KP Girls Hockey: Senior Skaters Kept The Team Together

It was far from what the King Philip girls ice hockey coaching staff was hoping for,  but this season was the best the team has put together in its three-year history.

The team posted a 4-13-3 record this year.

“Coming into the season, I had considered this to be a veteran team with a good mix of younger players,” Coach Paul Lyons said. “I thought this was going to be one of the best years in King Philip girls hockey. I didn’t think we’d win the league with the likes of Medfield, Franklin and Canton, but I also didn’t think that we’d have this much difficulty either.’

Although King Philip was able to skate to its best record this past season, Lyons does not know if the success will carry forward, as five seniors will leave the team.

“These five were the core of the team; definitely the glue that held us together,” the coach said. “These are the girls that I coached in youth hockey, and began the program with me.”

The seniors who have suited up for the Warriors hockey team for the final time are Rachel Kahaly, Meghan Montgomery, Christina Lyons, Kristen Haley and Giselle Unger.

Kahaly was a newcomer to the sport, but fit right in as the team’s most outspoken individual and was named the most improved player.

“Rachel took hockey head on and learned the sport,” the coach said. “Originally she had difficulty skating, but now she can skate backwards.”

Montgomery, another newcomer to hockey, played right wing on the first line for the Warriors, and was able to score 2 goals and add 3 assists. According to her coach, her five points doesn’t say enough about her play on the ice.

“As a newcomer to the sport, she has grown,” Lyons said. “Once the puck is dropped, she’s the first one into the offensive mode. She’s the best fore-checker I’ve ever had, she hustles and is a smart hockey player.”

 Lyons and Haley, two of the team’s three captains, are what the coach calls true hockey players. Both held the blue line for the team before the  season started, but with KP's lack of offensive firepower, the two were forced to move to offensive positions.

“Christina is a defenseman by trade, and had played defense for us the first two years,” the coach said. “I needed to move her to left wing on the second line, as we needed someone to put the puck in the net if we wanted to win.”

Lyons matched Montgomery’s numbers (two goals, three assists) and was given the coach's award for her scrappy play on the ice.

Haley was another long-time defender with whom the coach was familiar. Like Lyons, she played defense for her first two seasons, but was moved to the offensive line.

Coach Lyons paired the two on the second line and, as a right winger, Haley netted three goals and five assists for eight points.

Freshman Danielle Hamilton centered the line.

“Kristen is a very good skater and stick handler with a great shot,” Lyons said. "Her ability to find the open player is uncanny. She’ll do it all, not matter where you put her, that’s why she’s a Hockomock League All Star.”

While the four seniors already mentioned were important pieces to the squad, defenseman Giselle Unger will be the biggest loss. Unger, a two-time Hock All Star, doesn’t play like a defenseman.

“She’s a coach's dream, and always helps out the inexperienced and younger players both on and off the ice,” Lyons said. “This is truly going to be the one girl I’m going to miss. You can’t really explain how much I’m going to miss her.”

Unger is such a key defender that, if the team is within one goal or tied,  she stays out on the ice. Lyons feels very comfortable with leaving her on the ice, as she knows what to do with the puck. Unger was named the team MVP for the second year in a row.

What will happen to the Warrior team next year is unclear at this point, but one thing is true: King Philip will not be the same team without its five seniors next winter.