At the end of the 2024 season, six seniors on the Pingree Girls Varsity Hockey team graduated. How would that impact the 2024-2025 season? I posed this exact question to the three senior captains – Aby Amigo, Jaselle Yepez, and Juju Giordano. 

They said that it’s been a change going from a team with 17 skaters and one goalie to 12 skaters and two goalies this season, but the team has come together nicely, with a record of 6-9 thus far. However, Amigo, Giordano, and Yepez gave their input on how the team must step up to start winning big games. Tilton and North Yarmouth Academy (NYA) are definitely heavy hitting opponents that will come up later in the season, so getting ready for those rivals will be important. 

What is one word or phrase that describes this season and how you are feeling? 

AA: “Pumped. I love hockey season.” 

JY:  “Excited!” 

JG: “Hard work because with a lot fewer teammates, everyone needs to play their hardest to compete with the talented teams we are up against. Hard work shows up in our practices, especially when we push ourselves to skate harder during our sprints and in drills when we have to rely on each other to work through the drill. With little defensemen I have really internalized putting 110% effort into every single game I play because I know that when my teammates see this, they will push themselves as well, which elevates our game.”

How has the team changed from last year to this year?

AA: “It has been a transition [this year] from having a big bench to a small one but I think the team has only grown closer because of this. We have collectively persevered through challenges like sick players during a busy season.” 

JY: “ I think having a small team this year has brought everyone closer and able to click with anyone on and off the ice.” 

JG: “The biggest challenge has been keeping our energy up both mentally and physically. It is extremely hard to have a short bench; however, it’s for the better because it only helps us to keep stamina towards the end of tough games, giving us better chances at winning.”

What do you anticipate will be the biggest challenges this season? What are the things the team really needs to work on? 

AA: “I anticipate finishing in big games to be our biggest challenge. We have created depth with scoring but still struggle in big games to finish.” 

JY: “Something our team needs to work on from last year is finishing our plays and finding the back of the net. We have great opportunities but we need to capitalize on them.” 

JG: “Our biggest challenge this season is staying healthy so we don’t make our bench even shorter, which impacts the entire team. Our team needs to work on putting pucks in the net and focusing on our offensive game because when we play good teams, we have perfected our defensive structure so much that it is hard to focus on our offensive plays. I think that our new coaching staff has given us ways to get to the front of the net and score goals which has definitely helped us win this season.”

How do you think that the team can most effectively respond to this season’s challenges?

AA: “I think it comes down to chemistry and trusting each other. I think we have created lots of trust on the ice and now we can all do our own jobs and focus on playing as a unit.”

JY: “The most effective way the team can respond to challenges is by understanding how to improve for the next time and staying positive by supporting each other.” 

Who are you excited to play this year and why? 

AA: “I am excited to play Holderness for our highlighted game. Other games I look forward to are the Govs game and Brewster. I know Brewster is a game our team really wants to win.”

JY: “I am excited to play Govs this year because they are a talented team and I have never played them before.”

JG: “I am extremely excited to play Portsmouth Abbey because, in past years, they have always been sort of our rivals. We lost to them by one point in the EIL playoffs and I can already tell that our team has improved so much this year, and I think we can finally beat them.”

Who do you think are the toughest competitors that we will face this season?

AA: “Holderness, Brewster and Berwick will be big games for us.”

JY: “I think one of the toughest competitors we face this season is Thayer, because it only helps us to keep our stamina towards the end of tough games, giving us better chances at winning.”

JG: “I think Thayer and Govs are going to be our toughest games; however, I know we can play well against them.”