February 26th vs Winchester
Player of the Game: Katie, Nicole

On Sunday we got right back at it with a game in Boxboro against a Winchester team that has beaten us by a goal several times this season.  In the locker room we talked about breaking out of our early game slump and getting on the board first.  Well the girls took it to heart and a little over a minute into the game Emily and Heather worked the puck into the Winchester zone for a scoring chance from the left side and Delaney collected the puck in the right corner and fired a tough angle shot at the net which somehow found it’s way home for a quick lead.  The girls never let up and we had so many chances that we could not finish that it was tough to count.  We made the pre-championship Bruins error of completely outplaying our opponent, but letting them hang around, and we got burned as they scored two quick goals in the second period to take the lead.  We continued to press the play as the line of Kalee, Haley and Nicole had several great chances.  Late in the game super sub Emily Bubencik kept the puck in at the blue line and carried it down low behind the Winchester net making a beautiful pass out front to her defensive partner Katie for a sweet goal (when you score no one ever asks why our two D are hanging around the other team’s net).  Sam and Dyane were reunited on defense to make it feel like an 80”s sitcom, only with a ton of hustle and some great breakout passes.  Sarah M. played another in her long line of amazing games for us.

February 25th vs Nighthawks
Player of the Game: Heather, Sarah M.

This past Saturday the Express took on the Nighthawks and we managed to keep our streak of slow starts alive.  The majority of the first period belonged to the Nighthawks and the only thing that kept the game scoreless was the stellar play of Sarah in the net.  She made an assortment of glove saves, blocker saves and pad saves to prevent the Nighthawks from taking the lead.  Late in the period the girls seemed to find their legs and we started to generate some offense.  With about a minute left in the first Nicole picked up a loose puck at center ice and went in one on one with the defense.  She took the girl wide to the left and fired a shot at the net, the goalie made the stop but served up a nice rebound with Katie and Delaney both skating hard to the net, I guess Delaney’s stick got their first, but the effort by all three girls made it a very satisfying goal.  Early in the second period we had a little communication breakdown in our end and the Nighthawks got on the board.  That was it for them as Sarah was not to be beaten again.  The Express pretty much dominated the action for the rest of the game with Heather setting up several teammates, and herself, for scoring opportunities that were not to be.  The Saturday Night defense featuring Dyane and the Replacements (Katie Crowther, Sarah Feely and Emily Bubencik) did a great job of carrying or passing the puck out of our zone all night.  Special recognition to several of our wings Haley, Kalee and Heather who made great individual plays to break the puck out up the boards against a strong Nighthawk D.

February 12th vs Dover
Player of the Game: Nicole

This weekend the Express had the chance to visit the Dover, NH Stars again, and when they say there is nothing like Dover in the winter they really mean it.  The breathtaking views on the ride up must have mesmerized the girls as we allowed Dover to possess the puck too much in the first period and they gladly accepted our offer and jumped out to a 2-0 lead.  As the Express began to stir we had a great play for a goal as Haley passed the puck out of the corner to Delaney in the high slot for a quick shot on net, and Nicole was able to swoop in and knock the rebound home.  Great work by all three girls in forming the triangle that we work on so often in practice.  We carried our momentum over into the second period as Heather and Sarah G. combined for a very pretty give and go pass.  Heather collected the puck at the top of the face off circle and seeing Sarah jumping forward put a pass right on her stick which allowed Sarah to make a beautiful end to end rush that she capped off with a nice move to beat the Dover goalie and tie the score at 2.  No matter how many saves Sarah M. made (and there were a ton) Dover just kept pressing the attack, scoring late in the period to take the lead back.  The Express girls lost their way a little bit in the third period and we allowed Dover to put a couple of more goals on the board to extend their lead.  We never gave up though as witnessed by a pretty breakout play that started with Sarah G. passing the puck up to Nicole (who seemed to be involved in every thing all night) who then found Delaney to send her in on a breakaway to get one back for the good guys.  We have been missing people the last few weeks and playing some girls in positions that they are not used to playing so there has definitely been some challenges.  The coaches agree that when the girls pass the puck and play a team game we are much more successful than when we try to make too many individual plays.  Every goal we scored on Sunday was the direct result of a player looking to see who was open and making a great pass.  We need to keep working hard.

