Cathedral’s Madison Pelletier, of Westfield takes charge for the Panthers. (Submitted photo)
WESTFIELD – The Cathedral High girls’ ice hockey team delivered one of its most grueling efforts Monday, losing to 11th-ranked Division I opponent, Austin Prep, 1-0.
It may have been a loss, but the Panthers are proving to put up a united front against lofty competition.
It was a scoreless game until well into the third period. Makala Boyle scored Austin Prep’s only goal, unassisted.
“Simple, we played one our toughest and best games (of the season),” said Cathedral assistant coach Dave Pelletier, a Westfield native.
The coach’s two daughters, Madison and Mackenzie Pelletier, both of Westfield, and Brittany Kowalski, also from the Whip City, employed a superb defensive effort, and Panthers goalie Lexi Levere, another Westfield native, finished with 33 saves.
Cathedral was coming off a big 5-1 win over Auburn Sunday at Fitzpatrick Arena in Holyoke. The Panthers received goals from five different goal scorers – Katelyn Joyal (1st period), Madison Pelletier (1st period), Annie D’amario (2nd period), Kyra Ashe (2nd period), and Annie McKeown (3rd period).
Joyal, McKeown, Brenna Hoar, and Tess Bonavita eached an assist for Cathedral.
Levere had 22 saves.
Cathedral goalie Lexi Levere covers up the puck against Austin Prep Monday. Levere is a Westfield native. (Submitted photo)
On Saturday, Cathedral suffered a narrow loss to first place, undefeated Shrewsbury 4-3.
“It was a great effort,” coach Pelletier said.
In that game, Joyal scored two goals – both on passes from Mackenzie Pelletier in the second and third periods. D’amario tallied the game’s first goal off a feed from Madison Pelletier.
Levere made 18 saves.
“They’re improving every game,” coach Pelletier said. “If that continues, we stand a shot to make the playoffs.”
To qualify for the postseason, Cathedral, currently 5-3-2, will need to post a .500 record or better. Although they are a step ahead of the curve right now, the Panthers are tasked with a grueling schedule which features eight games in 11 days, primarily against tough Division I opponents.
“Making the playoffs is one of our goals,” coach Pelletier said, “but challenging these girls is our goal too. We want to give the girls the best experience possible. We didn’t want to play down just to get into the playoffs. We want them to improve in passing to shooting to quick, quick decision making.”
Mackenzie Pelletier sees the next few weeks as a welcome challenge.
“It’s going to be a lot of hard work,” Mackenzie said, “but it should be fun.”
Mackenzie said the biggest challenge, thus far, is not really the adjustment to playing for a team comprised of girls from Springfield, Longmeadow, and Westfield, bur rather the level of competition involved.
Cathedral’s Brittany Kowalski (68), of Westfield skates against Austin Prep Monday. (Submitted photo)
“The competition is a lot harder than it was for our club team,” she said.
“There’s not much difference (playing with girls from Cathedral or Longmeadow),” Mackenzie said. “Most of us have played for the Junior Falcons anyways. It’s been great. I already had friends in Longmeadow, and during the season I made (new) friends with girls from Cathedral.”
The 14-year-old freshman has played with the Junior Falcons for the last four years. She is joined by fellow Westfield High female hockey players Brittany Kowalski, Kaylee Baile, Lexi Levere, and of course, her sister Madison, also a freshman.
That group of Whip City players, joined by their counterparts from Longmeadow and Cathedral High, will begin the next leg of their journey tomorrow at Auburn at 3 p.m.
For the full schedule of the Cathedral High girls’ ice hockey team, visit highschoolsportsn.net. For full recaps of games, check out the Sports Section of the Westfield News or visit us online at thewestfieldnews.com.
