Varsity Girls Ice Hockey was eliminated from playoffs, losing to Winthrop 3-0 in their first playoff game.

At 6:00p.m on February 28, the Grey Ghosts walked into the Winthrop Arena looking focused and eager. Bulldogs fans crowded the rink’s main entrance and bleachers, while a handful of Grey Ghost fans were seated to the side.

According to team captain Hannah Keefe, the girls were well prepared defensively. Keefe specifically pointed out her confidence in the talent of freshman goal keeper Allison Kingsley.

“We’ve had a lot of preparation and I feel very confident. We have a freshman goalie [Kingsley] going in the net tonight and she’s very good at some small battles in front of the net. I feel very confident that this team [Winthrop Vikings] really doesn’t have too many opponents who are good shooters. We’ll be well equipped against them,” Keefe said.

Keefe’s faith in Kingsley; however, turned out to be fairly accurate. Kingsley’s performance in the first half of the game was fairly strong, blocking two shots in the first minute of the match. Still, the Vikings scored their first goal within the first seven minutes of the first period. After that, the Grey Ghosts played defensively.

In the first period, Kingsley stopped a fast airborne puck. The girls, playing aggressively were still aiming for a comeback. In the last five minutes of the first period, forward freshman Val Crory had a scoring chance, but Winthrop’s goalie kept the Ghosts at bay.

Throughout most of the second period, the Grey Ghosts continued to play with energy and aggression. Kingsley blocked a fast puck flying toward the net. On the offense, the WA girls came close to scoring on multiple occasions, with two close shots by Crory, and a well-excecuted attempt from junior defense player Jacqueline Ricko. In the last twenty seconds of the second period, a massive scrub erupted at the Vikings’ net, rich with pushing, and defensive play.

It was in the third period that the Vikings began to peak through the Grey Ghost defensive cracks. In the last nine minutes of the game, a far side goal was scored on the WA net. Vikings fans cheered and boasted through the bleachers, while the Grey Ghosts were stumbling to take back the Vikings’ two-point lead.

For WA fans, all hope was lost by the last minute of the game, when Winthrop scored their third goal with a fast rebound. The rink’s volume increased dramatically with the cheers and cries of ecstatic Winthrop High School students. The Viking’s jumped upon each other in celebration and excitement, while the Grey Ghosts skated slowly and discreetly from the rink.

Among the disappointed Westfordians was Head Coach Bob Ware, who wished the girls had scored at least one successful goal.

“We played a good team, but when you don’t score a goal, it’s hard to win,” Ware said.

“I think the girls played hard [and] they emptied their tank. We had some chances where we could’ve put it in the net, but we didn’t, […] they [the Vikings]were a great team, and they deserved to win,” he said.