February 6th vs Lynnfield
Player of the Game: Heather

Superbowl Sunday turned out to be less than super for the Express this weekend as Lynnfield came to Walpole and took it to a shorthanded Lady express squad.  We were never in synch from the start as we had trouble breaking it out of our zone and trouble keeping it in the Lynnfield end of the ice.  Effort was there in no short supply as the first line on the ice of Nicole, Heather and Hannah at forward with Katie and Delaney on defense played a very long shift due to a lack of whistles to stop the action.  We ended the first period down 1-0 mainly due to some great goaltending from the always reliable Sarah M.  The second period saw us get in a little bit more of the action as there were several break aways and 2 on 1 plays.  Heather was at her play-making best setting up Kalee and Delaney for several point blank shots on the goalie.  Unfortunately luck and the numbers were not on our side this day, but as always we ended the game with very tired and red-faced girls in our locker room so no complaints.  Hannah also had a great first game for us, she is knocking off the rust in huge chunks at this point and hopefully we can get her in a few more games before the end of the season.

January 29th vs Natick
Player of the Game: Delaney

This past Sunday saw the Natick Comets visit us again, and typically the game came right down to the end.  The Express started the first period off a little sluggish, but Kerri made some great saves to keep us going until we got back on track.  Late in the first period Delaney grabbed a loose puck in the corner of the offensive zone and sent a pass back to Sarah (Big Z) at the point and Sarah let go a screaming slapper that found its way through traffic to the back of the net.  The rest of the period belonged to the Express as our defense of Dyane, Sam, Jamey and Sarah moved the puck out of the zone quickly and efficiently.  The two teams traded scores in the second frame as the Comets poked one home after several chances in front of our net.  The line of Emily, Kalee and Haley had several great chances, but could not get their shots past Sarah M. in the other net.  Finally late in the second our hard work paid off as Delaney banged home a rebound to put us in the lead 2-1.  Heading into the third period we talked on the bench about skating hard on the forecheck as well as the backcheck (and the girls even found time to chat about things like boys in the stands) so that we could protect our lead.  Nicole, Heather, Haley and Kalee were really making life difficult for the Natick D, and Emily, Katie and Delaney (who was skating like her pants were on fire all night) did an amazing job of flying back to help our D break up the Comet offense in our zone.  Great effort by the entire team.

January 15th vs Winchester
Player of the Game: Sam

Another close game for the girls this past Sunday against an evenly matched Winchester team.  The Express came out a little sluggish in the first period, and Winchester took advantage to end the period with a 1-0 lead.  The second period saw the girls start to pick up the pace and we were winning a lot more races for the puck and battles in the corners.  Early in the period Winchester got a lucky break and scored their second goal to make it a 2-0 lead, but the Express girls kept their foot on the gas and continued to apply pressure in the offensive zone.  We finally broke through with less than two minutes left in the period when Jamey took a pass from Emily inside our blue line and raced passed the Winchester defense to rifle a shot into the far corner to get us on the board.  The third period saw the Express continue not only their offensive pressure, but defensively we were strong the whole game as Sam played her best game of the season continually stepping up to disrupt the on-coming Winchester attack and making some beautiful breakout passes.  With just over four minutes to play in the game Kalee broke up a Winchester pass in our zone, fed the puck back to Sarah who hit Jamey on the fly catching the Winchester D flat-footed, and that was all that Jamey needed as she broke in alone and fired another laser by the Winchester goalie to tie the game at two a piece.  We just missed taking the lead a minute later when Haley ripped a shot off the post that the goalie never saw.  Unfortunately Winchester snuck one past Kerri, who played fantastic and kept us in the game all day, from a scramble in front of our net.  Great effort by the entire team.

January 8th vs Nighthawks
Player of the Game: Dyane

This past Sunday was a day of firsts for the Lady Express as we travelled to Marlboro for the first time to play the Nighthawks for the first time.  Unfortunately it was also our first loss in three games, the first time that we have been shutout in four games, the first time we have had all 11 skaters, and Sarah M. in the net, together in a long time, the first time that time that we have had to wait for a hazmat crew to decontaminate our locker room due to the rowdy junior team that occupied it before us, and most uniquely the first time that a player on our team has utilized the second period intermission for a bathroom break, and definitely the first time that the tile floor where said bathroom break occurred has disabled the skates of a player.  It was not the first time that a player on our team has had a screw loose during a game, helmet of course, and also not the first time that Sarah M. has had a standout game in the net to keep us in there when try as we might, which all of the girls did, we just couldn’t get it together for most of the game.  Also not a first was Dyane giving everything she had on both ends of the ice, skating, passing, shooting and of course throwing herself around with reckless abandon, great effort as always.

