Winners of four of its last five games, the Greenwich High School ice hockey team is certainly ascending at the right time of the season.

Determined to finish their season strong, while vying for a berth in the state tournament, the Cardinals have added two more wins to their record, earning victories against new neighborhood foe Sacred Heart Greenwich and FCIAC opponent Trumbull.

Greenwich skated to a 4-1 victory over Sacred Heart Greenwich on Feb. 3 in a matchup that was a one-goal game until the last minute of play and posted a 4-0 road triumph against Trumbull on Feb. 5. The Cardinals’ win against Sacred Heart was a non-CIAC victory, so it didn’t count toward its state record, but the hard-fought win versus the up-and-coming Tigers gave them plenty of positive momentum heading into their game against the Eagles of Trumbull.

Against Sacred Heart Greenwich, freshman forward Miren Woolven registered two goals, while senior defender/captain Lexi Carino and junior forward Siobhan Skibo had one goal apiece for Greenwich High. For the Tigers of Sacred Heart, who have posted three wins in their inaugural varsity season, forward Michaela O’Brien had a goal.

“It was a very good game,” Cardinals coach Doug Jebb said. “The Sacred Heart goalie played really well, we threw a lot of shots at her. I’m very impressed that we just keep getting better every week.”

Indeed, goalies from both squads were stellar in this neighborhood matchup. Cardinals freshman goalie Eleanor Woolven earned the win, 13 saves. For SHG, Katie McQuillan made 23 saves.

“Give credit to their team, they improved a lot since the last time we played them and we’ve improved a lot too, so it was a really good game for both teams,” Sacred Heart coach Chris Myhro said, referring to when the Tigers edged the Cardinals, 4-3, when the teams skated against each other at Chelsea Piers Connecticut in Stamford on Dec. 11. “We’ve got to work on figuring out how to put up some more goals. The last couple of games we’ve been playing really solid, but we have to figure out how to find the net.”

The first period saw GHS (9-10) possess the puck for a good amount of time in Sacred Heart’s zone. Freshman Hailey Dreher, sophomore Carlyn Duffy, Carino, senior Aubrey Roth and freshman Charlotte Dengl-Kelly each tested McQuillan with shots on goal in the first period, which ended in a 0-0 tie.

The Cardinals scored the game’s first goal 25 seconds into the second period. Carino scored off an assist from Roth, giving Greenwich a 1-0 lead on the Tigers. Roth moved the puck to Carino, who snapped her shot home on the game’s opening goal. Carino has provided an offensive spark from the blue line for the Cards.

“I think we came out a little slow and in the third period we picked it up started playing more as a team,” Carino said. “We found each other on the ice and were able to make solid passes and we were able to score off each other.”

The second period concluded with the Cards ahead of the Tigers, 1-0, as McQuillan kept it a one-goal game with several more standout saves. Sacred Heart tallied the equalizer 17 seconds into the third period. After winning the faceoff to start the third period, O’Brien converted a shot from the left wing, just above the left faceoff circle, evening the score at 1-1. Audrey Dyer, who leads Sacred Heart’s defense, along with Caeley Clough, assisted on O’Brien’s goal.

“Michaela O’Brien, she can really shoot the puck,” Myhro noted. “She’s got a good shot and she’s been one of our leaders. It was great to see her score.”

The Cardinals responded pretty quickly taking the lead with 12:23 remaining in the third period.

Skibo’s unassisted goal off a one-time deep in Sacred Heart’s zone gave GHS a 2-1 edge.

“Siobhan has been a great addition, she has five goals,” Jebb said of the offensive spark Skibo has provided in recent games.

The score stayed 2-1 until there was 1:16 remaining in the third period. That’s when Miren Woolven scored off an assist from sophomore Sasha Yeterian, putting Greenwich on top of SHG, 3-1.

“We had a couple of wins last week against Ridgefield and Wilton,” Jebb pointed out as he described his squad’s improvement. Then we had our best game of the year, a 2-0 loss to Darien, the No. 1 team in the state and tonight (Feb. 3 vs. Sacred Heart) was a very good game, a very tough battle.”

Woolven tallied on an empty-netter with just 24.6 seconds left in the game, to seal the Cardinals’ scoring. Eleanor Woolven recorded 13 saves in goal in the winning effort.

“Eleanor Woolven playing really well in the goal has been important,” Jebb noted. “Miren scoring two goals was big for us.”

Sacred Heart, which is captained by seniors Ainsley Clough and Emma Mulcahy in its first season as a varsity team, visits Newton Country Day School on Saturday (Feb. 8), then hosts Hamden Hall Country Day School at Chelsea Piers Stamford on Feb. 12.

“We’re getting a lot of shots but we’re not scoring a lot of goals, so we have to keep working on it,” Myhro said. “We’ve come a long way and we’re going to continue to get better. I’m very happy with the team.”

On Feb. 5, Greenwich was victorious against Trumbull, 4-0, at Sports Center of Connecticut. In the Cardinals’ latest victory, sophomore Eleanor Fine recorded a hat trick and Skibo had one goal. Eleanor Woolven registered 14 saves for the victors.

“We played a really good game against Darien, we were on a winning streak before that and it’s given us some motivation,” Carino said. “We’ve definitely come together as a team. We are able to utilize each other and score off that. Sacred Heart was a good team, they had some strong players and they were good competition.”

To the left, Greenwich, Sacred Heart exchange handshakes following the game. To the right, Caeley Clough of SHG and Charlotte Dengl-Kelly in action during the matchup at Dorothy Hamill Skating Rink.

To the left, Ainsley Clough of Sacred Heart and Lexi Carino of Greenwich in action. To the right, GHS celebrates a goal.