The inaugural season of the Girls Varsity Ice Hockey Federation began for Orchard Park/Frontier in December 2010 at the Time Warner Rink in East Aurora and ended with a sectional championship in March 2011.
Orchard Park/Frontier Girls Hockey
The Western New York Girls Ice Hockey Federation began with seven teams including Orchard Park/Frontier, Kenmore, Lancaster, West Seneca, Amherst/Sweet Home, Williamsville and Monsignor Martin.
Every team played each other three times for a total of 18 games played with each squad eligible for the federation title, and all but the Monsignor Martin team eligible to win the sectional championship.
“I think that having the girls team at the school is a really cool thing, because it gives the girls an opportunity to come together and play with a lot of girls you never knew even played,” said Chelsie Hausberger. “It also gives us a chance to do something we have never been able to do before; represent our school through a sport we all love to play.”
After finishing the regular season with an 8-8-2 record, Orchard Park/Frontier saved its best hockey for the post-season by advancing to the federation title game by knocking off top-seed Monsignor Martin in the semi-finals, 2-1.
The Orchard Park/Frontier squad lost three regular season contests to Monsignor Martin; 7-0, 5-1, and 5-2, but were able to neutralize their opponent’s offense by adjusting their defensive alignment in the semi-finals of the federation playoff tournament.
Orchard Park/Frontier lost to Williamsville in the federation championship, but went on to defeat the same team in the Section VI title game.
“This is very special,” said Orchard Park/Frontier head coach Jim McCarthy, who coaches with assistant Lucian Forcucci. “Not only this league, but this team. This is our first team. You see how hard they work every day. You see how they grow as players and improve. This team has become close because of those things.”
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