January 1st vs Natick
Player of the Game: Sarah G

The Express girls started the New Year off right with an impressive 3-1 win over a tough Natick Comets team this past Sunday.  The first period saw both teams battling back and forth with neither goalie giving an inch.  The second period was all Express as the girls really worked as a team to create a variety of scoring chances.  Emily picked up a loose puck at our blue line, used her speed to split the defense and scored on beautiful breakaway.  Soon thereafter Jamey collected a puck from deep in our zone and flew down the right side letting go a heavy wrister for goal number two.  Late in the second Katie worked the puck up the boards from behind the Natick net to Heather who made a great pass out front to Delaney for our third goal.  The story of the game was our team defense as all of the forwards were coming back to help out Kerri, who once again subbed in for us and played a great game.  Sarah G. was a real standout as she was consistently calling for the puck when she was open and making very accurate passes to start the breakout.

December 18th vs Framingham
Player of the Game: Kalee

This past Sunday’s game against the Framingham Flyers was the Express girls’ most complete game of the year so far.  The girls came out flying right from the start and never took their foot off the gas.  The first period was played mainly in the Framingham end of the ice, we just could not get a clean shot on goal.  Late in the period the Flyers managed to get a lucky rebound past Sarah M to end the first with a 1-0 lead.  The energy level of the Express between periods was high as they knew that they had outplayed Framingham in that period and they were determined to make sure that the score reflected it.  It took just the first shift on the ice for that to happen as Katie, Heather and Delaney spaced their triangle out perfectly around the Flyers’ net and from the corner Katie made a pass to Heather in the slot for the shot and Delaney was there to drive home the rebound for the goal.  The girls were not satisfied and continued to put pressure on the other team’s net for the remainder of the period.  With just under two minutes left in the second Sarah G swung around our net with the puck and fired a perfect breakout pass to Kalee on the wing who then found Emily with a centering pass at our blue line.  From there it was a foot race and Emily turned on the jets to skate around and through the Framingham D for a beautiful breakaway goal.  Just nine seconds later Dyane broke up a Framingham breakout at the red line and knocked the puck over to Kalee who slid it right between the D to a waiting Nicole who came in alone on the goalie and made a sweet far corner shot for our second goal of the shift.  We did not score in the third period, but it may have been our best period of hockey this season.  The coaches on the bench could only smile as every shift Nicole, Katie, Delaney, Emily, Kalee and Heather came flying back on the backcheck to help our defense shut the Flyers down each time they tried to mount a comeback.  Our special guest defense pairing of Katie Crowther and Meredith Cronin joined Dyane and Sarah in locking down the Flyers offense and minimizing their opportunities.  Sarah M made a couple of flashy stops early on to keep momentum on our side.

December 11th vs Dover
Player of the Game: Jamey

On Sunday the Express girls took a quick trip up to New Hampshire to play the Dover Stars.  The girls must have found some time during their short car ride to take a nap because we came out a little sleepy in the first period and let Dover take the game to us.  Luckily Sarah M was awake and made several showtime stops to keep the score a reasonable 4-0 after one.  The second period saw the Express start to wake up as we had some great shots on net and a couple of great passes by Sam and Delaney to send people in on the Dover net.  Dyane, Sarah G, Sam and Jamey all did a fantastic job of skating the puck out of our zone when the forwards were covered.  Jamey was pushing the puck all game and when the Dover team started to swarm her she found an open teammate with the pass.  It took us until the third period to break the ice, so to speak, but it was worth the wait.  Heather hustled into the corner to the right of the Dover net, out-muscled her opponent for the puck and made a perfect pass to Haley in front of the net who quickly deposited the puck into the back of the net.  Great work, great position, great goal.  There have been so many improvements in the girls’ game, the passing is miles ahead of where we started, they are all working on skating with the puck when they have open ice, and their positioning in the defensive zone is generally very strong.  One of the things we need to work on this week is getting the girls to go to the net aggressively and to not let up until the whistle blows.  I’m pretty sure that we won’t win too many games if we only score one goal.

