So Close – Again! Upstart Girls Hockey Falls, Despite Terrific Outing against Andover

Still seeking its first win of the campaign, the Weston-Wayland girls’ hockey team gave another strong effort in Wednesday night’s home finale, before falling 4-2 to Andover in non-league action.

“We continued to give a great effort, but came up short,” Weston-Wayland head coach Bill MacDonald said.

W-W (0-12-1) opened the scoring in the first period on a pretty goal by Patty Atkinson, who converted a crisp pass form Sara Coburn, at the 4:30 mark.

Andover responded with two quick strikes in the second stanza, at 2:40 and 4:10, respectively. Then, with W-W stuck in its own zone near the end of the frame, Andover defenseman Meghan Pierce found the back of the net to give the visitors a 3-1 lead with just 10 seconds left in the period.

But, W-W kept things close in the third, when Cara Lembo tallied on a coast-to-coast rush. Jane Haffey picked up a key assist, feeding Lembo, who swiftly skated by the Andover defense and finished the rush with a beautiful backhander high to the stick side to make it 3-2 with 6:30 left.

“[We were] gaining control of play [and] after a number of [other] chances, [we] had the faceoff in the Andover end,” MacDonald said.

With 2:12 left, W-W called a timeout, and then went full force with a few more opportunities in the Andover zone. W-W had pulled the goalie in favor of the extra skater, but was unable to convert. A rebound made its way to the blue line, where Andover’s Meghan Keefe gained possession and delivered the last goal into the empty net.

“We continued to press, but [were] not able to convert as time ran out,” MacDonald said.

Weston-Wayland will close out the season tonight at Waltham.