The West Haven/Sacred Heart Academy girls hockey team has hit a road block in the season. After winning eight of their first nine games, the Westie Sharks have gone 1-3-1 in their last five contests.
West Haven/Sacred Heart Academy has struggled to score in the last handful of contests, producing just seven goals, three coming in a win over MW Catholic/Mercy.
As a result of the skid, the Westie Sharks have dropped to 9-4-1 on the year, with six games remaining.
Faced with injuries to key players Mia Celentano, Brooke McNabola and Zoe DeFalco, the Westie Sharks were put to the test last Wednesday evening as a long road trip to Simsbury produced a 2-1 loss. With the defeat, West Haven/Sacred Heart Academy dropped suffered its fourth loss on the year.
“Simsbury is a tough team,” West Haven/Sacred Heart Academy coach Erin Blake said. “Coming into the game, we knew we were without Brooke (McNabola), and we had Mia (Celentano) get hurt midway through the second period. We had to battle through it. We could not keep up with their speed. Kyleen (Crowe) had an amazing game in net, but we could not pull out the win.”
Kyleen Crowe played well in goal as she made 31 saves in the loss for West Haven/Sacred Heart Academy.
Simsbury took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Stephanie Rurka at the 10:49 mark of the opening period, before Taylor Nowak evened the game for the Westie Sharks off assists from Mia Celentano and Mackenzie Gardner at the 7:18 mark of the second period.
The game would remain tied until Simsbury scored the eventual winner at the 3:57 mark of the third period on an unassisted goal by Kate Werle.
Trying to get back on the winning side, the Westie Sharks played to a scoreless tie against Hall-Conard Saturday afternoon at the Edward L. Bennett Rink in West Haven. With the tie, the Westies Sharks are 0-2-1 in their last three contests and 1-3-1 in their last five.
The Westie Sharks again played without McNabola, but also added one of their top scorers to the mix in Nowak as she sat out with an injury. West Haven/Sacred Heart Academy held a 38-17 shot advantage in the game, including a 14-0 advantage in overtime, but could not get anything by Hall-Conard goaltender Nora McGowan.
“We fought hard with a shorter bench,” Blake said. “CC (Celina Condon) stepped up and played an amazing game defensively yet again. Kyleen (Crowe) kept us in the game with 17 saves as she communicated well with the defense. We had our chances, but could not catch a break. Everyone stepped up their play. I was proud of the way the girls played offensively as we outshot them. We were missing some key players, but we fought hard all game.”
Crowe made 17 saves in the tie for the Westie Sharks.