December 3rd vs Lynnfield
Player of the Game: Haley

Well you could feel this coming on for a while now, the Express girls have been way overdue for a win.  This past Saturday night the Express showed up focused and ready to play, and though a game Lynnfield team tried, they could not match our intensity.  The first period was amazing as the girls were winning all of the races to the puck and were very aggressive in going to the net.  Haley was a force, picking up the puck in our zone and using her speed to create several beautiful rushes up ice.  The line of Nicole, Emily and Haley had several great opportunities that were the direct result of the three girls carrying the puck through the flat footed Lynnfield team.  Late in the first period their hard work paid off as Nicole’s aggressive forechecking forced the puck into the Lynnfield end where Haley was able to beat her opponent to the puck and make a perfect centering pass to Emily who drove it home for the goal.  You would have had to be the Grinch to not smile while the girls on the bench counted down the last 10 seconds of their first victory of the season.  You can’t talk about a 1-0 win without starting with the goaltender, Sarah M keeps getting better and we always have a chance with her in the net.  The defense is really starting to gel as Sam, Dyane, Sarah and Jamey each showed great rink awareness by taking the open lanes that Lynnfield was giving them to rush the puck out of our end and create some offense.  Their understanding of the game is starting to help us out on offense as well as defense.  Though the line of Kalee, Heather and Delaney did not score they made some great breakout passes and also found each other around the net for some good scoring chances.

November 26th vs Natick
Player of the Game: Sara M.

After our team pizza party (thanks again to Kalee’s and Haley’s moms) we faced off against Natick who we had a wild shootout with last week.  This time it was the total opposite as this was the Sarah M. show from the get go.  Sarah was determined to not let her “other” team score on her and it showed from the start as she came up with several amazing saves and was diving all over the place.  Her teammates were inspired and really pushed themselves to try and score for Sarah to break the deadlock.  Maybe it was fatigue at having a short bench, or maybe it was too much pizza and cupcakes, but the Express seemed to wear down a little at the end to lose a tough one.  Win or lose the girls had a great time and did their best in every game that they played.

November 26th vs Arlington
Player of the Game: Sam

Day two of the tourney had us facing an Arlington team that had beaten us earlier in the season in a very evenly contested game.  Unfortunately for the Express this game turned out to be a repeat of the first game as no matter what we did we could not get the puck past the Arlington goalie.  The game was a back and forth battle as Sarah M. did her usual great job of keeping us in the game.  We had several good scoring opportunities that we failed to take advantage of and that was all that Arlington needed.  Similar to our first game of the tournament another defender stepped forward to take her game up a notch.  Sam, already burdened with the role of being team enforcer, decided to show off the skilled side of her game as she carried the puck out of our zone on several occasions when Arlington took away the wings as an outlet.  The girls gave everything they had in this game, and it was a pleasure to see so many areas of improvement.

November 25th vs Newton
Player of the Game: Sarah G.

The Express girls took on eventual division champs Newton in the first game of the Thanksgiving tournament, and it was a good indicator of how far we have to go.  The girls worked hard against a much more experienced team and this should help us out as the season goes on.  The one thing that really stood out to the coaches in this game was the work of our defense.  We asked the defensemen to pick their head up when coming around our net so that they can make the correct pass or skate with the puck and nobody did this better than Sarah G.  Sarah made several great decisions late in the game as to whether to take the open ice that Newton was giving her to skate the puck out, or to draw the defenders towards her before dishing the puck off to an open teammate.  No matter the score it is very rewarding as coaches to see the girls try to make improvements to their game.

