Canton High girls hockey adjusting to new teammates and coach just fine

CANTON – Adjustments.

That's the magic term for the Canton High girls hockey team this winter.

Coming off a loss to Algonquin in the Division 2 state final last season, the Bulldogs will welcome six freshmen to the team and a new head coach.

“I think that we’ve really adapted,” said senior captain Audrey Koen. “We come from a history of having the same people and I think it was something to get used to but we’ve adapted and having a really good time. (Coach) Nikki (Petrich) is great.”

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Petrich, who is in her first year at Canton as head coach, replaced Dennis Aldrich after he retired from his long line of winning for the Bulldogs. Senior captains Koen, Carolyn Durand, Ellie Bohane and Maya Battista have helped make that transition smooth.

“They’ve been tremendous,” said Petrich, who played at Northeastern, of the captains. “Anytime anyone needs anything they’re there to answer it, including myself coming from a different school to this school. They’ve been tremendous in helping not only the younger girls but me.”

Koen was the star of the show Monday in a 4-0 win over Westwood. Koen scored two goals and added an assist. One of her goals came off a feed from her freshman sister, Kayleigh.

In the third period, Devan Spinale took a shot that was saved initially by the Westwood goalie, but Kayleigh Koen collected the rebound and found her sister for a goal.

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The seniors may be the players with the deep playoff experience, but the freshman on the team have been seeing major playing time and are taking full advantage this season.

“I think Izzy Cuzac and Kayleigh Koen have both been really amazing,” said Audrey Koen. "They came in to their roles and they don’t play like freshmen. They play like they’ve been here for four years.”

Cuzac scored a power play goal in Monday's win. After getting a lead pass from Tori Carr, Cuzac won a one-on-one matchup with the goalie on a deke move to go up 3-0 with 3:36 left.

Freshman Georgia Campbell also received high praise from Durand.

Audrey Koen was all over the ice. Her first goal came in the first period. Carr skated the puck deep into the offensive zone before finding Audrey Koen in the slot for her second goal of the day, which put the Bulldogs up 2-0.

The quick passes that led to scores come from a line of communication the seniors made sure to have open even when the skates are off.

“It sounds cheesy but literally we’re like a family,” said Durand, who plays goalie. “We spend so much time together. We’re all so weird together because we’re so comfortable. I think building the relationship with the younger girls, especially getting them to feel comfortable with the upperclassmen is why we’re a tight-knit family.”

Durand, a returning Patriot Ledger All-Scholastic that posted a .950 save percentage last season, made 14 saves in a shutout effort, but still saw room for improvement.

“For me, as long as I’m doing my job I’m communicating while on the ice.” said Durand. “We pride ourselves on working as a team, and I think we struggled with that.”

With six freshman on the team, the seniors are proud to be the ones to show the ropes towards the younger girls. Passing down a long line of habits and routines that lead to winning. Something that the captains don’t take lightly.

“It’s a really good feeling to be chosen by every other player on the team to trust you with that role, it’s a big deal,” said Audrey Koen. “Us four have been on this team since we were freshmen, and seeing those seniors and captains throughout the years I think we had some really good role models and just being able to give the experience to the underclassmen is what we try to do.”

As for Petrich, she knows how to win, so a culture like Canton girls hockey fits right in for her. Now she just wants to expand on that process.

“As a new coach for them, just really to make sure they hold themselves accountable and to know they can play at a high level,” said Petrich. “They had great success here the past couple of years, but me coming in trying to teach them new things and a different way to see the ice while maintaining that expectation of working hard and always competing in the game.”

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Preview the Canton High girls hockey team's 2022-2023 season