February 23, 2024 – Story and photos by Joshua Ross
The Harborwomen are on a seven game win streak and are arguably playing their best hockey of the season at the best time of the season. While there are games and stretches where Coach Courtney Turner gets production up and down her line-up, there is no doubt junior captain Caroline Doherty is the engine that makes this team run.
On February 10th, Doherty became only the second player in Hingham High School history to score 100 goals. Since then, she scored a hat trick vs Whitman-Hanson and the game-tying and game-winning goals in the Harborwomen’s most important game of year yesterday versus the top ranked team in the state, St. Mary’s.
“This is amazing,” Doherty said after the recordbreaking game. “To be able to do it with all my teammates, espeically seeing all my other teammates score – shout out to Sara Menesale and Julia Whitney. It was such a fun night seeing all my other teammates score. We had so much fun on the ice and on the bench.”
That game vs Whitman-Hanson encompassed what makes this team different and depending on how this season ultimatly ends, will be seen as the catalyst that gets them to their top goal – a state championship. In addition to Doherty’s historic goal, seven other Harborwomen scored, included the two Doherty mentioned who score their first career goals. 12 different players recorded at least one point. When the focus could have been on one player, it was the team that took center stage in the win.
Turner acknowledges Doherty’s impact on the ice is game-changing, but also recognizes the importance of her role as a leader on and off the ice.
“One hundred goal players don’t come around often,” Turner explained. “It’s an amazing accomplishment. It’s a testiment to what a great player Caroline is. I think it’s important to also recognize her teammates who have helped her get there, but again, one hundred goals is extremely impressive. As a junior captain, we saw her leadership last year. We went deep into the playoffs and she kind of carried us there, but she’s a great kid off the ice. She’s involved in Unified Sports. She looks out for her teammates. People who have not scored a goal yet, she’s looking for them every shift. It’s not something you have to tell her, she just does it.”
There are games like the Whitman-Hanson game where it’s important to get everyone involved, then there are games like yesterday’s against St. Mary’s where the best players need to take over. And they certainly did.
The Annual February Showcase, hosted by Hingham, brings together eight of the top teams in the state for eight games over two days. The Harborwomen eeked out a 2-1 win over Andover on Tuesday where freshman Callie Crean had a goal and junior Alexa Harris had a goal and an assist. St. Mary’s, who recorded only their second loss of the season on Tuesday vs second ranked Notre Dame, was eager to get back in the win column against Hingham. Senior captain Reese Pompeo broke the scoreless tie with a little over four minutes to go in the first. The lead didn’t last long as the Spartan’s tied it up two minutes later, then took the lead with just under a minute left to play in the period. Doherty tied the game up early in the second on a wrist shot from the just inside the left circle. The game remained tied until the third when Doherty fire one past the goalie right under the cross bar that bounced out of the net so fast that no one was sure it went in until the ref signaled goal.
Even down one, the Harborwomen never seemed rattled or indictated they wouldn’t win the game. The scorecard will show the goal scorers, what it won’t show is how poised and confident the underclassmen were and how they impacted this game. Freshmen Hannah Lasch, Shea Richardson, and Crean continue to get better each week. Sophomores CC Flynn, Katie Teague, and goaltender Izzy McGarr are the reason St. Mary’s didn’t score again leading to Hingham’s 3-2 win.
“Every single team is here to compete,” Turner said after yesterday’s game. “It’s nice way to end the season on a competitive note going into the post season. We will see most of these teams again. It was a great team effort tonight. I think that’s what the difference was.”
Turner was also impressed that her team stayed focused after giving up two quick goals at the end of the first period.
“I think we’ve had trouble when we’ve been down so far this year,” she goes onto say. “So this was a good test for us. The momentum was really high after Reese scored and then they put two in quick ones and we just needed to keep our emotions in check.”
Doherty gives credit to fellow captains Pompeo and senior Isabel McCabe for keeping everyone focused and amped up for the game.
“It all starts in the locker room,” said Doherty. “They are so helpful in getting the team hyped. In the locker room we always talk about we have to stay positive and I think that’s what we were able to do. Going into the game, we WANTED to win that game and I think it was very clear, so I think that helped a ton.”
Now the really season begins for the Harborwomen. Seedings will come out early next week with games most likely starting next weekend. Stay tuned for dates, times, and opponents as the girls look to make more history this season.
GAME PHOTOS
