Latin Academy Girls' Hockey in State Tournament for the First Time in Five Years

Latin Academy girls' hockey coach Ronald Ford expected his team to be a "little bit better" than last year. Last year they were 3-17, and were winless the season before that. He expected some improvement, but did not expect his team to be as good as they were. This year the Dragons won 10 games, lost 6, and tied 4. They finished 4th in the East Division of the mostly suburban Southeastern Massachusetts Girls' Hockey League (SEMGHL). And they qualified for the State Tournament for the first time in 5 years.

The team is led by a few key seniors, particularly goalie Natalie Lombardi, a two-time SEMGHL All-Star...

...but overall they're still a young squad. They have 4 juniors, 1 sophomore, and 5 freshman on their roster. Along with an 8th grader, and two 7th graders. So even when Lombardi and her classmates graduate, there will be a new core of experienced players in position to build on the success of this season.

Coach Ford attributes that success to "Speed, strength, and accuracy." Along with hard work. And going into the State Tournament, he wants his team to continue that hard work as well as reduce mental mistakes. Mainly, though, he wants to "Make sure [the girls] are having fun, and not worrying about the magnitude of the game, let them focus on what they need to be doing."

Latin Academy will face Martha's Vineyard Monday afternoon at 3:00pm in the preliminary round of the Division 2 tournament. The game will be held at the Murphy Memorial Rink in South Boston. BLA and Martha's Vineyard are in the same division in the SEMGHL, and played each other twice this season. BLA lost 4-1 to them in December, and the teams tied 2-2 on February 18th.

Last year this team won 3 games. This year they're hosting a State Tournament game.

Girls' Ice Hockey: Scituate 3, Boston Latin Academy 2

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The Latin Academy Dragons finished their regular season with a tough loss on the road to Scituate, one of the top teams in the Southeastern Mass. Girls' Hockey League.

BLA took a 1-0 lead in the 1st when senior forward Jordan Fleming scored an opportunistic Power Play goal from the high slot.

In the 1st period, the Dragons were able to frustrate Scituate's attempts to carry the puck into the zone. In the 2nd, Scituate figured out how to get through and were able to put massive pressure on the Dragons' net. But Latin Academy goalie Natalie Lombardi made save after save to keep Scituate from scoring. Lombardi was especially good when the Dragons were shorthanded.

Scituate were eventually able to slip one past Lombardi on a 2-on-1 breakaway to tie the game at 1-1.

Latin Academy quickly retook the lead when, after serving a penalty, junior Kathleen Torpey emerged from the penalty box and received a long pass from Rachel Wells. Torpey drove to the net all alone and put BLA up 2-1.

The penalties finally caught up to BLA in the 3rd. They'd killed 3 straight Scituate Power Plays. With their 4th Power Play, Scituate finally capitalized. Less than a minute later Scituate scored again to take a 3-2 lead.

In the closing minutes the Dragons were able to create chances, but Scituate's goalie made tough stops to keep her team in front.

Latin Academy's regular season may have ended with a loss, but they're not done playing. They'll be in the State Tournament for the first time in 5 years, with a 10-6-4 record. We'll have more on Latin Academy's tremendous season tomorrow.