Girls’ hockey faced a 4-1 loss to Auburn Friday, Jan. 31 at Reilly Arena. The team showed inspiring perseverance and passion despite the defeat. 

“Mady and I helped the team stay motivated by pointing out some of our strengths and making sure the girls didn’t focus too much on the other team’s record which was a bit intimidating,” said senior Ellie Fahey, a captain along with senior Mady Daley. 

To kick off the first period, the Newton Crush’s offense focused on getting shots to the net while the defense kept the puck out of their zone. 

With both the Crush and Auburn showing aggression towards the puck, the Crush fell short as Auburn secured a late goal. 

“I thought we played well in the first period. The team was definitely better than we had expected and very fast, making it a fast-paced game,” said Daley. 

In the second period, the Crush was struggling in its zone, and Auburn capitalized on it, causing Auburn to land another goal.

“We learned that we can compete and play with this team, but we just needed to be consistent,” said head coach Rebecca Flemming. 

In the second period, Auburn used speed and stick work to make another goal, resulting in North trailing zero goals to three. 

Toward the end of the period, North found opportunities to score but the puck failed to find the back of the net. 

“Our main goal was to get shots on net,” added Daley. “We are a really strong team but we struggle sometimes offensively to score.”   

Despite their struggle in the second period, the Tigers came out strong at 4:46 into the third period with a clutch goal by South freshman Gabby Staz assisted by North junior Audrey Welstead.

“Although we responded well in the third after a disappointing second period, I thought we came out strong in the third period and played much better,” added Fleming. 

Newton, 7-7-1, will face Natick Wednesday, Feb. 5 at John A. Ryan Skating Arena.