By EVA HANEGRAAFF
NORTH READING — With an impressive record of 15-3-2, the combined high school girls’ hockey team of North Reading, Peabody, and Lynnfield is wrapping up an amazing season after a hard loss in the round of 16.
The PLNR team had their first tournament game against Waltham Feb. 26, winning with a score of 2-0. Their second round playoff game was against 5th-seeded Archbishop Williams, which happened March 2, and ended in a loss for the PLNR team.
Having three teams combined makes for an interesting dynamic. While one may think it would lead to division within the team, the North Reading captains actually say the opposite. “We’re all excited to go see each other, because we don’t get to see our friends at the other schools during the day so we make the most of our time, when we’re all together,” senior North Reading captain Erin Dee explains.
Even so, Alexa Pepper, a North Reading senior captain, says, “I feel like you definitely have to do more team bonding and you have to express relationships more because we’re all from separate schools and we want to include everyone.”
Like many other sports in North Reading, the PLNR girls’ hockey team plans pasta parties and team dinners. This year they even had a team sleepover that allowed the whole team to get closer. Bonding even takes place before games, as Dee explains, “we do like a thing where you write a note for someone before a game and get them all their favorite snacks.” Even in the off-season, the captains have found ways to incorporate bonding into their routines. “When we go so long without seeing each other, it’s nice to know that there’ll be things built into the schedule,” Dee explains. With summer league games and preseason workouts, PLNR takes their bonding seriously.
For Dee, Pepper, and Mia Lava, being a captain in itself also has its roots in inclusiveness. Lava explains, “I feel like our job is creating a welcoming space for the freshmen and feeling like we are somebody that supports them and they can come to if they have issues with anybody on the team.” She adds, “It’s also just being a leader on and off the ice.”
This year is incredibly important for all three captains. As they are all seniors, they are all very sentimental about their last year playing high school hockey. “In terms of the North Reading girls, a lot of us grew up playing together, and being able to go and play four years of high school all together, just like felt so good and we like, had a connection then, and it kind of faded, but, being able to grow up and then rebuild that connection, it’s just like a really good feeling,” Lava explains, adding, “It’s the one time a day that you get to go and see your friends and most of us don’t see each other in school, even if we are in the same school.”
Pepper describes her experience in saying, “Being on the ice with your best friends makes you realize why you play the sport.”
With the official end to their season, the captains have a lot that they know they are going to miss. “It’s being able to play with this group of girls because we’ve all created so much of a connection with each other, and I’m gonna miss the team environment,” Pepper says.
“It’s going to be hard not being able to see everybody as much,” Lava agreed.
Dee puts it simply. “It won’t be the same,” she said, adding, “We won’t get bus rides, pasta parties, pregame all together, which is sad to think about.”
After such an impressive season, it is hard to think that games are over for the PLNR girls’ hockey team. While the team will never be exactly the same, hopefully the lasting legacy of this year’s seniors will continue for years to come.