New Richmond girls hockey season ends against state-ranked opponent

• Paige Charland

Senior Paige Charland scored a goal in her final high school game last Thursday.

Talk about it

It seemed that every week this season the New Richmond girls hockey team was playing a state-ranked team.

So it’s fitting that a state-ranked team was the opponent that knocked the Tigers out of the 2012 WIAA state playoffs last Thursday. The Tigers lost 8-1 at Hayward, which is ranked second in the state this week.

The Tigers finish the season with a 6-16-1 record.

The only senior on the Tiger roster, Paige Charland, scored the team’s lone goal in Thursday’s playoff loss.

Charland was one of several Tiger players who got medical clearance the day of the game to play at Hayward. Charland suffered a separated shoulder in the Tigers’ previous game and she spent the two days before the game with her arm in a sling. She played with the injured shoulder in a brace and still managed to get her goal.

“That was beyond awesome,” Tiger coach Emily Dabrowski said of Charland playing through the injury.

The injuries and illnesses had the Tigers down to four defensemen and six forwards in the practice the night before the game.

“Those 10 skaters had a fabulous practice, they really stepped up,” Dabrowski said.

Hayward scored three times in the first period and the Hurricanes scored four minutes into the second period. Charland scored to cut the margin to 4-1 and the Tigers nearly scored again moments later. That surge forced Hayward to hurry its best players onto the ice to prevent the Tigers from cutting deeper into the lead. Dabrowski said she was proud of how the Tigers maintained their intensity right to the end of the game.

“The score does not show how well the kids played,” she said.

Charland’s graduation presents a major challenge for the Tigers. She’s been the leading offensive player on the team for several years. This puts the responsibility on the younger players to become the future leaders.

Tags: sports, hockey, tigers, prep