Bennett, Hall, and Thacher Named Next Year’s Hockey Captains

By Emily Caccam

Juniors Ellie Bennett, Shannon Hall, and Sage Thacher have been named captains of the 2013-2014 Blue Wave Girls Ice Hockey team.

The girls hockey team this year won the FCIAC Championship, beating rival and nine-time title-holder New Canaan 4-3. The win against the Rams, which beat the Wave in the regular season, was a first for all girls on the team. “Ever year it’s a goal to beat New Canaan, but now that we have beaten them, I never want to stop beating them,” Hall said. “Now that we’re confident enough in ourselves I want to continue to prove ourselves to every team who thinks they can beat us.”

This team-wide confidence that showed at the FCIAC finals has been growing over the years. “Looking forward during my freshman year, I would have never expected to have the realistic goal to win both States and FCIACs,” Thacher said. “Our team has come so far over the years that I have spent at DHS and it is amazing seeing us progress as a whole…Now I am completely confident in my team and I know we have it in us to win both FCIACs and States.”

Both Hall and Thacher attribute much of the team’s success to the power of this year’s underclassmen, which include sophomore Amanda Sload and freshman Georgia Cassidy, one of the top scorers. “I want the underclassman and the rest of the team to know how proud I am of every single one of them…the freshman especially stepped up and filled the places of some great players who graduated the year before,” Thacher said. “It is hard to go from playing recreationally to playing on a team where every single game matters and I really appreciate the effort they put forth…They played their hearts out this year and left everything they had on the ice every single game. The underclassman’s ability to step up and help lead the team to many victories was extremely inspirational and great to see.” Hall agreed, adding, “We wouldn’t have made it this far if it weren’t for their help.”

This confidence is also the force that continues to fuel the team’s dreams for high goals despite the loss in the quarterfinals of the CIAC Championship against Ridgefield.

“Next year we hope to continue to win games and play with as much passion as we did this past season,” Hall said. “Hopefully we’ll make it back to the FCIAC finals and take home another championship!”

And the girls realize what they need to do to get there.

“There are some fundamentals which need be improved such as our breakout and finishing the plays which we work so hard to make,” Thacher said. “Also a big goal is to score a lot more goals than we did this year.” With these improvements, Thacher hopes the team will go all the way in the State Championship and win.

Bennett, Hall, and Thacher will be replacing senior Lily Christensen as she goes off to Miami University of Ohio this fall. “Next year we’re going to have to adjust to losing Lily because even though she was one player she’s really what kept us all going so we’ll have to work on keeping our spirits high and getting pumped before games,” Hall said. “Lily was the leader of the team and it was obvious how much she cared about the sport and the team,” Thacher added.

Neirad wishes Bennett, Hall, Thacher, and the rest of the 2013-2014 Girls Hockey Team all the best in the next season!

Pictured: From left, Shannon Hall, Lily Christensen, and Ellie Bennett holding their plaque from their FCIAC Championship win against New Canaan (photo credits to Darien Athletic Foundation)