On a dismal Wednesday afternoon, the girls’ varsity hockey team hit the road to Groton, MA to take on the Groton School for their sixth ISL game of the season. Middlesex outshot the hosting team 26-18 and picked up their ninth win of the 2012-2013 campaign.

Middlesex got off to a slow start in the first period but were able to find the back of the net with 4:56 remaining on the clock. Brooke Gary ’14 got things started for the Zebras from the point  when she received a feed from Arushi Ray ’14 and Sarah Tabeek ’14 to take the 1-0 lead. Groton continued to apply the pressure but Middlesex would capitalize on one more scoring opportunity before the hosting team responded with one of their own. With  just under five minutes remaining in the period, Maddie Winslow ’14 made a perfect cross ice pass to Cici Frattasio ’14 who raced down the right lane and slip her shot past the Groton goaltender for her 10^th goal of the season. Groton struck minutes later on a power play however, to bridge the scoring gap by one.  

The score remained 2-1 throughout the entire second period with neither team able to put the puck away. Although Middlesex had nine shots to Groton’s five, their efforts were denied by strong goaltending and smart defensive plays in front of the net.  

Groton was able to tie the game at 2-2 early in the third when Maeve McMahon ’13 picked up a loose puck at the hash marks to score her second goal of the afternoon. Never the team to give up however, Middlesex quickly took action and took back the lead just over a minute later. With the puck deep in the Zebras’ offensive end, Cici Frattasio ’13 made a pass to Brooke Gary ’14 at the point who blasted her shot into traffic in front of the net. The initial shot fired off the pads of Groton’s goaltender but Maddie Winslow ’14 was there to capitalize on the rebound. Groton pulled their goalie with 1:26 left on the clock to take the player up advantage but were not able to generate any scoring opportunities. Arushi Ray ’14 closed out the scoring for the afternoon on the empty net with a beautiful pass from the left side made by Isabel Kreitler ’13 to take home the 4-2 victory.

The Zebras will face the Lumberjacks of Hebron Academy next on Friday, February 2 at 5:30pm in Concord, MA.