February 20, 2025 – Story and photos by Joshua Ross
When you are 19-0-1, there are many story lines that can be written about you. Record-breaking performances, unbeaten streaks, a plethora of young talent, role player production, goaltending, defense, etc. But the one thing that stands out with the Hingham Harborwomen this season has been their consistency. As cliche as it sounds, they take one game at a time, whether it is a winless team or a team, like Westwood, who is undefeated, and take care of business.
The consistency is not only in their winning, but also the fact that head coach Courtney Turner can consistently rely on any given player to step up and make a play when needed. Last week it was junior Katie Teague who stepped in for a sick teammate and scored two goals. This week, sophomore Siena Messina has been rotating in more on defensive shifts and has made some big plays against really good competition. And above all, the goaltending and defense might be the most reliable aspect of Harborwomen’s run. The tandem of junior Izzy McGarr and sophomore Izzi Puleo has been outstanding. The two have combined for nine shutouts in 20 games. Complimenting the goaltending has been the defense, led by junior CC Flynn. Coming into Monday’s game, Westwood hadn’t scored less than four goals in any game. Flynn, Puleo and the rest of the defense held the top team in Division II to just two.
The offense hasn’t been too shabby either. Senior captain Addy Garrity recorded an assist on senior captain Caroline Doherty’s goal in Monday’s game giving her 100 career points. Doherty, who has broken every scoring record Hingham hockey has, continues to be the engine of the offense. The problem for opponents is that when they focus on Doherty and Garrity, sophomores Callie Crean, Hannah Lasch and Shea Richardson will absolutely take advantage of it and make them pay.
What seems to be different about this year’s team is they believe they are supposed to be where they are. Even when things aren’t going their way, like the first period of Monday’s game, they don’t panic and just make a few adjustments and continue to play their game.
“I think we thought it was gonna be a really good test and honestly, the first period Westwood was the better team and they just came out really, really hard,” explained Turner after Hingham’s 4-2 win. “I think they took it to us and so we had to kind of regroup and go over our game plan again and just kind of remind ourselves of to play our game. They played a really, really tough physical game and I think we weren’t really used to that, so we had to kind of change up our game plan.”
While Turner may not admit it, a more physical game seems to suite her team this year. While most high school teams, regardless of gender or sport, when they get hit in the mouth, they tend to go into defensive mode. Not this team. You hit them, they get up and smile and seem to get better.
The girls will look to finish the regular season on Thursday afternoon with a game against St. Marys. They are last year’s D1 champs and will come out to try and give the Harborwomen their only loss of the season. Hingham, like every game this season, will be ready for the challenge and look to secure the #1 spot for the Division 1 playoffs starting next week.
A spot they will have more than earned. They have played six of the other top ten teams (top five in each division) ten times this season. They are 9-0-1 against the best in the state. They have answered every question and passes every test to get them ready for next week. My Hockey Live has them tied as the top team in the state, girls or boys, based on winning percentage and RPI rating.
By all measurable statistics, they are playing the best hockey in Massachusetts right now, which is speaks volumes given the talent of Mass hockey. Do yourself a favor and come watch this team. The girls will host a few playoff games at Pilgrim. They are worth the price of admission.
