Nauset-Monomoy Girls Hockey Searching For Consistency Ahead Of Final Push

FALMOUTH – Nauset-Monomoy girls hockey coach Zach Wells believes the Warriors have another gear they can reach. 

 After suffering a 6-3 loss at Falmouth on Jan. 22, Wells said it was the latest example of his team not being ready to match the intensity and desire of their opponent. 

 “There are games that we want to have back,” Wells said. “It’s not a skill thing — we’re not losing because teams are more skilled than us — it’s the attitude of wanting to win more. Those teams wanted to beat us, you could see it in the energy they have and the way they reacted after beating us. It’s pretty clear.”

 Nauset-Monomoy (8-5-1) was overmatched by Falmouth during the first period as the Clippers jumped out to a 4-1 lead after Maeve Turner and Casey Roth each netted a pair of goals during the opening frame. 

 Turner and Roth both tallied another goal to notch hat tricks as the Clippers’ top line generated all six of its goals in the win. 

 “Their top line is very, very strong,” Wells said. “That’s how they generate, I would guess, 95 percent of their goals. So, we know going in, that’s what we’re going against and all of our girls are very familiar with them and how they play. 

“For us to have some serious mental breakdowns of taking pucks into our zone and throwing pucks away to their best girls, typically that hurts you.”

Nauset-Monomoy rebounded Saturday to skate to a 7-0 win over Barnstable at Charles Moore Arena after Nauset junior Julia Kipperman tallied a hat trick, Monomoy junior Gaby Bassett netted a pair of goals and Nauset freshman Maeve Kennally and senior Sophia Boucher each lit the lamp. 

“That (Barnstable) game was pretty interesting because we were trying to get the girls on the same page,” Wells said. “I wanted to prove some points about the style of play I want to see from the girls. I wasn’t worried about the score necessarily.”

The Barnstable victory proved to Wells that the players are more than capable of producing winning results when their focus and determination is unwavering, and that is the approach the coach hopes to see during his team’s final six regular season games.

 The Warriors will face a gauntlet of tough opponents before the postseason, including matchups against La Salle Academy (Providence), Auburn, Sandwich and Smithfield (Rhode Island). 

 Sandwich is among the teams that were able to capitalize on an off night for Nauset-Monomoy. The Blue Knights dealt the Warriors a 3-2 loss when the teams met Jan. 18 at Charles Moore Arena.

 “When Canton beat us, it was like they won the Stanley Cup,” Wells said, referencing the team’s 3-1 loss on Jan. 2. “I’m sure they weren’t expecting to beat us after seeing how high we were ranked coming into the season. They weren’t even ranked.

“Same thing with Sandwich. The smiles on their faces said we beat them three times last year and they really wanted to beat us. Same thing with Falmouth.”

Wells hopes that his players will be able to dig deep and finish strong.

“It’s really about finding that consistent attitude of must-win mentality,” he said. “That’s pretty much how we have to take it for six games, win and move on. For me, it’s about being consistent and getting ready for the playoffs.”