On Wednesday, January 16 the girls’ varsity ice hockey team traveled to Southborough, MA to take on the Lions of St. Marks. On paper, the two ISL teams had posted similar season records but it was the hosting team who would ultimately walk away with the 4-3 victory.

Middlesex had the momentum of the game in their favor throughout the entire first period. Although the puck spent the majority of the time in the neutral and offensive zones, the Lions were the first team to break open the scoring at the 11:24 mark. To the Zebras credit however, they did not allow the goal to change the tides of the game. With 4:04 left in the period, Middlesex responded with a goal of their own when linemates Eleanor Knutzen '13 and Maddie Winslow '14  found Cici Frattasio '14 infront of the net to tie the game at 1-1.

St. Marks came out of the locker room in the second gunning for the win and caught Middlesex back on their heels.  They scored a quick goal on an odd man rush which propelled the Zebras to start taking action. Several minutes later, Arushi Ray ’14 capatalized on a feed from co captain Isabel Kreitler '13 and Sarah Tabeek '14  when she lofted the puck over the left shoulder of the St Mark's goaltender. The Lions however, were able to score one more goal on a three on five penalty kill before the period ended. The Zebras entered the locker room determined not to let the game slip further from their grasps. 

The third period played out like a game of pinball with neither team able to take definitive control.  St. Mark’s scored their fourth and final goal of the contest halfway through the period after which Middlesex took a timeout to regroup. Down 4-2 with 3:46 remaining in the game, the Zebras collectively decided they were not going down without a fight. Just over 30 seconds into their shift, Leah Olson '15 fed the puck to Eleanor Knutzen who found Maddie Winslow deep in the zone to cut the deficit 3-4. For the next remaining minutes, Middlesex feverously tried to even the score but their efforts were thwarted by the Lions' flawless defense.

Christina Cleroux ’14 turned in an 18 save performance between the pipes.

Next on the schedule, Middlesex faces a strong Cushing Academy when they travel to Ashburnham, MA for a 4:30pm game on Friday, January 18.