November 18th vs Natick
Player of the Game: Katie

This past Saturday defense took a holiday in our game against the Natick Comets, as the Express girls lost a tough 7-5 shootout.  We got on the board early as Delaney and Heather worked a nice breakout to set up Katie for a nifty top shelf goal.  The Comets came right back and scored two quick ones to take a 2-1 lead at the end of one.  They carried their momentum into the second period scoring several minutes into the frame to take a two goal lead and it was starting to look too familiar.  Fortunately these Express girls have no quit in them and they gritted there teeth and did what they always do, worked harder.  Delaney tucked home a rebound of a shot by Jamey to cut the lead in half and three minutes later Katie buried another beauty to tie it back up with Heather and Meredith Cronin getting the helpers.  Natick didn’t let the tie last for long as they scored just 30 seconds into the third and managed to keep that lead for another 6 minutes.  Katie realizing that it had been almost a full period since she last scored took a nice entry pass from Meredith at the Natick blue line, put a great move on the defenseman and drove to the net firing another top corner goal to complete her Hat Trick and tie the game up at 4.  Less than a minute later the Natick killjoys scored again to break the tie, this back and forth was non-stop.  It took the Express just 3 minutes to tie the score as Heather cleverly decided that it would be easier to bury the rebound if she was sitting on the ice, hopefully this fad will not catch on.  Predictably déjà vu Natick scored a minute later to break the tie again, and we were not able to get anything else past Sarah M. standing or sitting.  Great games from our two fill-ins Kerri O’Halloran and Meredith, you can’t tell by the score, but both girls played very well in goal and on D.  Also Sarah G. and Jamey both played outstanding two way games for us.

November 13th vs Winchester
Player of the Game: Emily

If you were looking for an exciting hockey game this past weekend there was no better place to be than Waltham on Sunday night.  The Express girls took on an evenly matched Winchester team and the game came right down to the wire.  The coaches all agreed that the first period of the game was the best period of hockey that the girls have played so far this season.  There was a little bit of everything in that first period, Heather making a beautiful pass to set Delaney up for a shot in front of the net (does anyone have an anti-venom kit because this kid is severely snakebitten), Haley making a sweet D to D pass to Sarah G., Katie dropping back to cover for the D when they rushed the puck, Dyane and Sam (who managed to find her way to the sin bin for the 50th straight game) selecting the right time to pinch on the boards, Nicole and Kaylee forechecking like Winchester owed them money, and of course Sarah M. standing on her head as usual to keep us in the game.  The period ended with no score and you could just tell that this one was going to come down to the wire.  The Express started off fast in the second period pushing the pace hard the whole way.  With about 8 minutes gone in the frame Jamey picked off an errant Winchester pass at our Blue line and took off towards the Winchester net with only a defenseman to beat.  Jamey made quick work of the defenseman and blew in on the goalie who made a great save on her, but Emily, who had never stopped skating came flying in out of nowhere to drive the rebound home to make for two great plays in one.  We entered the third period clinging to a 1-0 advantage, but the girls were tiring and we needed to get that next goal, unfortunately Winchester was able to capitalize on a couple of breakdowns in our zone to take a 2-1 lead with a couple of minutes left in the game.  We pulled Sarah M. to try to get the tying goal, but Winchester got lucky and knocked in an empty-netter.  The Express girls left it all on the ice this week and we look forward to catching Winchester the next time around.

November 6th vs Medfield
Player of the Game: Heather

The Walpole Express girls had a tough loss of 7-1 to Medfield this past Sunday. We had a strong  first period keeping the score close at 2-0. Sarah M. made some amazing saves and the defense of Sam and Dyane as well as Vivian and Haley kept it close. In the middle of the second period there was a scramble for a rebound of a missed breakaway shot by Delaney. The girls missed that opportunity, but would not give up. Sam and Dyane both had good defensive rushes to create opportunities for the offense and later in the period a goal was scored by Heather after some hard work by  Delaney, and Nicole. We also had some good shots and some unfortunate misses on shots by  Emily, Kalee, and Erin. Erin had multiple breakaways where she made a good move at blue line to go in all alone. A special thanks to Vivian Murphy and Erin Donahue for coming up and playing with us. Despite the loss the girls played well and spirits were high in locker room and if we continue to work and skate eventually the first elusive win will come our way.

October 30th vs Framingham
Player of the Game: Nicole

This past Sunday we played a tough Framingham team and unfortunately for us the Halloween weekend power outage extended to our players, at least for the first period.  The girls were a little slow to get started and Framingham jumped out to an early lead.  The second period seemed to wake us up a little and we had some strong defensive plays by Sam, Haley and Dyane to keep the score close.  The offense took a little more time to get clicking, we were struggling to get our shots off.  The girls picked up the pace in the third period, but we had dug too deep of a hole to climb out of at that point.  The highlights from the period were Nicole scoring a hustle goal with help from Kaylee and Emily, and Sarah M. making a highlight reel blocker save late in the game.  We need to get our energy level back for next week.

