The Westford Academy Girls’ Varsity Hockey team tied their home opener at Groton School against Boston Latin by a score of 3-3. The girls started off strong, but after falling behind in the middle of the match up, they found themselves unable to crawl out quick enough in order to secure the win.

The first period began at a fast pace, with an early penalty kill for WA. They were able to successfully kill off the penalty time and turned this into an opportunity to fire shots on the Boston Latin goaltender. The opening salvo was fired by senior Colleen Ellis, who scored only four minutes into the first period.

The Ghosts would follow this goal with a strong defensive effort in front of their net, in an attempt to move all possible chances away from senior goaltender Alyssa Lopez. However, the WA defensive effort was not strong enough to stop a slap shot from the Boston Latin defensemen, which was deflected off her teammate’s stick to tie the game at a goal a piece.

Soon after, a Boston Latin forward sniped a shot past Lopez in the top corner to take the lead 2-1.

The first period ended in a both positive and negative light for the Ghosts. On one hand, Boston Latin had scored yet another goal off of a breakaway, increasing their lead to 3-1. They had also been unable to convert on their first power play chance of the night, as a result of a Boston Latin tripping call. However, while WA did not hold possession of the puck for very long in the opening period, it was clear that once they did in fact gain the puck, they were taking the best possible shots in order to cut into the early deficit.

Boston Latin opened the second period dominating the puck possession once again, but allowing WA to get quality chances on the net. These quality chances led to a goal by senior defenseman Kelly DeMarco, cutting down WA’s deficit to 3-2.

Hustle became a main issue for the Ghosts in the second period, as they were being beat by Boston Latin on many loose puck situations that resulted in positive puck possession.

Anger towards the officials by the fans also became clear in this period, with several parents heckling the referee regarding lack of penalties called in the game.

WA not only began to hold onto the puck longer, but Lopez was also well tested in the second period, making great saves to keep the Boston Latin lead to a minimum.

The WA penalty kill came alive in the second once again, having an outstanding kill on a Boston Latin power play, allowing very few scoring chances in their defensive zone.

The second came to a close with a breakaway chance stopped short by WA, as well as multiple other chances by both sides before the intermission.

The third period was rather uneventful, with both teams going up and down the ice, taking equal chances on net. Senior Cat Mahanna took advantage of this and scored as a result of a barrage of shots on the Boston Latin goalie.

The remainder of the period became locked into a battle, with both teams fighting as hard as they could in order to begin their season with an exciting victory.

The final play of the game came off of a face-off in the WA offensive zone. Prior to the face-off, a timeout was called so both teams could talk over their strategies. However, in the end, neither team was able to score despite an action packed final thirty seconds.

The girls will play their next game on December 22 at 7pm against Billerica.