The RHS Girls Hockey team headed to Westfield for its season opener, ending in a crushing 10-1 defeat on Tuesday, Dec. 9. 

Westfield broke the game open with an early goal three minutes into the first period. This was followed by two more unanswered goals to bring the score to 3-0, with Westfield taking advantage of Randolph’s mistakes early on. 

The tides turned, however, when sophomore Charna Torres stole the puck, weaving between two defenders to start Randolph’s season off with a clean goal.   

“It felt great to be back with my teammates and getting back into the feel of things,” Torres said of her first goal. “I’m excited to get the rest of the season started, hopefully putting this loss behind us.”

Randolph failed to gain momentum from this, however, and went scoreless for the remainder of the game. 

Westfield then scored another three goals in the first to end the period with a 6-1 lead.

Unfortunately, in the second period, the Blue Devils continued to break through Randolph’s defense with four more goals, bringing the score to 10-1.

The Rams, however, held them scoreless throughout the third to end the game.  

“I think our team overall could’ve gone into the game with a better mindset, but we still competed,” senior co-captain Lily Zepp said. “Even though we had our first loss, playing a good team for the opener helped us realize how we can improve both offensively and defensively to help support our goalie.” 

Despite the tough loss, the Rams showed up to play, and the team plans to use this loss to adapt for the upcoming season, with many more games and potential wins to come. 

“This loss allows us to work harder and fix any problems that may not be working for us,” senior co-captain Amelia Kolbik said. “Despite Westfield not being in our division, this is only the first game of the season, and we have a lot more games that we’re ready to play,”

Next, Randolph takes on Cranford at home on Friday, Dec. 12, at 5:50 p.m.