By David Fierro
The Greenwich High School girls ice hockey team opened its season with a strong performance against the combined Ridgefield/Danbury/Immaculate team at Winter Garden Ice Rink this past Wednesday, coming back to forge a 3-3 tie.
Junior captain Aubrey Roth, senior Mackenzie Newi and junior defender Lexi Carino scored one goal apiece for Greenwich in its season-opening game.
Sophomore goalie Sophia DiPietro excelled in her Cardinals varsity debut, making saves on 26 of the 29 shots that she faced. Cardinals coach Doug Jebb also credited senior captain/forward Lila Fulton and senior captain/defender Lindsay Allen for highlighting Greenwich’s stellar effort against Ridgefield/Danbury/Immaculate, which held a 3-2 lead on the Cardinals.
“With 10 new skaters, a rookie goaltender and seven freshmen, the team played very well and showed tremendous resiliency to get a critical tie and valuable FCIAC point in the race for the year-end FCIAC girls varsity hockey tournament, in which only the top four teams qualify,” Jebb said.
“While I was unfortunately, out with an illness, great thanks go to GHS boys varsity hockey coach Jack Duffy for stepping in last minute as head coach as head coach and to our new assistant coach RJ Aune for a fine job guiding our skaters in this game,” Jebb added.
After playing Ridgefield/Danbury/Immaculate to a 3-3 tie on Wednesday, the Cardinals faced challenges when they played Trumbull/St. Joseph on Saturday at Shelton Sports Center. The Cardinals dropped a 7-1 decision to FCIAC foe Trumbull/St. Joseph and are 0-1-1 on the new season.
Greenwich plays its home-opener Thursday against West Haven/Sacred Heart Academy at Dorothy Hamill Skating Rink at 8 p.m.
