Natick girls hockey falls in playoffs, but 'the future's bright'

NATICK – Jordan DiGiandomenico is like a point guard. Plays are designed to start with the puck at her feet. 

The fleet Natick junior dashed in on two breakaways Wednesday night, scoring once and was denied on the other. She began many rushes at her own goal line. 

DiGiandomenico started the season at a wing position before switching to center to free her up into open space. 

“Her speed gives teams a lot of trouble,” Natick coach Bruce Ihloff said. “We do try to utilize her speed. We expect a lot of Jordan – probably too much at times.” 

Ihloff’s words were spoken outside a quiet locker room, after the Redhawks dropped a 3-2 playoff decision to Winchester. He was obviously disappointed but still upbeat: DiGiandomenico is one of many talented players expected back for next season. 

The team’s starting defense – Ella Cogliano and Lauren Danahy – are underclassmen. Standout goalie Sophia Luoni will be a senior next year. Sarah Vose, who also scored Wednesday, is still a freshman. 

“We’re in good shape,” Ihloff said. “It’s a lot of work to get us to where we’re at (at least 12 wins in each of the past three seasons) starting with the youth level. I’m proud to say we haven’t had to co-op with anybody. We’re holding onto kids; we haven’t lost a lot of kids to outside programs or other schools.  

“I feel like the program is going in the right direction.” 

Natick (12-8-3) didn’t shy away from top competition, playing three teams that ended up as top 10 seeds for the Division 1 tournament: Notre Dame of Hingham (No. 1); Algonquin (No. 3) and Reading (No. 10). The Redhawks also won the Bay State Conference’s Carey Division. 

“We’ve gone toe to toe with every good team in the state; we’ve been competitive all season long,” Ihloff said. “We purposely took a difficult schedule in order to help us get beyond this point, but it didn’t go the way we had hoped this year.” 

The team will lose senior captains Ava Kelley, Catherine Catching and Emma Fair to graduation, but a look at Wednesday’s score sheet backs up Ihloff’s optimism for the future. Of the six points, five came from players who have eligibility remaining, including assists by Izzy Mastrangelo (junior), Anna Potter (sophomore) and Caylee Lynch (junior). 

“The future’s bright,” Ihloff said. 

Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Instagram at tdumas1.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Natick girls hockey falls to Winchester in MIAA playoffs