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02/25/2014 11:00 PMWhile Hand girls' ice hockey fell to Guilford on Feb. 20, the Tigers certainly made sure the Indians worked the full 45 minutes for their victory.
Hand suffered a 3-0 road loss to its rival Guilford, but despite taking the shutout decision, the Tigers showed a constant and consistent offensive presence in front of the Indians' net. Her team didn't take away the win, yet Hand Coach Caitlyn Bernick was happy that her group accomplished one of its targets on the night.
"We blocked a lot more shots than we usually do, which was awesome," said Bernick. "Coming in tonight, that was one of our goals and we did that so that was really good to see."
One victory Hand did earn was the shots-on-goal battle as it outshot the Indians by a 27-24 margin. The Tigers swarmed around Guilford goal, yet they just couldn't seal the deal and get onto the scoreboard.
"I thought we played pretty well offensively tonight," said Bernick. "We put a lot of shots on net with some good chances. We just didn't have the right rebounds."
After an early exchange of possessions by both squads, Guilford (11-6) struck first at the 11:12 mark when junior Nicole Raccuia dished the puck from behind the net to freshman Lexi Cafiero, who shot it in to the right side of Hand's (2-14) senior stopper Erin Splain (21 saves). At 10:54, the Indians made it a two-score game when freshman Catherine Lawrence scored on a breakaway strike. While they were down two, the Tigers played strong as Splain made big stops on both Raccuia and Lawrence to wind down a first period that saw both clubs even on shots at 10 a side.
Hand began the second with offensive aggression thanks to continuous pressure on junior goalkeeper Edy Moritz in traffic around the goal. Guilford freshman Alexa Petritz sped down the ice on a solo rush, yet she was denied before junior Emily Soboleski and sophomore Emily Banasiak had a good setup on the doorstep that was stopped. The Tigers then saw two power-play chances, the first one midway through the frame prior to another that overlapped from the second into the third, although they couldn't net the score.
In the third, the Indians started to create a few more chances and their persistence paid off with 6:58 to play when senior Zoe Bosenburg found Raccuia for a 3-0 Guilford edge. Even down three late, Hand continued to hustle for chances until the final whistle, but it was not enough to take the victory away from the Indians.
Hand also had its five additional seniors recognized before the game on Guilford's Senior Night in Morgan Connors, Nicole Francischelli, Kaitlin Gioeli, Mackenzie Hilton, and Mary Sobran. Despite what its record indicates, Bernick knows this team plays through it all with pride.
"The girls really played with a lot of heart through the whole thing," said Bernick. "It's just we didn't have what it took to win a lot of games, but we played our hardest."
The Tigers clinched a spot in the SCC Division II Tournament and faced Branford in semifinal action on Feb. 24. A win there would have put them in the championship game on Feb. 26.