Like the old song says," you just have to put one foot in front of the other". This is the strategy that was adopted by Portledge School over seven years ago when it was decided that a girls ice hockey program should be created. The first discussions come to mind very easily, as I remember someone saying,"we will build slowly... and in five or so years we will have girls playing in the Middle as well as in the Upper School, and we will be playing for the championship of whatever league we decide to join". Thanks to the efforts of our former Headmaster, Huson Gregory, our current Head of School, Steve Hahn, former Head Coach, Kelly Weideman, and most recently, current Head Coach Zoe Schwam, this has all come true. This past Sunday afternoon the Portledge Varsity Girls Ice Hockey team stepped out of Locker Room #1 at the Lisa McGraw Rink, on the campus of Princeton Day School, to play the Varsity Girls team of the Morristown Beard School for the Mid Atlantic Interscholastic Championship. At the same time the Portledge Athletic Dep't is expecting at least 15 young ladies to participate in the Middle School Ice Hockey program next winter, and this is a conservative estimate considering we had 11 girls playing in the Middle School this past winter. Isn't it amazing how some strategies stand the test of time, and how the some people's words turn out to be quite prophetic!
What Happened in the WIHLMA Championship Game?
Both Portledge and Morristown were coming off of hard fought wins in the semi finals. Portledge, the tournament's #1 seed had a surprisingly difficult time getting passed a determined group of girls from the Hill School. The Hill team does have the league's top goaltender and boosted by her fine play, the Hilltoppers found themselves only trailing the mighty Lady Panthers by one entering the third period. The Portledge girls, however, were equally determined to make this their weekend, and send their leader, Senior captain Siena Falino, out as a champion. Thus, the third period turned out to be a Panther blitz, as Falino and her mates turned up the speed of play a notch or two and netted three straight goals on the girls from Pottstown, PA.
In the second semi final the tournament's other favorite, the Crimson Ladies of Morristown Beard, faced an even greater challenge to advance from the Shaddy Side Varsity Girls from Pittsburgh, PA. Shaddy Side's incredible #10 banged in two quick goals to give the underdogs a formidable 2-0 early game lead. Slowly but surely though, the Morristown girls clawed their way back into this hard fought contest. The score was tied at two mid way through the third period when Mo Beard finally took the lead for good at 3-2. So both of Sunday's final contestants had been tested and had come through. Now we would settle once and for all the question of who was the best girls interscholastic hockey team in the mid atlantic region, The Portledge Lady Panthers, or the Crimson Ladies of Morristown Beard.
I once heard someone say that Princeton had given two great gifts to amateur ice hockey, Hobey Baker and Harry Rulon Miller. I reflected back on that statement as the venerable Mr. Rulon Miller took the microphone to introduce the teams competing in the WIHLMA Championship. In his most gravely and gargled voice, Harry wished both teams the best of luck, then eloquently and ever so simply stated,"play ball"!! These two teams took that simple statement to heart, as they both attacked the game with a youthful exuberance that literally shook the building. Up and down the ice they went, trading scoring chances and fine defensive plays from end to end. Little by little the territorial advantage started to slide towards the Lady Panthers as they consistently kept the puck in the Mo Beard end. The Portledge defensemen, Emily Prey, Chelsea Caracciolo, and 8th grader Erin Brand fearlessly pinched down the boards time and again denying the Crimson Ladies a respite from the growing pressure on their goal. Finally, half way through the second period, after 22 minutes of scoreless and tension packed play, the nervous tie was shattered as Portledge Sophomore winger Alyssa Parke came out of the corner in control of the puck and deftly snapped a wrister into the top corner of the Mo Beard net. A jubilant celebration by the Lady Panthers followed, and for a moment all seemed right in the world...but just for a moment!
Before the Portledge girls had the chance to get really comfortable with the lead a questionable penalty was called on Falino during a scrum in front of the MB net. The Crimson took advantage of the ensuing power play to tie the score at one. The Morristown goal came on a blistering slap shot by the Crimson's dominant offensive player, Sarah Beyerdorf. As the second period ended with the score tied at one, everyone in attendence realized that they were in for something really special because the third period would determine the WIHLMA champ, and what a period it would be!
Right from the drop of the puck the Lady Panthers were flying. Falino attempted rush after rush into the Mo Beard end, only to be efffectively steered away from the Crimson net by a well prepared Mo Beard defense. Every once in a while the Crimson managed to get off a shot at the Portledge goal, but they were usually from off angle and were easily handled by the Lady Panther's keeper, Sophomore Olivia Rivera. A side note on the weekend is that Rivera played solid throughout both games, providing a calm and cool presence in the Portledge net during some highly stressful situations. As the game was winding down and the coaches were beginning to think about the possibility of overtime there was a break. A Mo Beard turnover right at the Portledge blue line left Junior Addie Reilly with the puck just as speedy Sophomore winger Ashley Wade started to break down the ice. Reilly feathered a perfect pass between the Crimson defendrs and all of a sudden Wade was in alone. The crowd rose to their feet and witnessed Wade pull the puck to her backhand side before slyly slipping it through the ol' five hole and into the net. Over the last three minutes the Lady Panthers resisted a furious charge by the Morristown girls and finally, after what seemed like forever, the final horn sounded. This championship culminates a dream that people had and a tremendous amount of work by a very special group of girls. One girl, in particular, has strived for six years to put Portledge on the Girls Hockey map. The exceptional Miss Falino can now move on to Northeastern University for the next stage of a very special hockey career satisfied that her contributions to Portledge Girls Hockey did establish a program that is now recognized throughout the region. Congratulations to Siena, Head Coach Zoe Schwam, all the girls on this years incredible team and all the girls who have played for, and contributed to, this special program over the years!! WAY TO GO LADY PANTHERS!!!!
