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NEW CANAAN, Conn. New Canaan High's undefeated girls ice hockey team has been making good teams look silly this season. That trend continued Monday as the Rams blanked a red-hot Hamden team, 7-0.
Junior captain Olivia Hompe netted a hat trick in the first period en route to a five-goal afternoon. Britt Gardella and Sarah Klearman split time in net to earn the shutout and snapped Hamdens seven-game win streak.
Weve seen who Hamden has beaten. They put up nine goals against Greenwich. Our goal was to get one up early and make them play from behind, New Canaan head coach Rich Bulan said. And once we got going we did what we had to.
As she has for nearly three seasons, Hompe could not be stopped from the second the opening whistle sounded. She netted New Canaans first five goals and did it from seemingly every part of the ice. Whether it was tipping in a rebound or ripping a slap shot from the middle of the blue line past a helpless Hamden goalie, Hompe did it all.
Kyla Persky netted the Rams sixth goal in the second period, and Holly Burwick capped the onslaught with a goal in the third. Hompe assisted on both, and Burwick assisted on three of Hompes goals.
Hamden is a big, aggressive team, so we had to come out really strong. I think we did that, Hompe said. And they were coming off a long bus ride, so it helped to get out there and get at them quickly.
With the game well in hand by the third period, Bulan called for Klearman to close out the game. She faced the fiercest Hamden attack of the afternoon, coming up with three big saves. Gardella finished with 10 saves to earn the official shutout. New Canaan outshot Hamden 32-13.
New Canaan (11-0) travels to the International Skating Center to take on Simsbury Saturday at 6 p.m.
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