Thayer traveled to the North End to take on Winsor.  With traffic very light, the Tigers arrived 2 hours early and were very well mentally prepared to take on Winsor.  Danielle O’Dwyer and Mallory Collins scored for Thayer in the first period as they controlled most of the play.  Thayer continued its territorial edge in the second period with Kaleigh Fitzpatrick, Emily Rooney, Kellie McLean and O’Dwyer scoring for Thayer.  Collins added a second goal in the third to round out the scoring.  Mae Planert and Megan Sullivan combined to earn their first shutout of the year.  The team hopes to keep this momentum when they host Portsmouth Abbey on Friday at Hingham at 5:20.  See everyone there!

The Tigers came out of the gate very fast at Hingham scoring 5 goals in the first 9 minutes to take a commanding lead they would never relinquish.  Thayer added 2 goals in each of the last 2 periods to give them the victory.  The team played great defense.  Kayla Florence had a hat trick for the Tigers and Danielle O’Dwyer and Mallory Collins added 2 goals apiece.  Kaleigh Fitzpatrick and Emily Rooney added single tallies for the Tigers.  Kristen Aiello led the assist parade with 3 while Collins and Bridget Darling had two each.  Amy Dugan, Rooney, Leah Lessard, O’Dwyer and Kellie McLean also added helpers.  Junior Molly Marr earned her first point of the year with an assist in the third period.  

With two very good teams and a good crowd, it was no surprise that the game was very exciting.  There was end to end action, great saves, great goals and great misses for both teams.  Southfield opened the scoring in the first period on the power play with Nikki Haskins scoring on a pass from Kathryn Picarello.  Thayer answered with 2 goals in the second period as they out shot Southfield 18-10 for the period.  Kaleigh Fitzpatrick and Danielle O’Dwyer scored for the Tigers to give them a 2-1 lead heading into the third period.  Mallory Collins scored 5 minutes into the 3rd period to give Thayer a 2 goal advantage but Southfield answered with a goal less than a minute later from Lily Gacicia on a scramble in front of the Thayer net.  Thayer’s goalie Mae Planert shut the door for the remainder of the game as Southfield peppered the Thayer goalie with 13 shots in the third period.  Thayer survived the third period as it earned its third victory in a row and evened its record at 5-5-3 for the year.  Thayer got great contributions from Caroline Casper, Kristen Aiello and Jaci Magner on defense with Leah Lessard, Emily Rooney, Kayla Florence and Bridget Darling making significant contributions on the offensive end.  It was a great result for Thayer.

After a quick 90 minutes up route 93, the girls started a little slowly in the first period and found themselves down by a goal within the first 5 minutes.  They responded well with a better second period and went into the third period only down 1-0.  Thayer responded and started outplaying St. Paul’s in the third and was rewarded when Kaleigh Fitzpatrick scored to tie the score at 1-1.  Unfortunately the lead was short-lived as St. Paul’s scored their second goal moments later to retake a 2-1 advantage.  St. Paul’s added a fluke third goal and then an empty netter to make the final 4-1.  Thayer played hard but needs to learn to play smarter.

After a long Friday afternoon trip to Ashburham and a quality movie, the girls took on a physically older and stronger Cushing team.  The team played hard, played together but was just no match for the senior laden team.  Cushing was ferocious around the net as they were able to put 4 rebound goals in on the Tigers.  Goalie Mae Planert had an outstanding game for the Tigers as well as 6th grader Amy Dugan and 7th grader Kellie Mclean.

After arriving back at Thayer at 9:30 pm on Friday, the girls had a quick turn around as they headed to Andover to take on another tough non-league opponent.  The girls played a strong first period against a very talented and disciplined Andover squad.  The first period ended 0-0 with all of the Thayer players contributing to the effort.  However, after a mental breakdown on the first shift of the second period the Tigers found themselves down by a goal.  Andover then capitalized on a Power Play and took a 2-0 lead into the second intermission.  Thayer was just exhausted in the third period as Andover added 2 more goals to make the final 4-0.  Mae Planert stopped 43 of 47 shots to keep the Tigers in the game.  After a long week of travel to Concord, NH, Ashburnham and Andover, the Tigers will play only their 5th game of the year at home against a tough Rivers team on Wednesday.

Even though Rivers was clearly the better team on the day, the best player on the ice was wearing the black and orange for Thayer.  Junior goalie Mae Planert stole the show and almost the game for the Tigers stopping an unbelievable 44 out of 46 shots.  The best of the lot came in the second period when a River’s player stood alone in front of the net, received a pass and shot on what she thought was an empty net, only to find Planert reaching behind her with the glove save.  Even in the heat of battle, the Rivers players and coaches were able to recognize and tip their hat to greatness.  Mallory Collins gave Thayer an early lead as she was able to knock home a rebound from a Kristen Aiello shot from the point.  Rivers responded minutes later to knot the game at 1-1 after the first period.  In the second, after a Thayer fore-checking breakdown, Rivers was able to capitalize on a breakaway to take a 2-1 lead.  Although Rivers had many more chances than Thayer, neither team was able to score again. 

After a long bus trip, the Thayer girls took advantage of a power play as Kristen Aiello scored to give Thayer a 1-0 lead.  Kent’s Hill answered to even the score but Thayer scored the next 2 to take a 3-1 lead into the third period.  Emily Rooney and Danielle O’Dwyer scored for Thayer.  After some questionable decisions, the Tigers found themselves down 4-3 with minutes remaining.  Fortunately, the true character of the Tigers shown through as they were able to tie the game 4-4 with another O’Dwyer goal.  Thayer had one golden opportunity in the overtime but was unable to score.  The girls worked extremely hard and although they were frustrated by the tie were able to look themselves in the mirror, knowing that they played their hearts out.  

The Groton girls jumped on the Tigers early as they were able to take a 2-0 lead by the end of one period.  Groton had Thayer on the ropes for the majority of the period but Mae Planert came up with a couple of keys saves to keep the score 2-0.  Groton scored early in the second to take a commanding 3-0 lead after 2 periods.  Thayer came out a different team in the third as they trimmed the lead to 3-1 with a Kaleigh Fitzpatrick goal from Danielle O’Dwyer.  Groton scored on a wrist shot from outside the blue line to increase their lead to 4-1.  Thayer responded immediately with a Mallory Collins goal.  The Groton goalie closed the door on the Thayer offense even when Thayer pulled their goalie.  Thayer had an excellent third period and should be proud of their effort and hopefully will carry their effort into the final two games against the #1 team in New England Tabor Academy and a solid 12-7 BBN team.