Girls Ice Hockey: Avalanche enjoys 3-0 shutout win on senior night

Kathryn Becker (right) of John Jay waits for an opportunity in front of the goal. Greg Kaplowitz photo

By JIM MACLEAN 

It was a perfect way to celebrate senior night for the North Avalanche girls ice hockey team, senior Lindsay Smith was the start of the show recording a hat trick with all three goals in a 3-0 shutout victory over the Rockland Rockies at the Brewster Ice Arena on Thursday, Jan. 22.

The Avalanche is a young team with 22 girls from 14 different school districts in northern Westchester and Putnam County, but only three seniors on the roster. 

After a celebration before the game to honor the three seniors captain Lindsay Smith from Brewster along with Alternate captain River Salisbury and Francesca Brucato both from Carmel, the Avalanche took to the ice and turned in an impressive performance highlighted by their captain Smith. Marcie Maurice of John Jay recorded an assist on one of the three goals from Smith.

The day after the win over the Rockies, the Avalanche closed out the regular season with a tough 2-1 loss on the home ice at Brewster to the New Canaan Rams, a veteran opponent from Connecticut. With just three varsity programs in the Section 1 area including the Avalanche, the Rockies and the East Green Wave in southern Westchester, the Avalanche faces a tough schedule of opponents from Connecticut and upstate New York to round out the schedule.

In the loss to New Canaan, junior Kathryn Becker of John Jay scored the lone goal of the game for the Avalanche. Goalie Grayce Peters of Lakeland was credited with 27 saves in goal as the Avalanche kept it close to the final whistle.

Becker and Maurice are the two girls on the roster from John Jay. They both played a big part last year when the Avalanche won the Section 1 title. Maurice is only a freshman, but she has been a two-year starter on defense for the Avalanche. There are two girls on the roster from Fox Lane in junior Violet Fishlin and eighth-grader Ava Oliva.

Prior to the senior night victory, the Avalanche squared off against local rival East Green Wave and suffered a 4-1 setback. Maurice scored the lone goal of the game for the Avalanche. Despite the final score, the Avalanche outshot the East Green Wave, but Julie Kleiner of Rye scored all four goals to lead the Wave to the victory.

The two teams could meet again soon as the three local teams get ready to compete for the Section 1 championship. With the loss to New Canaan, the Avalanche finished the regular season at 4-8-1 overall. The Avalanche was set to host the Rockland Rockies in the first round of the playoffs on Wednesday, Jan. 28. The winner will advance to face the East Green Wave in the championship game Friday, Jan. 30, at Sport-o-Rama in Monsey, across the river in Rockland County.