Two years removed from winless season, Martha's Vineyard girls hockey reaching new heights
The Martha's Vineyard's girls hockey team is reaching new heights this season.
On Wednesday, the Vineyarders, who are just two years removed from a winless season, picked up their third straight victory to improve to 9-5-2 following a 4-2 win over Falmouth (10-2-3).
"We beat Barnstable the other day in overtime, and that's two teams we've never beat." Martha's Vineyard coach Geoghan Coogan said of knocking off the Clippers and Red Hawks back-to-back.
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That feat is equal parts a credit to the program building that's been done over time, and also a statement for this year's team. Coogan believes his team still needs to learn how to win. As the program elevates with new success this year, there are some growing pains that come with it, and Coogan says that's been the challenge for his team this year.
"They haven't known how to win, so they get into big games, and they play a little tentative, play a little scared," Coogan said.
It played out that way in the first period of the game against the Clippers. Falmouth recorded its first shot less than 30 seconds into the game. The Clippers dominated the majority of the first period, controlling the pace and rarely letting the Vineyarders get a foothold.
"(In) the first period, I thought the first 10 minutes we were holding our breath," Coogan said. "Goalie kept us in the game, and we've done that before."
Despite the Clippers best efforts in the first, the score remained 0-0 after 15 minutes. The Vineyarders weathered the early storm and settled in.
The breakthrough came just over a minute into the second period. After a Falmouth whiffed pass, freshman Eleanor Mone collected the loose puck, and buried a one-on-one finish to give Martha's Vineyard the lead.
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The goal allowed the Vineyarders to continue to play freely. Coogan said his team isn't "scared" of mistakes and he wants them to be themselves. Part of learning to win in his eyes is about simply trusting in their own individual abilities.
"We've got to just be our best," Coogan said. "I just say, 'Lets go be the best hockey team we can be and we can play with anybody.'"
Still, when something like winning is new, it doesn't always come easy. Goals from senior Alana Nevin, and junior Marin Gillis gave the Vineyarders a 3-0 lead entering the final frame.
Job done? Hardly.
Falmouth came out swinging in the third period. Like the first, the Clippers dominated the puck, however, this time the Clippers took their chances. Sophomore Riley Devlin got her team on the board just under six minutes into the third, and less than two minutes later junior Avery Johnsen found Casey Roth to make it 3-2.
Building leads isn't the challenge, it's holding on to them and closing out wins that's the hard part. Coogan recognized his team was starting to wobble and called a timeout late in the third.
"I just said to them, 'No, it's not going to happen. You're too good, you've gotten this far, you're not going let the emotions and a couple little breaks get you down,'" Coogan said.
Credit Coogan for having the pulse on his team, because after the timeout the Vineyarders buckled down defensively, and right after senior goalie Penelope Long made a crucial save to keep the game 3-2 with a minute left, Emily Coogan put the game to bed with an empty-net goal with 34 seconds to go.
The Vineyarders entered the game ranked No. 18 in the latest Division 2 tournament power ratings. Falmouth was No. 8 in Div. 2.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Martha's Vineyard girls hockey is reaching new heights
