The girls hockey team found great success in an unlikely spot recently, the HHS cafeteria. They quickly sold out of the colorful winter hats they were selling as a fund raiser at all three lunches (the hats are now back on the market after about a week’s hiatus). However, the team’s biggest triumphs so far this season have been on the ice.

Coming into this Saturday’s clash against Ursuline Academy, the Cohasset/Hanover co-op team has a nice record of 7 wins, 4 losses and 1 tie. In league play, the team is 6-2 with a dominating ratio of scoring 23 goals while only giving up 13.  Offensively, Junior Sam Taylor and Sophomore Callie Hoadley have led the scoring charge. They each have 9 goals apiece. Hoadley leads the team with 18 points having chipped in 9 assists. Taylor is second with 14 points. On the Cohasset side, Senior Captain Valerie Farren has been putting up great numbers. She comes in with 6 goals and 6 assists for third on the team with 12 points.  A trio of sophomores from Cohasset — Katie Talacci, Kaitlin McGovern, and Alex Martini — are the next three point leaders, each with 5 or 6 points.

In net, Cohasset Junior Shea Kearney has been one of the best goalies in the South Shore, singlehandedly keeping Cohasset/Hanover in some games. She has a save percentage of .954 (95.4%) and has saved 312 of 330 shots on the year. For perspective, the goalie for Winthrop/Lynn, which is 9-3 and  one of the top 15 teams in the state, has faced considerably fewer 273 shots while playing in 11.6 of their 12 games.  Kearney has played only 8.6 of  C/H’s 12 games and has faced more attacks on the net. She has been steadily reinforced by Hanover bac up Emily Marciello  The other HHS members listed on the varsity roster are Senior Forward Erin Smith, Sophomore Forward Kailey Murphy, Junior Defense Molly Cameron, Freshman Forward/Defense Sydney Davis, Freshman Defense Morgan Lundin, Freshman Forward Alyssa Wilcox, and Sophomore Defense Cassidy Bodie. Bodie and Cameron, as well as Jenna O’Brien of Cohasset, make up a big part of the team’s defense this year.

The team and the program have improved steadily from their inception just a few years ago. This year appears to be following that trend. Last year, Hanover bowed in the second round of the D2 south playoffs to a young and talented Milton team that could roll more lines than Hanover’s two. This year, while depth can still be an issue for C/H, the talented underclassmen have been providing key minutes. The team plays a more unorthodox schedule than a lot of Hanover teams. This year they have faced very talented teams such as Medway/Ashland, Archbishop Williams, and Notre Dame Academy as well as teams like Mansfield/Oliver Ames, Latin Academy (Boston), King Phillip, and Ursuline Academy. Despite being based out of the lackluster Zapustas Rink in Randolph, hardly a home rink, the team has found great success on the road as well as at home. The first two lines need to keep up their highly potent offense and the girls need to start finding offense from unexpected sources. If they can do that, and shore up the second-string back line, Cohasset/Hanover will not only be tourney bound, but true D2 South Contenders.