BACK IN FORM: Princeton Day School girls’ hockey player Kristi Serafin flies up the ice in a  game last year. Last Thursday, junior defenseman Serafin scored the lone goal for PDS as it fell 2-1 to Morristown-Beard. On Monday, she contributed a goal and two assists as the Panthers defeated Pingry 7-0. PDS, now 9-7-1, hosts Wyoming Seminary (Pa.) on February 3 and Immaculate Heart on February 9. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

For Kristi Serafin, getting back on the ice this January for the Princeton Day School girls’ hockey team after being sidelined since the beginning of the season due to a hand injury couldn’t come soon enough.

“Not playing, I was chomping at the bit,” said junior defenseman Serafin. “I think coming back to this group of girls is great. This year we are really close and the group that we have is so positive. We always support each other so I think that is a big thing for us.”

Last Thursday against Morristown-Beard, Serafin got PDS off to a positive start as she scored a goal 42 seconds into the contest to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.

“We just had to shut down some of their top players and I think for the first period we did that,” said Serafin.

“In our second period, we slacked a little bit and in the third period we came back a little bit.”

Morristown-Beard knotted the game at 1-1 with a goal in the second period and then pulled out a 2-1 win as it scored with 4:04 left in regulation.

“It was kind of tough, some of the girls were fatigued,” said Serafin, reflecting on the third period. “It was hard with the pressure. We tried our best and that is all you can do.”

With no seniors on the PDS roster, Serafin and her fellow juniors have been under pressure to take a big leadership role this winter.

“It has been hard, stepping up early,” said Serafin. “We have held in there and we are really trying our best. I think just being leaders on and off the ice to the younger girls is really important for us.”

The infusion of new girls, which includes a group of eight freshmen, has given the Panthers a lift.

“We brought in some club girls and some girls who hadn’t played before,” said Serafin.

“They are such good athletes and they are good kids, I just love them. It is nice to see the program growing.”

Serafin has been looking to grow as a playmaker this season. “I think for me this year, it is less shooting and picking my head up and passing a lot more,” said Serafin, who contributed a goal and two assists as the Panthers defeated Pingry 7-0 last Monday in improving to 9-7-1.

“I think coming back from this injury it is really important to focus on that because I don’t have a great shot right now. I am passing a lot more.”

PDS head coach Lorna Cook is happy to have Serafin back on the ice.

“It helps a lot, we were missing her the last time we played them last week (a 2-1 loss on January 22); it definitely made a big difference,” said Cook.

“It was good for us to get the momentum early, we haven’t done that very much. I think we played pretty well the rest of that period.”

Although PDS didn’t end up with the win in the rematch with Mo-Beard, Cook saw her team’s performance as a step forward.

“I think we just wanted to make sure that we were a little more patient when we needed to be but also more aggressive and try to get more puck possession and more pucks deep,” said Cook.

“We played much better against them this time thanwe did last time. It was the same score but the game was much better.”

Junior goalie Annika Asplundh could not have played much better in the defeat, making 42 saves, many of them on point blank shots.

“It is one of those things where we know that going in, we can count on it,” said Cook, in assessing Asplundh’s impact.

“It is not like it is in question, we know that we are going to get that consistency from Annika. She has been solid all year for us and always gives us a chance to win. We know that. It is a confidence boost going in that allows our defense to play an aggressive style.”

PDS needs to be more aggressive around the net in order to pull out wins against the top teams.

“It comes down to finishing chances,” said Cook. “Any time a goalie lets in two or less, we should be able to win.”

Cook liked the fact that her players were upset to fall short of the win against the Crimson.

“When we went into the room after the game, there was definitely a feeling of serious disappointment,” said Cook.

“You could tell that they were in it and they were feeling it was a game we could come away with a tie or a win and we let it get away from us.”

PDS feels it can get some big wins when it takes part in the ‘A’ bracket of the WIHLMA (Women’s Interscholastic Hockey League of the Mid-Atlantic) tournament, which the Panthers will host from February 13-14.

“I think any team that is in the top 4 bracket can beat another team in the top 4,” said Cook, whose team hosts Wyoming Seminary (Pa.) on February 3 and Immaculate Heart on February 9. “You just have to come ready to play.”

In Serafin’s view, PDS will be ready to play come the postseason.

“There is always a chance to beat them,” asserted Serafin. “This was such a close game, the games against Hill (Pa.) and Shady Side (Pa,) were close. I think we have a shot at something so we just have to keep fighting in practice.”