The Madison girls hockey team made history on Thursday.
For the first time in program history, the Dodgers won a cup title, as top-seeded Madison skated to a 7-1 win over second-seeded Cranford in the NJIIHL Annis Cup final at Codey Arena.
It was the culmination of a dominant two years for this program since moving to the Annis Division prior to the 2023-24 season. It went 7-1 in divisional play last year, but suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Westfield in overtime in the Annis Cup final.
This year’s team went a perfect 8-0 in the division and outscored its opposition 54-12 in divisional games. It continued that dominance into this tournament, where it left nothing to chance this time around- as it took down Princeton, 10-1 in the semifinals, before Thursday’s 7-1 championship win.
Athena Halewicz scored twice for the Dodgers in the final. Brooke Gundlach, Margaret Merson, Elizabeth Farrell, Emma Wirth, and Leah Jobe each found the back of the net, while Clementine Dickson-Child made 14 saves in the win.
Madison now holds an overall record of 10-1, with its only loss being to defending state champion Pingry, a 6-2 defeat on Jan. 27.
Now, the Dodgers will await their seeding in the upcoming state tournament. The first round is set for Feb. 25.
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Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 