna Kay then denied River Salisbury on the rebound, and next the goalie got a bit of a break when Abigail Lehr of North Salem chipped just wide at 4:00.

Onto the second period, the Avalanche continued the pressure. Devan DiCintio’s tip on Sascha Brightman shot was a little off target, but the girls kept coming. Ackner put a shot goal, Lehr’s rush on the right deflected wide off of Kay, and then Ackner drew a penalty on her traverse out front.

Unfortunately, the girls were not able to connect, and with the one goal game persisting, Samuelson provided plenty of margin for error. Three more of her 25 saves at the tail end of the period had Ackner in awe. “It’s amazing. She’s so new, and she completely clicked right in,” said the senior.

But before the period ended, Samuelson’s teammates gave their goalie some breathing room. In the final minute, Lehr shot at the net, Dalmer got the first touch, and loose in the crease, Lindsay Smith heard voices. “I just have Coach Stacey in my head,” said the Brewster sophomore. “She tells me to be ready in front of the net.”

The Bear was, and she hit it in. So 2-0 going into the third, Samuelson continued to shine. She won a big scrum in front at the outset and came up with a pad save at 11:30.

So Brightman took the cue, The Pawling skater stick handled her way up the ice, put a shot on goal, and the rebound out there for the taking, Kay did get the clear. That put Samuelson back on the docket when Isabella Zucchini’s shot found Anna Terjanian for a potential tip in.

Not good enough, the Avalanche goalie was too quick on the stick, and the save had Ackner hitting the down shift. The forward got sprung on a breakaway at 5:25 but Kay matched her counterpart with another save.

The one on ones weren’t over, though. A penalty shot was awarded to the East at 3:45, and while Samuelson did her thing on the play, her night was far from over. The final two minutes had the Green Wave bringing high tide but Samuelson was there every time.

The shutout preserved, Coach Wierl was beaming. “It’s a really special group of girls who have bonded real quick and bring a tremendous amount of effort to every practice and every game,” she concluded.