The ConVal-Conant girls got a chance to forge new friendships, bond, and play some hockey Saturday at Keene Ice. The Griffins played three mini-games against three teams from around New Hampshire in a round-robin tournament, giving them a taste of what their divisional opponents have to offer and allowing the girls from separate school districts to stay in close proximity for a day.
“With a cooperative school district, it’s hard,” said head coach Chris Spingola, “because the three or four players we’ve got from Conant aren’t necessarily with the ConVal players, so it’s hard to build as a team going forward. A day like today, they were together from 10:30 to 6 o’clock now. That’s good for them to learn what gets on their nerves – ‘How do I treat these girls when I’m with them the whole day since I’m not in school with them?’ I think they’ll learn to support them a lot better now.”
The Griffins were shut out on the day, losing to No. 1 undefeated Oyster River-Portsmouth 6-0, Keene-Fall Mountain 1-0 and Bedford 5-0. But they learned some valuable lessons and got the live action crucial to the development of the young team.
“We want to build from the back end out,” Spingola said. “Work together as a team, get better as a team, become a decent team and then learn to put the puck in the back of the net, really enjoy ourselves and get to know the sport better.”
The young Griffins are making strides, chiefly Addie Lustenberger, a first-year, first-line forward who’s improving rapidly.
“She’s an absolute stud for us,” Spingola said.
The more experienced Griffins are coming into their own, too. Senior captain Alessia Coburn pushed the offensive attack during Saturday’s tourney games and senior Brenna Martens has the hard-nosed attitude required for girls’ hockey.
“She’s really stepped up, she’s not afraid to mix it up in the corners and get physical – she’ll go toe to toe with any player in the league,” Spingola said.
The Griffins’ backbone is junior goalkeeper Abbi Friend, who made some jawdropping saves Saturday and keeps her save percentage in the 95th percentile despite facing upwards of 60 shots a game on a regular basis.
“When she’s on, I think she’s one of the best two or three goalies in this league,” Spingola said.
What’s hurting the Griffins the most this year is the absence of senior captain Abby Drew, who traded in her skates for an ankle cast and now serves as a vocal leader from the bench, leaving twin sister Haylie to absorb some of those on-ice leadership duties.
“Losing Abby was an absolute devastation for our team,” Spingola said. “She’s the leading scorer in the history of the school, she’s a loud presence as a senior captain and she does well for us on the bench, but it’s hard to replace her. Haylie’s now burdening all that on her shoulders now. It’s tough for her. She’s learning to be a leader and she’s doing a wonderful job of it.”
Another three-win season could be in the cards for ConVal-Conant this winter, realistically. The Griffins should be competitive with Bedford, as well as Kingswood and Manchester Central, and the season finale rematch with Keene is a good one to circle on the calendar. They travel to Berlin on Thursday.
“If we play well against teams that are at our level, I’ll be happy,” Spingola said. “To say we’re going to win three, yeah, I’d be real happy with it, but if we had strong performances, that would be the win for me.”