With seasons marked by change, the boys’ and girls’ hockey teams reached new levels of success this past winter. New players and coaches made great contributions towards the teams’ successes.
The addition of Shelton to the boys Westport-Weston co-op provided the extra skaters and talent the team needed, and the boys were able to get back on track after a difficult 2009-2010 season, due to lack of players and several injuries.
The new girls’ head coach, Peter Alfano, led the squad to achieve its first ever win in the team’s three-year varsity history.
“[Alfano] came into the season with good intentions, positivity, and taught everyone on the team a lot of new skills. Coach Rollison and Coach Chusid were just as helpful, but Coach Alfano was really the driving force behind our win,” Charlotte Axhelm ’12 said.
According to captain Gwen Moyer ’11, Alfano was able to implement changes in the team’s strategy, which will hopefully lead to more success in seasons to come. “Last season was fun, but I think this year we got more serious. Last season we lost by eight goals or more almost every game, but this season, we were stronger,” Moyer said.
However, the biggest challenge the girls faced was the lack of players on the team. “We are a really small team so it was hard not get tired half way through the games because we were all double shifting,” captain Kate Shanahan ’11 said.
Despite the difficulty of competing with limited players, Alfano said the girls always gave it their best effort. “The girls never stopped skating and gave 100 percent effort during each and every game, no matter how tired they were,” Alfano said. “They worked very hard for me during the season and I really appreciate their efforts.”
The boys’ team benefited from the new players from Shelton, as well as the return of injured players. The team’s roster nearly doubled from 13 to 20 skaters, and their record improved from 3-16-1 last year, to 15-5 at the end of this year’s regular season.
Some of the Staples athletes were nervous about joining with Shelton, but the merger paved the way for a successful regular season and gives the team hope for the post season.
“At first I was a little worried about merging with Shelton and thought it might be a distraction, but now that the regular season is over, I definitely think it was a good move. They brought a lot of talent and energy to the team,” alternate captain Ben Brancucci ’11 said.
Head Coach Ralph Unker attributes a portion of the success to the addition of the talented players from Shelton, as well as having captain Tali Laifer ’11 back on the ice after sitting out the entire previous season due to an injury.
In addition, much of the team’s success could be attributed to the Wreckers’ first line, which is made up of the top three scorers on the team: Laifer, captains Aaron Liu ’12, and Kyle Wehmhoff ’12.
After fighting a tough bout with Darien in the FCIAC quarterfinals, which resulted in a 3-2 overtime loss, the boys look ahead to the state tournament.
The players are confident that this year’s talent rivals the 2008-2009 team, which made it to the State Championship.
“[This team] absolutely has as good a chance as any in Division III to take the title. I have a lot of confidence; I think we can do it,” Unker said.
Despite the different challenges the boys and girls team faced this season, they have both accomplished their goal of improving since last season. While the girls’ season is over, they are already planning clinics for middle school girls to try to recruit more girls for the team next year.
Meanwhile, the boys continue to practice and anticipate their appearance in the CIAC Division III Championship against Watertown-Pomperaug co-op on March 19 at Ingalls Rink at Yale University.
