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The King Philip girl’s hockey team put together a remarkable season last year going undefeated during the regular season, but unfortunately hit a brick wall in the Division 2 State Tournament. After being awarded the number one seed in the 2015 tournament, the Warriors fell in the first round 4-1 to the 16th seeded Winchester, showing that anything can happen once the tournament starts.
In order to duplicate what they accomplished during the regular season last year, King Philip is going to have to take full advantage of its returning athletes, having lost five players, including 4 seniors. The squad’s top scoring line will return two-thirds of its players in senior captains Casie Curtin and winger Liz Furfari, while losing an eighth grader who played for the team last winter to a private school.
“We’ll be looking for that top line to once again put the puck in the net and lead this team in scoring,” Warrior Coach Jack Unger said. “Casie and Liz will be back, but who the third player on that line is has not yet been determined.”
The team’s other co-captain will be Molly Alfond, who will anchor the defense along with two bright and upcoming stars in freshman Nicole Connor and sophomore Jessica Daniels. While Connor is playing varsity hockey for the first time, Daniels is no stranger to the program, having been named to the South Eastern Massachusetts Girls Hockey League All Star team.
According to the Coach, the team’s strength starts in their own end with their defense.
“Defense is a strong part of our team,” Unger said. “We are a very strong and capable group when we have the puck, moving it up the ice to our forwards. However, we play in the West Division of the league with the likes of Franklin, Medfield, Mansfield-OA and Medway-Ashland – it’s a seriously strong division and will not be easy.”
Unger will open up the season with a mere 4 seniors, 0 juniors, 11 sophomores and 14 incoming freshmen, somewhat of a tall task if King Philip is looking to repeat last year’s performance on the ice.
In addition to the senior captains in Curtin and Alfond, the Warriors will also have Sarah Glass and Abby Ray, both senior forwards, lacing up the skates this winter. The two will find themselves somewhere on either the second or third line for King Philip.
One glaring hole could be the loss of senior goaltender Molly Potts, but her replacement may be a blessing in disguise. Freshman Lilly Potts, Molly’s younger sister, will take over the position between the pipes this season with sophomore Abby Campbell as her back-up. According to the coach, despite actual varsity experience, Potts is a well-rounded keeper with hockey experience and Campbell is a very athletic athlete in terms of ability, giving the Warriors a solid one-two punch in the net.
Looking at the other 13 freshmen making their way onto the King Philip roster, Unger doesn’t see any one standout individual.
“There is no one girl who is head and shoulders above the rest in regards to the incoming freshmen,” he said. “Every single one of them is practically even, it’s amazing; hopefully leaving us with a very bright future.”
Despite having a lot of inexperienced and young athletes on this year’s team, Unger feels thus far they have all shown they can help this program advance into the tournament, once again becoming a top team. However, with that said they do have a serious challenge within their own division.