Fast and Furious: Falmouth girls hockey scores early and often

The Falmouth girls hockey team has started the season fast.

After beating the Sandwich Blue Knights 6-4 Wednesday night, the Clippers are 6-1 to begin the year. The team has been led by an lethally balanced top line, and are looking to make a serious statement this season.

Led by that top line, the Clippers have scored more goals (37) than any other team on the Cape, and have established themselves amongst the best in the state in Division 2.

Yet, for all the success, if the Clippers have had an Achilles heel early, it's that despite the fast start to the year, they haven't exactly shot out of the gates in their games.

"Our starts haven't been great, and we talked about that before the game," Falmouth head coach Brian Ferreira said. "I knew Sandwich was going to be ready for us...so I challenged our girls to have their best start this year."

Challenge accepted.

The Clippers had a shot on net less than 15 seconds into the first period. After the ensuing faceoff, the Clippers ultimately broke the deadlock after just 29 seconds, when Jane Hostetter found Casey Roth open in front of the net to put the Clippers up a goal before all the fans had even settled into their seats.

The second period followed a similar script, a quick shot on target was followed by another quick goal. This time, it came after 49 seconds, with Roth scoring second via assists from Estelle Duffany and Hostetter.

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"In the second period kind of joking around, I said 'hey it took you guys 30 seconds to score, I want to see you get one within 20.' And they almost did," Ferreira said enthusiastically.

After the game, Hailey Ferreira said the team really placed a focus on improving the way they started periods.

"In the locker room before each start of the period, we would all tell ourselves we need to come out hard," she said.

The Clippers nearly made it a perfect three for three, as they had another shot within the opening 20 seconds of the third period. Though the chance ultimately got missed, Coach Ferreira was satisfied with the approach across all three periods.

"I thought for the most part we were able to control the game, (and) dominate at certain points," Coach Ferreira said. "Overall I thought we played well. We had more energy tonight than we've had in a while."

Part of why he was so happy with it is because it feels like a step in the right direction for the Clippers. Yes, the team is 6-1, and on paper appears to be firing on all cylinders, but Coach Ferriera knows his team is still growing, and sees the bigger picture.

Of course the top end of the roster is experienced and talented, and is capable of carrying the team on any given night. Roth, an assistant captain ended the night with a team high four points. Hostetter, a team captain, finished with three points. Avery Johnsen, Ryan Devlin, and Maeve Turner each had a pair of points in the win. But when looking at the entirety of the Falmouth roster, it's becomes clear that the team is actually quite young.

"I have 17 players, and 10 of them are freshman or below," he said. "So we're still figuring out what everybody's role is."

As such, this is a work in progress, even if they've already played well to start the year. It hasn't been perfect this season, and this game was no different. An explosive second period saw Falmouth's 2-1 lead become 6-2 by the second intermission.

What was shaping up to be a comprehensive win would prove to be anything but. A pair of Sandwich goals, one from Elisabeth Stutzman, and one from Casey Pestilli, halved the deficit, and Hailey Ferriera said the team dropped their effort.

"We all just kind of slowed down," she said. "We didn't think as much, (and) we just threw the puck around."

Coach Ferreira agrees, and said the third period showed some little aspects of play where his team can still improve.

"(There are) little things things that we notice from the bench that the kids don't realize," Coach Ferreira said. "The biggest thing is how the turnover becomes a scoring chance for the other team. That's where we've got to go back and look at 'what did we do wrong, and what can we do better.'"

Through it all, 6-1 is 6-1. The Clippers have now won three games in a row, and have a road matchup with Dennis-Yarmouth on Saturday.

André Simms covers high school sports for the Times. Contact him at asimms@capecodonline.com. Follow him on X/Twitter: @that1guyandre.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Falmouth girls hockey scores six in win over Sandwich