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As the month of January winds down, the Winchester High girls hockey team is on fire, winning five out of six games to extend its record to 9-6.
Altogether, the Red & Black went 7-3 this month with still one more scheduled game on tap against host Arlington on Jan. 31. Following that encounter, there are only six games left on the regular season schedule, and as of Jan. 30, they are seeded 20th in the Division 1 power rankings.
Coach Tommy Scarpa’s team started its recent streak with a 2-1 win over Manchester, Connecticut’s East Catholic High School at the Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton on Jan. 15. The Winchester girls then went on to beat Belmont (3-2, Jan. 17) and Beverly (3-0, Jan. 19).
After a close 3-2 loss to host Malden Catholic two days later, they bounced back quickly to take down Burlington, 4-1 on Jan. 24, and Masconomet at home in Woburn, 4-2 on Jan. 28.
Scarpa naturally likes what he sees on the ice throughout the past few weeks.
“We’ve been very good in all areas on the ice,” he said. “Our style of play is frustrating to opposing teams, and we’ve been executing that game plan very well to date.”
There are many aspects of this year’s team that’s certainly sustainable for a long postseason run like its energy and compete level, and nobody’s immune from it.
“We don’t care who we play,” said Scarpa. “I feel like in years past we looked at other teams, and depending on who it was, it affected our play. But this year, we make it a point to play our style against all opponents.”
But they are not a finished product. There’s always room for improvement.
“I would like to see our players hit the back of the net more often,” said Scarpa. “Just like in the last two seasons, we are anemic when it comes to scoring goals. We don’t have a prolific goal scorer, so we depend on everyone to find the net.”
In the game against East Catholic, Josie Chang and Clare McCabe scored the Winchester goals. Reese Bottari and Anna Beaudry setup Chang’s goal, while McCabe turned in an unassisted effort. Goalie Riley Pimentel made eight saves to preserve the narrow victory.
Junie McCabe, Cate Sheehan and Courtney Fisher were credited with the goals against Belmont. Chloe Goldberg and Chang picked up the assists on McCabe’s tally. Claire McCoy had the helper on Sheehan’s marker. Ashley Goodrich and Caroline McGowan then teamed up to assist on the game-winner by Fisher. Pimentel was busy in net making 25 saves.
McCabe from Grace Monahan and Bottari ignited the attack against the Panthers. Millie McDonald notched the second goal assisted by McCabe and McCoy. McCoy then netted her first varsity goal from Madelyn Rabinovich and Goldberg. Pimentel helped to record the shutout with 13 clutch stops.
Joe McConnell is a longtime, award-winning sports editor for numerous North Shore publications. He began covering Winchester sports for the News in November 2024 and is currently its Sports Editor.
