GOING FOR IT: Princeton Day School girls’ hockey player ­Malia Leveson goes after the puck in a game earlier this season. Freshman standout Leveson tallied a goal and an assist to help PDS top Holton Arms (Md.) 4-1 last Sunday. The Panthers, who improved to 8-6-1 with the victory, are slated to host the Portledge School (N.Y.) on January 28 and Mater Dei on February 2. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Even though Malia Leveson is only a freshman, she emerged as a go-to finisher for the Princeton Day School girls’ hockey team.

Leveson enjoys having that responsibility, letting her production speak for itself.

“I definitely like that a lot,” said Leveson of her role as a top scorer. “I am more of a leader on the ice rather than in the locker room.”

Last Sunday against visiting Holton Arms (Md.), Leveson displayed that leadership, scoring a key second period goal to help the Panthers pull away to a 4-1 triumph.

Kiely French, Ashley Cavuto, and Emma Stillwaggon added goals for PDS in the victory with senior goalie and captain Katie Alden making 13 saves as the Panthers improved to 8-6-1.

“I think it really put us in a safe spot,” said Leveson, reflecting on her tally which came on a breakaway. “It felt good to finish it off.”

Playing defenseman earlier in the season has helped Leveson become a more dangerous scoring threat.

“I think it has been good for me,” said Leveson, who also had an assist against Holton Arms. “I play forward for my club team. It was good playing defense at the beginning of the year, it helps me see the ice better and understand all the positions.”

PDS head coach Lorna Cook likes the way Leveson and sophomore Cavuto have been getting in position to score.

“They have playing a lot better and we have been doing a good job of timing that traffic in front and getting on rebounds,” said Cook. “We still need to battle harder but they are getting in there now.”

Cook was looking for a better result on Sunday against Holton Arms after her team had just missed victory in two games on Saturday against Shady Side Academy (Pa.), losing 1-0 and tying 3-3.

“Yesterday was obviously disappointing in that we just lost a tie and then we just lost a win and they were both in the last three minutes of the game,” said Cook.

“Those are hard but at the same time the tie was huge for us. We played well against a good team so we had to take a step back and look at the positives from that.”

Another positive on Sunday was the way the Panthers closed the deal in the third period despite not having the services of Cavuto, who was sidelined after taking a hard hit late in the second.

“We were mixing things up a ton and I think they all played really well,” said Cook.

“It was good. You need to play with everybody because you never know what is going to come up. I thought that was a good experience for us to have to do that.”

With the WIHLMA (Women’s Interscholastic Hockey League of the Mid-Atlantic) tournament coming up in a few weeks, Cook believes PDS can come up big down the stretch.

“Now it is really using the tough games that we have left and just continuing to improve,” said Cook, whose team is slated to host the Portledge School (N.Y.) on January 28 and Mater Dei on February 2. “I think our power play has never looked better, it is continuing to get better and better.”

Leveson, for her part, believes that the victory over Holton Arms portends good things to come.

“We tried to keep the same intensity as yesterday,” said Leveson. “I think we did a good job, it was a good win.”