October 29th vs Medford
Player of the Game: Delaney

This Saturday the Express made the journey through the rain and snow to play against the team with the hidden entrance to their rink, aka Medford.  The first period was pretty competitive as both teams traded scoring chances, Sarah M. played her usual strong game to keep us in there.  The line of Sarah G., Katie H. and Delaney were attacking the whole game but could not capitalize on any of their chances.  Delaney was a forechecking machine and was a constant source of problems for the Medford defense.  The line of Nicole, Emily and Kaylee also had several great chances and worked really well together for the second straight week.  The defense is working hard on knowing when to pinch in and when to give up the blue line, Jamey had a strong game in breaking up the Medford forwards and moving the puck out of our zone.  Katie Crowther subbed in for us this week and not only played a solid game on D but fired a strong shot from the point late in the game that unfortunately rang off of the post.

October 24th vs Dover
Player of the Game: Delaney, Dyane, Emily, Heather, Jamey, Katie, Kaylee, Nicole, Sam, Sarah G., and Sarah M.

The Express had a very exciting home game with Dover, NH this past Sunday.  Even though we haven’t been on the winning side this year the girls came out flying.  Dover got on the board first about halfway through the first period, but we came right back at them with several great scoring chances by the line of Heather, Katie and Delaney.  The second period was mostly played in the Dover end of the ice, but we just couldn’t get one past the opposing goalie.  The look of determination on the girls’ faces between the second and third periods was very telling, we were not going to go quietly.  The line of Kaylee, Nicole and Emily (who showed no rust in her first game) pressured the Dover defense early in the period several times, but on their third shift out they would not be denied as Kaylee fought off two players to keep the puck in the zone and passed it to Emily for a shot from the slot then Nicole dived in and whacked the rebound home for the tying goal.  The rest of the game featured amazing plays from our Cheers defense of Sam and Dyane who made several great breakout passes, as well as some timely offense from Jamey.  Sarah G. must have hustled back and broken up 5 or 6 breakaways over the course of the game.  Any time you tie a game 1-1 you have to give the nod to your goalie for keeping your team in there, and once again that is what Sarah M. did for us.  This was truly a team effort, every girl did something to contribute to the tie and to break the losing streak.  Hopefully we have started an unbeaten streak.

October 15th vs Stoneham
Player of the Game: Dyane Cayer

This week the Express took on the first place team from Stoneham, and though the score was not in our favor there were a lot of things to build on going forward.  It was unanimous among the coaching staff that this was our best team performance so far this season.  We were winning more races for the puck and one on one battles in the corners.  The girls really made a conscious effort to cut down on blind passes and to make sure that they were moving the puck to an open teammate.  Improvements are sometimes tough to measure when you are playing so many good teams each week, but this group of girls really work hard on getting better each game.  Dyane had a great game on defense, breaking up plays and skating like crazy to get back if the puck got past her.  If the girls keep giving their best every week we will get our first victory very soon.

October 9th vs Newton/Cambridge
Player of the Game: Kalee O'Hara

The U14B Lady Express team submitted another key building block to success this past Sunday at Iorio.  Unfortunately for us we were up against a tale of two cities, Newton/Cambridge to be exact, and they beat the dickens out of us.  As I mentioned earlier you can’t achieve success until you have experienced losing, so that makes us one step closer to the elusive W.  As coaches we are less concerned with the score of the game than we are with the development of our players.  I wish all of the parents could have been in the locker room after the game to see all of the red, sweaty, smiling faces.  We were without two of our more experienced players in Katie and Jamey, but Meredith Cronin and Erin Donahue stepped in and gave us great efforts.  The line of Heather, Delaney and Erin generated several scoring opportunities with some pretty passes, but just couldn’t put the puck in the net.  The other forward line of Sarah G., Nicole and Kalee was skating hard every shift and did a great job of forechecking the entire game.  Kalee in particular has really worked on her positioning and passing and the effects are starting to show up in games.  The D did a great job against a tough opponent, Sam and Tess had to get a little physical at times to keep the other team honest.  Dyane and Haley really worked well as partners out there, great to hear the girls communicating.  As always Sarah M., the birthday girl, kept us in the game with some big saves when we needed them most.

