It’s the third season back for Ithaca High School girls hockey after its one-year hiatus during the 2022-23 school year, and the program is in great health. The Little Red boasts a large squad of 24 student-athletes, the most they’ve had since the 2019-20 season. The biggest thing that stands out from the roster is their youth, and the growth they’ve displayed throughout the year has been noteworthy.
The Little Red has 15 underclassmen, including a strong core of seven freshmen. While the season has had its fair share of challenges for such a young team, head coach Tyler Wagenet has been impressed by their desire to learn and improve each and every day.
“Watching them be sponges to what we are doing and kind of the systems that we’re putting in place of wanting to learn and wanting to grow and wanting to get better, that’s been an incredible thing,” Wagenet said. “I’m in my third season here in terms of trying to kind of regenerate growth in this team and build a culture, if you will. That new group of players has really grabbed onto the culture and really ran with it, which is awesome to see.”
Things started out rough for the Little Red, losing its first three games by a combined score of 15-5. But as they gained more experience, results have turned in their favor. The Little Red have won three of their last six, as of February 1. Wagenet credited their increased persistence on the forecheck to their recent spell of success.
“We talk about our forecheck structure before every single game, before every single practice, and it’s nothing complicated,” Wagenet said. “It’s the same thing everybody else is doing. We just are really trying to be more tenacious about it and be the team that creates turnovers deep in the enemy’s territory and hopefully gets that to result in goals.”
Speaking of goals, it’s unsurprisingly been the freshmen core who have led the way in that department. In fact, the Little Red’s top three point-getters are all freshmen: Brooke Williams, Layla Paul, and Myan Paulino. They all started on the same line at the beginning of the season, but the switch to have them on different lines has greatly benefited the entire team.
“The best thing about those three is that it doesn’t matter who they’re with or what line they’re on,” Wagenet said. “The three of them are going to play as hard as they can every single shift, every single time on the ice. It’s just the way that they approach the game. They approach the game with their talent obviously, but they just want to be out there and want to win.”
The Little Red’s young attack is contrasted by a veteran defense. Senior Natalie Wagenet and junior Sonia Enns have not only been stalwarts in their own zone, but they have also helped lead the way as captains along with assistant captains and fellow seniors Anya Godert and Emerson Chiuten-Black.
“Watching the four of them lead the younger girls and really create those bonds, it’s been amazing,” Wagenet said. “I had no idea that it would go that direction. I had no idea that the kind of personalities would come out and they’d be able to kind of bond together to lead this group as well as they have. But at the same time, I’m not surprised given the fact that I’ve known them all for so long.”
While Fallon Mount does not have a ‘C’ or ‘A’ patch on her jersey, she too has been a valiant leader for the Little Red in goal. The junior takes the reins from Shelby Howells—who tallied over 750 career saves—and she has not disappointed one bit.
“There’s zero quit in that kid,” Wagenet said. “I’ve never seen a young woman play in goal with so much pride and passion for not only the position, but also for the result that’s on the ice. Whether it’s a win or a loss, Fallon carries all of it into her next ice time and wants to improve regardless of the situation. She knows she has things she needs to work on or should work on. She’s completely committed to doing that.”
Since Ithaca is the only Section IV girls hockey team, they compete in Section III with Clinton, Oswego and Skaneateles. The sectional tournament begins on February 11, and the Little Red is hoping that the success they’ve found in the second half of the season can lead to a deep postseason run.
“I truly believe that this team is playing some of their best hockey right now, especially in practices,” Wagenet said. “Practices are super high tempo. Everybody’s locked in and really focused, and then that translates over to games. I’ve always told my teams that I coach that if we push each other in practice as hard as possible to be better each day, then when we get to the games and the other teams are not pushing as hard, we’ll be able to excel. I think that’s really starting to fit into this group.”
