WINDSOR, N.S. — The Avon View Avalanche’s girls’ high school hockey team has started their 2017-18 Valley High School Hockey League season off in high gear.
“I am exceptionally happy with our start as the girls are all playing well-disciplined hockey as we have allowed only one goal in three games,” said head coach Rob Davies following the Avalanche’s 6-0 win over the Bridgetown Hawks on Nov. 13.
The Avalanche scored their first goal as Megan McCarthy and Paige Parker passed the puck around and over to Savannah Hartt, who scored on a close-in shot.
Maddie Miller made a great block on Bridgetown’s only attempted rush of the first period.
Parker let a soft wrist shot go to give Avon View a 2-0 lead after the first period.
In the third, Haley Verge put the puck in the net only to have the referee call it off, saying he blew the whistle before the puck crossed the line.
Hartt made it 3-0 for Avon View as she pounced on a rebound after a shot by Brea Hazel.
Zoey Rafuse put the Avalanche up 4-0 after crisp passes by Brittany Poole, with her sixth assist of the season, and Amy Lloy’s fourth assist.
Rafuse continued to show hometown fans that she knows precisely where she is headed when the puck is on her stick as she added the fifth Avalanche goal.
Japanese exchange student Yumi Miyano then scored Avon View’s sixth and final goal of the contest.
Jenna Morley and Lily Beamish shared the shut-out win for the Avalanche.
“We have a really solid group of veterans with an influx of youth in Grade 9 students who are fitting in great,” said Davies. “The glue of the team, the real muckers and grinders, (is) in our Grade 10 and 11 players.”
Davies predicts the stiffest competition in the Valley hockey league will be Parkview and Horton.
“The Ultramar Tournament in Metro at the end of the month will give us a better idea of what we will face provincially as CP Allen and Halifax West are both entered and it will also be interesting to see what Leo Hayes High from Fredericton, New Brunswick has to offer,” he said.
Did you know?
• Avon View won their season opener in Canning when they blanked Horton 6-0. Rafuse and Verge both scored twice for the Avalanche, with McCarthy and Maddie Singer offering singles.
• On Nov. 12, in Bridgewater, the Avalanche defeated the Parkview Lady Panthers 4-1. Singer scored twice and Makayla Kelvey and Poole added singles.
• The Avalanche will host the Yarmouth Vikings Nov. 20 at 6 p.m., and on Nov. 27 they will take on the Middleton Monarchs at 6 p.m. at the Hants Exhibition Arena.
