The Hall/Conard girls hockeey team defeated Masuk 3-1 on Saturday at Veterans Memorial Rink in West Hartford.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

Playing with a lineup down three skaters – including the team’s leading goal-scorer Paige Sweeney –the No. 6 Hall/Conard hockey team put in a 45-minute effort to beat No. 5 Masuk (a co-op of multiple schools) 3-1 Saturday.

Avery Freiday was spectacular in goal, and defender Fiona Campbell logged an incredible amount of ice time. “Fiona was the difference maker for us today,” said H/C head coach Jared Cohane. “With a short bench we were rolling just three defenders all game.”

Hall/Conard came into the game riding an eight-game win streak – having not lost since the second game of the season. Early on they had the offense going and Claire Reidel had a pair of chances that just did not find the back of the net.

The home team would get the opening goal of the game with 3:45 to play in the first period. Marin Curran sent a pass out front from behind the goal line that Avery Selstad directed towards the net. It deflected off a defender’s stick and right to Mia Longman who tucked it in past goalie Jen Velky for the 1-0 lead.

The Panthers picked up their game after giving up the goal and looked to equalize on a rush that was broken up by the back-checking of Paige Fehl.

Masuk started the second period killing a power play and H/C’s Teagan Cohane nearly doubled the lead but her shot whistled over the crossbar behind Velky.

Masuk had a great chance to equalize three minutes into the period when they came in 3-on-1 with Fehl back on defense. Allison Leonard carried in along the right boards and chose to try the shot on goal but H/C goalie Freiday was there to pin it to her chest and not give up a rebound. Moments later it was Freiday again, this time with the pad save on Brooke McCoy’s bid from in close.

“Avery was outstanding,” said Cohane of his sophomore goalie. “It was a great effort.”

Hall/Conard would break through for a second goal at 8:12 of the second on an innocent looking play. Teagan Cohane grabbed the puck along the half-boards and went past two defenders. Instead of going behind the net, she skated parallel to the cage and tucked in a forehand before Velky could get to the post and it was 2-0.

Reidel nearly made it 3-0 with 3:45 to go when she took a perfect cross ice pass from Longman into the attacking zone, but Velky was able to grab her wrist shot and hold it. Masuk played a better second period, getting more zone time with the puck, but they could not find a way to beat Freiday and the defense.

The visitors had a good opportunity to get back in the game early on when Longman took a tripping penalty just 1:24 into the third. Once again it was Freiday coming up big, including a stop on a blue line chance, and then a second on the rebound that followed.

The Panthers did not score on the powerplay, but kept up the pressure when the sides were back at five skaters each. Their work would be rewarded at 9:14 when Morgan Kenny went end-to-end with the puck, stick handling past H/C skaters, and got a shot in on Freiday. She stopped the original try, but Hannah Newman was able to push the loose puck in past a prone goalie to make the score 2-1.

The game opened up more after the Newman goal with more rushes leading to scoring chances, but both Velky and Freiday were up to the task. Masuk went back on the power play at 6:10 when Cohane was called for roughing in the defensive zone. Again, Masuk had good pressure and possession, but could not find that game tying goal.

Leonard had a good chance for the Panthers at 3:14 when she sent a backhander on net from in close, but Freiday was up to the task. With 94 seconds left to play, Masuk took a timeout to talk strategy with a face-off coming up in their defensive zone. H/C won possession and held the puck in the zone for about 20 seconds. When Masuk finally gained possession and got the puck into the H/C defensive zone, Velky was pulled for the extra attack with 1:06 to go.

The visitors tried to dump the puck around the boards behind Freiday, but Campbell was there to cut it off. She carried the puck from right to left behind the net and was turned back by a forechecker. She reversed course and after clearing the right side of the net, took two strides and let a high, hard shot/pass rip. It sailed over every Masuk player on the ice, landed flat, and sped into the center of the empty net 190 feet away to seal the deal at 3-1 with :51 to play.

Cohane was impressed by not only the shot but by the full game effort he got from Campbell and his entire roster. “The effort today was the best I’ve seen all season, ” the second-year coach said.

Game notes

• Freiday finished with 18 saves –11 in the third period.
• Teagan Cohane’s goal was career point No. 101 in her H/C varsity career.
• Hall/Conard, now 9-2, jumped Masuk in the rankings with the win. They are now ranked fifth by CIAC, with the 5-1-1 Panthers dropping one spot to No. 6.
• Next up for H/C is a rematch with East Catholic. The two met in West Hartford in their season opener and East Catholic won it 4-3 in overtime. Hall/Conard came back from two goals down in the third, tying it with five minutes to play. Since that game, Hall/Conard is 9-1, East Catholic – ranked No. 3 – has lost just once in seven games (7-0-1). That lost came to No. 1 ranked Darien.
• East Catholic has only allowed more than one goal twice this season – the OT win over Hall/Conard and the loss to Darien.
• During the nine-game win streak, H/C has outscored opponents 40-15 with one shutout and four games giving up just a single goal by the tandem of Freiday and Lauren Busi.

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.