Ice hockey: Section 1's girls teams start second season with expanded rosters, schedule
They could have been turned off.
Regular practices but only four games — four games playing only each other.
But the initial season of girls Section 1 varsity ice hockey has led to a second season, still with just two teams, but those teams are now larger and have vastly expanded schedules.
And this season, the Section 1 final winner between the Rockland squad, the Rockland Rockies, and the Westchester/Putnam squad, the East Green Wave, will play in the state high school girls ice hockey tournament.
Many girls still happily dot the rosters of Section 1's largely boys ice hockey teams and Section 1 girls ice hockey coordinator Tess Brogan, the Clarkstown North athletic director, said she'd oppose any plan to ever force girls onto the girls-only league.
But the interest in girls-only play seems undeniable.
Rockland's roster has grown by several players to now include 19 from six schools, said coach Michaela Muckell, who played for The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut before playing for Division III Manhattanville College.
"The longer they're together as a team, the more they're drawn together and the more interest in (playing) it encourages," Muckell said. "The first taste of a varsity season got them motivated to come back."
Rockland played for two years as a non-varsity club team against Westchester/Putnam and girls non-school club teams before becoming a varsity team last year.
It went 0-4 vs. the East Green Wave but Muckell believes this year's squad is improved.
Among its leading players are Pearl River's Sophia Brown, who plays both center and defense; goalie Marina Capone, who's also from Pearl River High; and forward Hannah Tiell from Clarkstown North.
Muckell described her squad as "very, very excited" to play high school teams from New Jersey and upstate New York, including in Ithaca and the Lake Placid area.
The first of Rockland's 16 scheduled games is in New Jersey Monday at Mennen Sports Arena against Madison High School.
Rockland's counterparts on the east side of the Hudson will scrimmage teams from Wilton and Ridgefield, Connecticut this week before traveling to the Buffalo area next week to play Niagara County and Kenmore/Grand Island in official games.
The East Green Wave is also up several players from last year's initial varsity season with 24 now on the roster from 12 different schools, coach Stacey Wierl said.
Her squad currently has nine games and three scrimmages on its schedule, including two regular-season games against Rockland.
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The Wave's roster includes promising goalie Sienna Kay, an eighth-grader out of Ardsley; Wierl's ninth-grade twins, forwards Brady and Peyton; fellow forward Andrienne Kantrowitz from Ossining High; and a familiar name in multiple sports, Pelham's Eileen Mazzaro.
Mazzaro, a senior who'll play defense for a second year for Wierl, also plays defense in lacrosse. She is a forward in field hockey, where she garnered all-state honors this fall. She'll play field hockey for Division I Villanova next year.
Wierl is optimistic both about this season and future seasons, especially after an initial season that came with all the pandemic hurdles much more established programs faced.
"We were able to launch a program that included a first puck (drop), a first game, a section championship. We're grateful for this," Wierl said. "The kids, in the depth of COVID, being able to launch girls hockey was incredible. They had an incredible connection to being the first team. They had an incredible appreciation for the opportunity."
But now, in year two, the focus has shifted. Expectations have grown.
Muckell said her players have set team goals.
Wierl said her team is focused on winning the section and making it all the way to the state title game.
But she's even looking beyond that.
She envisions more local girls playing girls ice hockey in years to come and, in turn, more teams eventually forming.
But even in the shorter term, Wierl sees numbers rising.
Noting she has been contacted by parents whose middle school children aren't yet eligible to play, she said, "We have seventh-grade girls excited about trying out next year."
Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at both @HaggertyNancy and at @LoHudHockey.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Section 1 girls ice hockey roster numbers, scheduled games increase
