Gigi Smith passed the 100-point milestone in the win Thursday at Conard High School in West Hartford.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

Gigi Smith scored three times and goalie Isa Ripepi posted the team’s second straight shutout as the Conard Red Wolves field hockey team improved to 2-0 on the season with a 4-0 win over Cheshire on Thursday.

Smith has five goals and one assist in those two games, giving the junior 101 points in two seasons and two games. “She gives us confidence,” said her coach Sara Witmer. “We know she will get dangerous shots. When a team zeroes in on her we have other options to score.”

Ripepi was sharp early on making a pair of big saves by coming out and stacking the pads to stop the Cheshire shots. With 8:26 to go she stopped a penalty stroke with a big blocker save. The Red  Wolves nearly got the game’s first goal when Berkeley Hess saw her shot go just wide banging off the side of the cage.

With 1:53 to play it was Smith opening the scoring when picked up the ball in her own end and pushed through the defense to get a shot off on goalie Avery Harrison. The original shot was blocked in front but Smith grabbed her own rebound and converted for the 1-0 lead.

Conard had a good, early chance in the second but could not get a stick on a ball sent across the mouth of the goal. Josie Goslee preserved the lead when she cleared the ball off the line behind her goalie. Then it was Ripepi coming up big again when she stopped another penalty shot – sent to the same spot as the first one she saved.

“Isa is not afraid,” said Witmer of her junior goalie. She also credits goalie coach Sara Gaiero – a former Syracuse goalie – with working with Ripepi and Caroline Guida and helping them develop.

That work paid dividends with 3:25 to go when Cheshire’s Chloe Marciano was sent in alone on goal on a great pass. Once again it was Ripepi charging out, cutting the angle, and giving Marciano very little to shoot at before stopping the shot.

With 4:34 to go in the third Smith would get her second goal of the game when she deflected a shot on the Cheshire net, sending the ball over the head of Harrison for the 2-0 lead.

The Red Wolves put the game away early in the fourth by scoring twice in a 16-second span. The first came under three minutes in when  Hazel Montanari knocked in a rebound following another Conard penalty corner. It would be Smith netting her hat trick goal at 12:33 to seal the game’s scoring.

The junior said the results she is getting come from a lot of practice. “Even after practice is over, to stay and I just am working whenever I can,” Smith said.

Conard’s defense was solid all game with Kelsey Collard playing strong in her own zone and also in the transition game.

Witmer and the Red Wolves have turned what was a negative into a positive in developing this years squad which carries 13 seniors. “We had to drop our thirds team this season so our rosters expanded,” said Witmer. “Everybody is improving with each practice and due to our depth when we substitute there’s really not a drop in level.”

Even though they have only played two games on the season, Smith is excited about what she sees herself and her teammates doing already. “I’m really confident about out team,” she said. “We have a lot of grit and a lot of athleticism.”

Game notes

Gigi Smith scoring by seasons:

• Freshman: 10 goals, 3 assists
• Sophomore: 26 goals, 15 assists
• Junior year after 2 games: 5 goals, 1 assists
• 101 points

In two games so far, the Red Wolves are outscoring their opponents 10-0 and Conard is ranked fourth in Class L.

Conard visits Wethersfield on Tuesday before hosting South Windsor on Friday and then welcoming Greenwich for a Saturday morning 11:30 a.m. start.

Like what you see here? Click here to subscribe to We-Ha’s newsletter so you’ll always be in the know about what’s happening in West Hartford! Click the blue button below to become a supporter of We-Ha.com and our efforts to continue producing quality journalism.