After undergoing a rebuild last season, the Whitman-Hanson/Silver Lake girls’ hockey co-op appears to be in a position to take a step in the right direction, led by a Silver Lake-heavy team.
A young team last season, the Skaters had just two seniors on their roster. They got off to a slow 0-7-0 start, but enjoyed better results as the season progressed, picking up at least a point in the standings in six of their final 12 games to finish the season at 4-13-2.
The team enjoyed most of its success last season offensively–primarily from the stick of senior captain Alyssa Murphy, a Kingston native. A Patriot League All-Star last year, she had 42 points on the season (27 goals, 15 assists) and nearly half of the team’s 62 goals.
On top of that, Lilly Ulvila (9 goals, 3 assists) of Kingston showed promise as a freshman last season, finishing second on the team in goals scored; junior Ellie Grady (7 goals, 6 assists), also from Kingston, ranked third on that list. Outside of Silver Lake, Emily McDonald (6 goals, 9 assists), a junior at Whitman-Hanson, was also a key offensive contributor as a sophomore last season, ranking second in total points.
Junior Kat Gilbert, a Halifax native, returns in net for the third straight season. Before high school, she had not played goaltender full-time, so she will continue to gain experience. Defensively, however, the Skaters likely won’t have a ton of depth after two captains to graduation on that side of the puck.
The Skaters first game of the season was this Thursday, Dec. 12 on the road against Bishop Stang. Their next game is this Saturday, Dec. 14 on the road against the Canton Bulldogs. That game will take place at the Canton Ice House (7:55 p.m. start time, according to My Hockey Live).