October 2nd vs Nighthawks
Player of the Game: Haley Griffin

This weekend we took on another very strong opponent in the Nighthawks and though we came out on the wrong side of the score the girls once again fought hard until the end.  The Nighthawks were similar to the Norwood team that we played last week, the difference was the girls did not seem to get as flustered early on and they really worked on the things that we have been practicing.  The Nighthawks jumped out to a quick lead and if not for our goalie Camryn Murphy, an emergency call up from Providence, we would have been in serious trouble.  It took the offense a little time to get going, but we created some scoring opportunities in the second period, and with the clock running out Heather fed a pass back to Jamey at the point and she fired a laser at the net to beat the goalie and get us on the board.  We started the third period strong trying to get another quick score to keep the pressure on the other team, but we were not able to capitalize.  The defense was led by Dyane who consistently made life miserable for forwards looking to take up space in front of our net.  This week we moved some people to positions that they had not played before, and after some pre-game jitters Hayley responded with a great effort playing strong in the corners and putting constant pressure on their defense.  The girls made some great passes and worked hard on their positioning in the defensive zone.

September 25th vs Norwood
Player of the Game: Jamey Olean

The girls took on a VERY experienced Norwood team at home this past Sunday, and unfortunately for us the age difference showed.  Norwood took the play to us right from the start and their pressure caused the Express girls to get away from some of the positive strides that we made last week.  Near the end of the first period the girls seemed to regain their composure and the result was a picture perfect scoring play.  Nicole Hay carried the puck into the middle of Norwood’s zone and slid a pass over to Tess Lyons down low who made a quick centering feed to Jamey Olean for the goal.  Jamey was all over the ice for the entire game, literally, as she did a fantastic job of running through both forward lines and the defense, while managing to play great position the whole game, not an easy task.  The defense and Sarah M. were under constant pressure the entire game, but everyone stayed focused and never let up.  Haley Griffin, one of our first year players, stood out on D as she made a couple of very aggressive plays to break up scoring opportunities.  In games like this the coaches are focused on effort and intensity, the girls delivered.

September 18th vs Arlington
Player of the Game: Katie Houser

This weekend the Express went up against a very evenly matched Arlington team, and though we came out on the wrong end of the score I think coach Bubencik summed it up best when he said it sure didn’t feel like a 4-1 game.  It didn’t look that way either as the Express put a lot of pressure on Arlington right from the start, including Delaney Murphy taking a great feed from Heather Bubencik and ringing a shot off of the goalie’s melon.  Unfortunately we were a little snakebit again and we entered the second down 1-0.  Katie Houser, who set the tone for the Express all day with outstanding backchecking and forechecking work, was rewarded early in the period for all of her hard work as she banged home a great feed by Heather to even the score at one.  Arlington got a couple of lucky bounces and scored two quick ones to go back on top.  The third period saw our defense, led by Sarah Glass, really step up their effort to shut down the Arlington offense, but we were still unable to capitalize on some great chances.  Once again Sarah McLaughlin provided great goaltending.  It was really rewarding to watch the girls start to put into play some of the things they have been working on in practice.  The breakout passes were much improved and the defenseladies were really working on pivoting and taking on the Arlington offense.  The way this team is coming together I would not want to be Norwood this week.

September 11th vs Westwood
Player of the Game: Sarah McLaughlin

Week one was a tough game to start the season.  The Express only had one practice together prior to taking the ice against Westwood on Saturday, and it was rough going from the first whistle.  It appeared the ice was tilted for the first three quarters of period one as we were not having much success breaking the puck out of our zone.  Before you knew it we were down 4-0 and it could have been worse if not for some great goaltending by Sarah McLaughlin.  The coaches were worried that the girls might get frustrated and pack it in for the day, but they weren’t giving in and we ended the period with an all out effort goal by Nicole Hay to make it 4-1.

The ice seemed to stay tilted in the second period, but this time we were the team skating down hill as we spent significantly more time in Westwood’s end of the ice.  Unfortunately our hard work was not rewarded with a goal.  The girls could not keep up the fast pace in the third period, but the effort was there until the end as Jamey Olean picked up a loose puck at her own blue line and raced past Westwood’s defense to bury a sweet breakaway goal.  If the girls play this hard in every game it is going to be a fun season.