BIG FINISH: Princeton Day School girls’ hockey player Sam Dwyer brings the puck up the ice in a game this season. Senior forward and co-captain Dwyer came up big down the stretch for PDS, scoring the game-winning goal as the Panthers topped Rye Country Day (N.Y.) 2-1 in overtime in the fifth place game of the WIHLMA (Women’s Interscholastic Hockey League of the Mid-Atlantic) playoffs. The Panthers edged Chatham 1-0 in their season finale on February 22 to end the winter with a 9-13-2 record. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

When the Princeton Day School girls’ hockey team struggled to a 2-7-1 start this winter, it was time for some soul-searching.

“We had a talk with the captain group in early January about basically, hey, we have a little over a month left,” said PDS head coach Lorna Cook.

“It was, let’s make sure that we enjoy it and work hard and get the most out of it and not have a ride-it-out mentality but actually turn it up from here and make sure that we give it everything we have.”

Taking that message to heart, the Panthers gave it their best down the stretch, going 7-6-1 over the rest of the winter to end with a final record of 9-13-2. The late surge was highlighted by beating Rye Country Day (N.Y.) 2-1 in overtime in the fifth place game of the WIHLMA (Women’s Interscholastic Hockey League of the Mid-Atlantic) playoffs and then edging Chatham 1-0 in their season finale on February 22, wins that avenged previous defeats to those foes.

“We kept focusing on that stuff within our group and not really worrying about our overall record as much,” said Cook.

“I was glad that we were able to get up to nine wins. It just helps us gain some confidence, especially the way we came on at the end there.”

The win over Rye has proved to be a confidence builder as sophomore star Gia Massari and junior Julie Patterson combined to set up senior Sam Dwyer for the game-winning goal in overtime.

“It was a good win for us; it was our first win in league play all season so it had just been an uphill battle for us,” said Cook, noting that PDS had gone 0-1-1 against Rye in two regular season contests.

“Gia had a really good play to draw the penalty, and then she got it to Julie and then Julie surprised everyone going it back to Sam the way that she did. We thought she would take it behind the net and she put it out front instead and Sam was right there for it so it was nice goal.”

Blanking Chatham in the finale was a very nice way to end the winter. “We thought we were pretty evenly matched with them all year and our scores didn’t reflect the way that we matched up against them in our prior two games,” said Cook, noting that sophomore defenseman Caroline Haggerty notched the game-winner as she tallied her first goal of the season.

In reflecting on the win, Cook tipped her hat to freshman goalie Jillian Wexler, who made 19 saves in earning the shutout.

“It was big for Jillian to end with a shutout there; she got her first shutout against Oak Knoll in our Prep semifinal,” said Cook.

“Her play the last month really took off for us. She really worked hard to improve. We put a lot of pressure on her as our only goalie and as a freshman with a team that was young overall. She handled it really well. We worked with her all season on just focusing on what she could control and being mentally tougher that way. She really did come on strong.”

The squad’s two seniors, Emma Latham and Dwyer, provided strong leadership as they helped keep the Panthers on track.

“We didn’t have a big senior class and there was a lot of pressure on them,” said Cook.

“I think our juniors and sophomores, and down to the freshmen by the end of the year, embraced the roles that they had as far as being good teammates. I think our seniors get a lot of credit for that too, as far as trying not to be down on the fact that we had a younger team and to just enjoy it.”

Cook enjoyed seeing the play of Massari, who led the team in scoring with 33 points on 17 goals and 16 assists.

“Gia was consistent for us all year; we moved her back to defense and she just takes control of the game back there,” said Cook.

“I think as the season went along, you saw it more every game. She was setting the example of that consistent effort and that mindset of I am just going to go and play my game and try to help all of my teammates get better too.”

At forward, Patterson got better and better as the season went on, ending up with 26 points on 15 goals and 11 assists.

“Julie has improved so much,” said Cook, noting that Patterson ended up winning the breakaways event at the WIHLMA skills competition.

“For her, it is just continuing to work to put it all together to be more consistent and she is definitely getting better at that. She has been  a fun one to watch her develop.”

With a core of returners including Maisie Henderson, Hannah Choe, Sasha Sindhwani, Bryn Aprill, and Flynn Gorman in addition to Wexler, Haggerty, Massari, and Patterson, the future looks bright for PDS.

“We looked at it this year that we just wanted to have a good foundation to build on,” said Cook. “I think we saw a lot of improvement from our younger players.”

In addition to building that foundation of talent, the Panther players forged some deep bonds as they persevered through the campaign.

“It definitely helps with confidence; but the way that the team came together and stayed together is even a bigger thing,” said Cook.

“I hope that the girls are excited about going into next year to be together again. We didn’t have a winning record overall, but that didn’t impact the way they felt about being together. That really speaks volumes for the group that we have.”