On Saturday December 15^th the Tewksbury RedCats Girls U10 Hockey Team hit the road for a game against Westwood at the Olympia Forum in Boxborough and skated away with an impressive 4-2 win.

The RedCats started quickly scoring just 32 seconds into the first period when Alice Sharpe force a turnover at center ice.  Caitlin Marchant picked up the loose puck, skated into the Westwood zone, and sent a great cross-ice pass to Eryn Taber.  Eryn made a great move past the defenseman and fired a hard wrist shot over the goalie’s catching glove for the 1-0 lead.  Westwood battled back & tied the game with 9 minutes to play in the 1^st period.  The RedCats nearly regained the lead 1 minute later when Kaylen Taddia, Maci Chapman, and Nikole Gosse worked the cycle down low and Taddia’s shot hit the post.  The RedCats kept attacking and their hard work paid off when Abby O’Keefe stole the puck from a Westwood forward, used her speed to get to the net, and fired a low hard wrist through the 5-hole for the 2-1 RedCats lead, assists to Tess Barrett and Maci Chapman.  The 1^st period ended with the RedCats getting great defensive efforts from Alexis Raymond and Lydia Pendleton.  The 2^nd period was a fast paced period with both teams getting great scoring chances.  Early in the period, RedCats goalie Megan Cunningham made 2 excellent saves on breakaways to keep the score 2-1 in favor of the RedCats.  Jade Owirka and Julia Stanizzi both had quality scoring chances that were turned away by the Westwood goalie.  With 4:22 left in the 2^nd period the RedCats increased their lead to 3-1 when Ryan Quinn fired a one-timer into the back of the net off tic tac-toe passing from Abby O’Keefe and Lydia Pendleton.  The RedCats came out flying in the 3^rd period determined to get the win.  They played outstanding defense, keeping the Westwood speedy forwards away from the RedCats net. Alexis Raymond and Tess Barrett both made great individual plays back on the blue line for the RedCats.  The RedCats picked up the pace and were able to get pucks to the Westwood net.  Kaylen Taddia’s speed and aggressiveness created a 2-on-1, with Kaylen sending a nice pass over to Maci Chapman whose quick one-timer was saved by the Westwood goalie.  Midway through the final period the RedCats increased their lead to 4-1 when the line of Ryan Quinn, Abby O’Keefe, and Lydia Pendleton struck again, this time with Lydia finding the back of the net with a hard wrist shot, assists to Abby and Ryan.  Westwood was able to score with just over 2 minutes to play in the game but the RedCats regained control of the game and did not allow Westwood any further scoring chances, securing the 4-2 win.