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THE OBSERVER | Saturday, December 06, 2008 SPORTS | 25
Girls look to have a good season on ice
JONI MILTENBURG
strength of a boy,” he said. “So
if they don’t work on their
shooting, they don’t have the
Two years ago, the EDSS girls’
strength they need.”
hockey team missed CWOS-
SAA because of Erin Zach. The
high-scoring forward notched
the game-winning overtime
goal that knocked Elmira out
of the regional finals.
With Zach scoring goals for
IN CONTROL Stephanie Straus
outpaces a Resurrection defender
on her way to the net Nov. 27.
EDSS won the game 4-2 to give
them a 2-0 record starting the
season.
The girls will have a chance
to see how they stack up before
the playoffs start, at a provincial
tournament in February
where they’ll come up against
some of the top seeds in Ontario.
their side this year, the team is
“We’ll probably be tied for
looking forward to a winning
first in February,” Swatridge
season. Zach had five goals in
said, only to be drowned out
EDSS’ 10-0 pasting of Huron
by a storm of superstitious
Heights in their season opener,
knuckles rapping on wood.
and added another in their 4-2
“I said probably and I said
victory over Resurrection.
tied,” he reminded his play-
“I knew her before she moved
ers.
here because she used to score
Swatridge isn’t making any
too many goals against us,”
guarantees, except that his
said coach John Swatridge.
team will be working hard.
“Erin has a bit of a reputation,
He’s considering adding a sec-
so when she came into the ofond
weekly practice as they
fice last year to say that she
get closer to the playoffs, but
was coming to Elmira, I was actually
called down by the viceprincipal
to meet her.”
“You should have seen them
jump when I said Erin was moving,”
added Amanda Schwindt,
who plays with Zach on a team
outside of school.
Sitting in his classroom with
three of his senior players,
Swatridge said it’s a sign of
how strong the team is that
they had to cut two players after
filling four openings. Zach
is filling one of the spots created
when several senior players
graduated.
Two of the new recruits, Josslyn
Denstedt and Sam Nosal,
are ringette players, making a
stab at playing hockey for the
first time. Their speed is an
asset on the ice, and they’re
quickly adjusting to shooting
a puck; both girls logged
points in their first game. The
team has also added sisters Yi
and Maggie Wang between the
posts.
Swatridge is counting on
Zach, Schwindt, and his other
senior, Melissa Kaleta, to lead
the team, but they’re only part
of what makes this possibly the
best team the school has had.
“I think we’re strong in all positions
right now,” Swatridge
said. “The last few years we’ve
had weak spots.”
“On the other teams you have
to beat just one player; our
team’s good because we have a
lot of players you have to watch
out for,” Schwindt said.
All three lines scored in each
of the first two games.
“That’s important because traditionally
if we’ve played really
good teams at the provincial
level or CWOSSAA, they usually
have one good player that
you can key on and you check
them into the ground,” Swatridge
said. “When you’ve got
three lines, they can’t check all
three lines. They might check
one, but they can’t check two.”
That’s not to say the team
doesn’t have things to work on;
they have yet to score on a power
play, so that’s one area that
needs practice. And Swatridge
wants to see them working on
skills, particularly shooting.
“Girls don’t have the natural
notes it will be tough for the
girls to find time between outside
hockey, school and jobs.
EDSS is eyeing Southwood
Secondary School, the team
that beat them last year in a
shootout. Southwood was the
top-ranked team before the
season started. The Lancers
were ranked fourth, a fact that
made the three seniors laugh
outright.
“Oh, that’s gonna change,”
Zach said. “That’s gonna
change in a real hurry. It’s
good, though, ‘cause we’re the
underdog coming up.”
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