Rivers School won the 2022 Dorothy Howard Small School championship, beating New Hampton, 2-0 in the championship game.
The Red Wings entered the playoffs as the fifth seed and won three road games to win the title, also beating #4 Lawrence Academy (1-0) and #1 Dexter Southfield (2-1) to reach the championship game.
“I think our girls worked hard all year and really found their game at the end of January, start of February,” said Rivers coach Courtney Sheary. “Coach Ryan and I loved the way we were playing and had confidence that if the girls stuck to their game in the tournament we could make a run for it!”
Rivers (16-9-2) started strong going 6-1-1 to start the season, then hit a rough patch, losing five straight games in January, before turning things around again, going 7-3-1 to finish the regular season.
Rivers
“As you get deeper into the season players start to mesh with each other,” Sheary said. “Once the lines and our D pairs started clicking we started to play our best hockey. Eve Stone (goaltender) was consistent all season long and is a big part of our team’s success.
Stone, a senior goaltender committed to Stonehill, earned Tournament MVP honors, allowing just the one goal in three post-season games.
Senior Kayla Castelucci and junior Stelia Mullen had the goals for the Red Wings in the championship game.
New Hampton advanced to the final with post-season wins over #6 Brooks (3-1) and #2 Vermont Academy (2-1 in OT).
