Girls Hockey: Thunderbirds Start Season Strong

It was total domination from start to finish on Saturday night at the .

The Cranston Co-Operative Thunderbirds faced off against the Smithfield Sentinels in a girls ice hockey game and handily won the contest 8-1.

The Thunderbirds team is comprised of girls from and .

Cranston began the game strong, scoring only 35 seconds into the contest. Junior Lindsay Hadfield poked in a rebound to give the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead.

With just under nine minutes left in the first period, Steph Casale upped the lead to 2-0 with a shorthanded goal.

The Thunderbirds controlled the pace of the game from start to finish and were moving the puck well.

"Our first line works the puck really well and they were setting up a ton of scoring chances," Thunderbirds coach Ashley Pagliarini said.

Cranston's execution on special teams was nearly flawless and they added another shorthanded goal with about three and a half minutes remaining in the period. Ashley DeSimone stole the puck and fired home the shot on the breakaway, increasing the lead to 3-0.

In the first minute of the second period, Casale added yet another shorthanded goal, on a breakaway. Hadfield scored two goals in the second period, and Markea Smith added one as well. After two periods of play, Cranston led 7-0.

Each team would score a goal in the third period and the Thunderbirds began their season with an impressive 8-1 victory.

"We played well and were hustling to the puck," Pagliarini added, "We need to improve our defensive zone coverage."