By Gavin Merschel, Staff Reporter

This past Sunday night, the ‘Stoga girls varsity ice hockey team defeated Radnor in their season opener in a hard fought 4-2 victory.  Although trailing for most of the first period after an early Radnor goal, the girls were able to take the lead with a goal and then another later in the first, both being scored by freshman Abby Hill.

Being on defense for most of the game, the team held strong as junior goalie Michelle Jiang made multiple saves throughout the entire game. The offense kept the game alive with several fast breaks and shots.

Notable shots were taken by senior Annie Nikolic, junior Ellie Williams, and freshman Abbi Hellmann. However, the sole scorer of this game was Hill, scoring her third goal in the second period and fourth in the third.

In the first two periods, Radnor was able to keep possession of the puck through shots and quick recovery, not giving ‘Stoga much of a chance to make a play. Each time ‘Stoga got the puck, they did an excellent job of getting from one side of the rink to the other but had difficulty finishing, turning the puck back to Radnor.

Hill took matters into her own hands in her first varsity game by producing most of these breaks, flying across the ice and making defenders miss. Hill finished with a goal on four of the breaks and contributed well on defense as well.

In the final period, the girls did a far better job of holding longer possessions, having the puck around the same amount as Radnor. Jiang continued to make big saves, securing the victory. Through the strong performance, the girls will hopefully be set for a successful season with many more wins to come.

Gavin Merschel can be reached at [email protected]