front:  Arielle Adler, Dana Edwards, Vickie Rompilla, Alyssa Anderson, Julia Ahearn
 back:  Nancy Adler, Wendy Cuttic, Schuyler Nardelli, Wendy Doele, Christina Segerholm, Debbie Rodriguez

After a grueling season where the Blue Barracudas would enter this game as the favorite, it would be the Green Gremlins that won the cup.

It was no surprise that the league leader in goals (and points)--Schuyler "Nard Dog" Nardelli, would start the scoring off in the first for the Green Gremlins. However the goal would be quickly countered by two Barracuda goals from "Fancy" Nancy Adler and Julia "J-Dawg" Ahearn to take the lead. The Barracudas were looking to take this lead into the intermission, however with 13.5 seconds left Christina Segerholm would light the lamp to tie it up for the Green Gremlins.

With the second period underway the Blue Barracudas would score first courtesy of Julia Ahearn for her second of the game. From here on it was all downhill for the Barracudas as they would allow 5 unanswered goals. The one to open the flood gates would be none other than Schuyler "Nard Dog" Nardelli for her second of the night. This would be followed shortly after by Christina Segerholm's second of the night. Five minutes would pass but the Gremlins would still be in control evidenced by Vickie Rompilla's goal at 2:27. "Nard Dog" and Segerholm would each net their hat trick goals shortly after with Segerholm scoring hers with only one second remaining.

With the uphill battle the Barracudas were facing, all the Gremlins had to do was play solid defense. Fortunately for them their offense was not done just yet. Wendy Doele would net one early on to extend the Gremlins lead and strengthen their claim to the Cup. However the Barracudas would not take this defeat lying down. Alyssa Anderson would net her first of the game to keep hope alive. Vickie Rompilla would score her second of the night shortly after to snuff out any momentum the Blue Barracudas might have had. With the game firmly out of reach the Blue Barracudas would score one more for pride-sake coming late in the third from Nancy Adler to finish the game.

Congratulations to the Green Gremlins on defeating the Blue Barracudas to take home the NJWHL Cup and Schuyler Nardelli for the MVP of the final with 5 total points.





-GB

 



 front:  Joanne Jansson, Arielle Sepulveda, Brigid Lorincz, Julia Ahearn
 back:  Keiko Inouye, Christina Segerholm, Nicole Terpak, Laurey Harrison, Vickie Rompilla
 not pictured:  Kim Lauter, Patty Oeckinghaus, Jess Boyle, Jodi Geoghegan, Tiffany Tchir-Spence, Karen Kuphal

The brand new NJ Women’s Hockey League would begin with three teams, with captains chosen by league administration.  Joanne Jansson was chosen to captain her team, given the temporary name of Team Jansson.  They would play in the NJWHL’s first game, getting shut out by Team TBD by the final of 3-0.  They bounced back with a win over Team Terpak, but then dropped their next two games as they once again were blanked by TBD and then lost to Team Terpak to find themselves in last place about a month into the season.  “Team Jansson” was supposed to be a temporary team name until the team decided on a more permanent name, but improving the on-ice performance was higher on Jansson’s priority list than coming up with a team name.

Team TBD quickly emerged as the team to beat, as they were undefeated four games in.  However, after being shut out by them twice, Team Jansson refused to let that happen again, and this time they came out with a 4-3 win.  They followed it up with a 3-0 win over Team Terpak a week later to pull themselves up to an even record of 3-3.  However, they were unable to carry this momentum into the remainder of the regular season.  In their next two outings, they were shut out by Team TBD for the third time in four games, and then lost a shootout to Team Terpak.  After this, they were overpowered by Team TBD once again, this time by the final of 6-1.  They hoped to end this losing streak on the final game of the regular season, where a win over Team Terpak would give them second place.  However, they once again lost in a shootout to end the regular season in last.

They would seek revenge over Team Terpak in the semifinal, but they would be without leading scorer Kim Lauter for the postseason.  Lauter finished tied for third in the league with 11 points.  During the regular season, Team Jansson played very evenly with Team Terpak.  Team Jansson won two of their five meetings, with one regulation loss and two shootout losses.  Six minutes into this game, league leader in both goals and points, Nicole “Turnpike” Terpak, scored to put her team in the lead early.  However, Julia Ahearn evened the score juts three minutes later.  The second period remained very even, as both teams were focused on playing mistake-free hockey with a spot in the championship on the line.  Late in the second, Heather McMullen was called for tripping during a battle for the back behind Team Jansson’s net, but Team Terpak did an excellent job of killing the penalty.  The score would not be tied for much longer though, because just fifty seconds into the third period, Ahearn found herself on a breakaway, and she made no mistake about putting the puck in the net to give Team Jansson a 2-1 lead.  Brigid Lorincz and Team Jansson’s defense was put to the test in the final fourteen minutes.  This remaining time seemed to take an eternity for Team Jansson, but went by too fast for Team Terpak as Lorincz turned away every shot she faced in the third period to hold onto this narrowest of leads, ending Team Jansson’s losing streak and clinching a spot in the inaugural NJWHL championship, where they would meet first place Team TBD.

Team TBD opened the season with a 3-0 record to quickly rise to first place, and although they played well enough to stay there, they came into the championship game having won only two of their last seven games.  Team Jansson was hoping to capitalize on Team TBD’s slump, and they brought with them plenty of momentum from their uplifting win in the semifinal the day before.  However, Team Jansson would take the ice with only five skaters, and this time they would not have Ahearn on the ice.  In order to have enough players to compete, goaltender Brigid Lorincz would play as a skater and they would rely on fill-in goaltender Arielle Sepulveda in net.  On the other end of the ice, Team TBD would be without their two leading scorers, Rebecca Roselli and co-captain Abbey Dufoe, but they were hoping Nicole Terpak would be able to fill that role as she suited up for Team TBD as a fill-in, hoping to get revenge on Team Jansson ending her team’s season.

Once again Terpak scored an early goal, putting TBD ahead two minutes into the game.  However, once again Team Jansson bounced back as Lorincz scored just 28 seconds later.  Halfway through the period, Christina Segerholm scored on a scramble in front of the net, giving Team Jansson a 2-1 lead, and Keiko Inouye set Lorincz up for another goal just 31 seconds afterwards, giving Team Jansson a 3-1 lead after one period.

Terpak cut the lead in half just over a minute into the second period.  They battled hard to notch the equalizer, but instead Lorincz added two more goals late in the second to open up a 5-2 lead with one period left to play.  Team Jansson focused on defense through the third period, as they no longer needed any further goals barring a defensive collapse.  Lorincz found herself with another scoring chance about halfway through the third anyway though, and she took advantage to put her team ahead 6-2.  In the remaining half-period, Team Jansson shut down Team TBD, keeping them to just their two goals as they completed their unexpected championship run. Team Jansson will forever be known as the NJWHL's first champions, and the manner in which they achieved that title is sure to provide inspiration for NJWHL underdogs for years to come.