FIRING AWAY: Princeton Day School girls’ hockey player Kristi Serafin fires the puck up the ice in recent action. Last Thursday, sophomore defenseman Serafin contributed a goal as PDS defeated Mater Dei 4-1 to improve to 6-4. The Panthers play at Morristown-Beard on January 15. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

The Princeton Day School girls’ hockey team found itself shorthanded as it hosted the Hill School (Pa.) last Wednesday but it had nothing to do with players being sent to the penalty box.

Instead, due to injuries and last-minute schedule conflicts, PDS had only seven skaters, including senior captain and goalie Katie Alden, who played out to give the team some depth.

While the squad may have dreaded the prospect of a grueling night, the Panthers were unfazed.

“Before the game, they seemed to be in pretty good spirits, looking to make the most of the opportunity,” said PDS head coach Lorna Cook.

“We tried to look at it as more of an opportunity than a deficit, just looking at it like players that don’t get to play as much are going to get to play and get some time to try to get better.”

For 24 minutes, the Panthers held the fort as the teams were deadlocked at 0-0. Hill broke through, tallying a goal with 6:04 left in the second period and then tacked on two more unanswered goals in the third to earn a 3-0 win.

“It was disappointing that it was scoreless after one and we did what we needed to do through the first period,” said Cook, who got a big game from sophomore goalie Annika Asplundh as she ended up with 45 saves. “We just couldn’t keep it together. They adjusted to take advantage of our situation.”

Cook likes the way her players have adjusted to different roles as freshman Malia Leveson, sophomore Kiely French, and junior Emma Stillwaggon have displayed versatility.

“You look at our d-corps and our centers; I just recently moved Malia to forward and put Emma back on defense,” said Cook, who was happy to see her team top Mater Dei 4-1 last Thursday as Stillwaggon got two goals with Ashley Cavuto adding a goal and an assist, Kristi Serafin chipping in a goal, and Alden making 13 saves in earning the victory.

“I have been happy with how our players that are usually forwards have moved back to defense and have responded to that new responsibility and are playing well. It is still a learning process, everybody is getting better at picking their heads up and looking for the right play.”

In Cook’s view, the Panthers are headed in the right direction. “We are playing more aggressively; we are battling a little bit better and getting a better understanding of where to chip the puck,” said Cook, whose team is currently 6-4 and plays at Morristown-Beard on January 15.

“We still have to figure out how to be more productive in terms of generating more chances and then capitalizing on the chances.”