Girls hone hockey skills in tournament

Globe South Sports

August 04, 2011|By Colleen Casey, Globe Correspondent

Michelle Monet (left), a sophomore at Archbishop Williams in Braintree,… (John Tlumacki/Globe Staff )

You won’t find Elizabeth Leong, Michelle Monet, or Cassie Craig at the beach on a scorching day this summer. The three teenage hockey players prefer beating the heat, and their opponents, on the ice.

This past weekend their team, the Terriers Red, competed with 49 other teams in the Angela Ruggiero Women’s Chowder Cup.

“Most of my summer is spent in the rink or showcasing. I don’t get to go to the beach very often,’’ said Leong, a senior at Notre Dame Academy. Leong, a Cohasset native, said she wants to play hockey in college and “the only way to get there is to keep playing.’’

So, while high school pals might be working a summer job or on vacation with their families, the girls were playing hockey, even as temperatures reach the 80s and 90s. Over the weekend, the Chowder Cup tournament took place at three locations: the Canton Sportsplex, CDL Arena in Raynham, Foxboro Sports Center, and the Iorio Arena in Walpole. Each game played consisted of two 25-minute stop-time periods under NCAA rules.

The Terriers Red team had players from the Junior Terriers U16 and U19 programs along with others who tried out to play for the Chowder Cup team. The team had 10 practices together before competing this weekend.

“The Chowder Cup is a good tournament, there’s great competition with teams that have been playing together for a while,’’ Leong said.

One of those teams was Team Canada West, who trounced the Terriers in a 12-0 shutout. Offensively aggressive Canada West spent most of the game in the attacking zone, out-shooting the Terriers 39-13. Of the Terriers’ 13 shots on net, Leong had four.

“When you’re playing against a team that is good and even better than you, they make you play better,’’ said Michelle Monet, a 5-foot-3 defenseman for the Terriers. Despite the Terriers’ three losses in the tournament - 5-4 to the Northeast Vikings, 5-0 to the East Coast Wizards, and 12-0 to Canada West - Monet said she had a fun experience.

“I loved it. I really wanted to see how we played with other girls. It was definitely a good experience,’’ she said.

Monet is a sophomore at Archbishop Williams High, where she plays hockey and lacrosse. In college, she plans to major in nursing and would like to try the difficult balance of playing hockey and studying.

She normally plays for the Junior Terriers U16 team, and wanted to play for the Terriers Red U19 Chowder Cup team because of the coach, Kelli Doolin.

“Kelli is the best coach I’ve ever had. She wants us to be better. She’s one of the reasons why I play hockey.’’ Monet said that having a female coach made a big difference.

“They went through the same experience we’re going through now. It’s awesome to hear and learn what they did,’’ she said.