A well oiled machine must have all of its parts working together, each doing its separate job to collaborate and cooperate to achieve a common goal.
The Westford Academy Girls’ Hockey could easily be described as a perfectly oiled machine, with all players working together, building upon their successes and identifying their failures, and with the goal to win.
Head Coach of four years Todd Fletcher, along with assistant coaches Bob Ware and Kevin Leonard, helped provide a strong foundation for the girls.
“We set out with two goals: to win our league championship and make the division one tournament. We did both,” said Ware.
With a roster of twenty-four girls, the team has had a stellar season, with their only losses to Acton-Boxboro, St. Mary’s, and Andover.
The team recently concluded their season with a final record of 13-3-2, which is relatively consistent with their two prior seasons in which the team went 16-2-2 in 2012 and 12-5-3 in 2011, and a huge improvement from the 2010 season in which the team went 3-12-3.
The girls started off their season on fire, going seven for seven, until a tough 4-2 loss to WA’s longtime rival, AB, in the eighth game of the season, brought their winning streak to an end. Although the girls then suffered their share of losses, they matured into a better team because of it.
Seniors Ali Difonzo, Kim Lizotte, and Erin Mealey, as well as junior Lindsay MacDonald lead the team as captains on and off the ice.
“They add to our team dynamic by acting as role models that the team looks up to and make sure everyone is prepared for a game,” said sophomore forward Kathryn Walker.
After the regular season, the Lady Grey Ghosts had 68 scored goals, and only 34 let up by sophomore goalie Kerry Pouliot, leaving the Ghosts with a great 2:1 ratio of goals made to those let up.
Over a little bit more of two months on the ice together, the girls have come together to form a strong, skilled, tight-knit team. Ware credits their successes to individuals’ commitment to the team, and commitment to one another, which at the end of the day bound the team together.
The close family that the girls have managed to become has enabled them to clench the DCL division one championship with recent wins against Chelmsford and Boston Latin, as well as winning the Cougar Classic against Beverly-Danvers in Rockland.
With another recent win on the 28th, the girls outplayed Arlington with a final score of 2-0. They will go on to play the winner of Acton-Boxboro and Reading.
“The highlight of the season was seeing the girls celebrate, seeing them comeback when we were losing, and just being with great girls everyday,” said Ware.