The combined hockey team of Brookline and Newton South girls finally broke through to capture their first ever combined victory against both schools’ long time rival Newton North last Wednesday, Feb. 3, winning 5-2 and improving its record to 8-6-4.  

Head coach Meg Lloyd said that the combination of the double rivalry made it an especially interesting game.

“The co-op has never won against North, and for South, I don’t know if in their history they have ever won, so it was really fun for both teams.  As a co-op, it turns out that North is both of our rivals, so it was a fun game,” Lloyd said.

The first period started off very intense, with both teams getting shots on goal, but none going in.  Finally, about halfway through the period, junior Abby Hryniewicz was assisted by sophomore Julia Kibrick to score the first goal of the night.

“The goal was assisted by all my linemates, which is really good,” Hryniewicz said. “I got a pass from Julia Kibrick and I was behind the net and I decided to wrap it around. I was really surprised it went in.”

Neither player was done for the night, as Kibrick scored a goal later in the second period, and Hryniewicz, a leading scorer for the team, scored two more late in the game. On the other side of the puck, strong play by the defense and goalie freshman Daphne Frantzis kept Newton North out of the net through the first two periods.

The game took a turn for the worse in the third period when Newton North scored two consecutives goals and it seemed like the momentum had shifted, but the Warriors were able to pull through.

“In the locker room, we kept saying play like we’re down or play like we’re tied, not like we’re winning,” Kibrick said. “I just think [the third] was a lot more intense than other periods but we overall pulled through and came out on top. Even though we let in a couple we just came together as a team and worked hard.”

According to Kibrick, a lot of the team’s recent success is due to the new talent added to the team this year.   

“Our season has been so much more improved than last year,” Kibrick said. “Last year, we were 1-16 and now we’re 8-6-4, which is incredible and I think it has a lot to do with the freshman, the captains and all the leaders.”

Off the ice, the teams and their fans came together to raise money through a raffle for Denna Laing, an NWL player who suffered a serious spine injury at the Outdoor Women’s Classic earlier this year.

“It was fun to have both of the teams working together to raise that money for a player,” Lloyd said.