This Woman's Place Is Between The Pipes

Sophomore Taylor Lirakis earns a spot on Tewksbury High's State Champion boys hockey team.

When you win a state championship, it seems like everyone wants to play for you. Even the girls. Tewksbury High sophomore Taylor Lirakis not only tried out for the TMHS boys varsity squad this winter. She made it. Lirakis, who played on Tewksbury’s junior varsity team last winter, was one of four candidates for two goaltender spots on this year’s varsity squad. The pony tail hanging down the back of the TMHS player wearing shirt number 24 is the first piece of evidence that Lirakis earned one of those spots. "I beat out two other boy goalies and it just made me feel really good about myself and that I accomplished a really big goal by making varsity,” she said. Even though she has yet to appear in a varsity game so far this season, coach …

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Inspired Redmen Blast Methuen 6-2 In Home Opener

Tewksbury raises state championship banner, then buries Methuen.

Maybe Derek Doherty should hold a banner-raising ceremony before every home game. If that's all it takes to get his Tewksbury High hockey team to play the way they played Saturday night, it would be a small price to pay. Inspired by the unveiling of Tewksbury's 2010-2011 Division 2 State Championship banner before the game, the Redmen scored early and often and completely dominated Methuen, 6-2 in their home opener at the Breakaway Ice Center Saturday. Senior captain PJ Mugford scored on a laser blast from the point just 1:07 into the game, and junior captain Derek Petti scored two goals and assisted on a third as Tewksbury came out flying and looked like a completely different team than the one that lost 5-2 to Chelmsford on Wednesday. "…

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TMHS Hockey Team Falls To Chelmsford In Season Opener, 5-2

Penalties, missed scoring chances are costly for Redmen.

The young and inexperienced Tewksbury High hockey team opened up the defense of its 2010-2011 Division 2 state championship Wednesday night, and looked like, well, a young and inexperienced high school hockey team. "We saw flashes of some good stuff and some not so good stuff and some breakdowns," said TMHS coach Derek Doherty after Chelmsford beat the Redmen, 5-2, at the Chelmsford Forum in the season opener for both teams. "I think the inexperience of the kids we have right now showed. This is a whole new group of kids, so right now, it's a learning process for them." One thing the Redmen will have to learn how to do is take fewer penalties, as TMHS got whistled for eight different infractions and played a man down for much of the night…

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Tewksbury High Winter Sports Previews

TMHS Hockey Team Has Lots Of Questions To Answer

Defending Division 2 state champs are young and inexperienced.

The banner has been hung. All the hardware has been placed in the trophy cases. The celebrations of Tewksbury High's thrilling 2010-2011 Division 2 MIAA ice hockey state championship run are just memories now. It's time for coach Derek Doherty and his Redmen to get back to work. And with a roster full of young and inexperienced players, Doherty's job may not be an easy one this winter. "We're young," Doherty said. "This is probably as young and inexperienced a group as we've had in a while.  We normally have at least 10 seniors on the roster. This year we have four." Filling the shoes (or skates) of last year's graduating class will be no easy job. The Class of 2011 featured the likes of Merrimack Valley Conference/Dual County League Most …

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