Goalie Gal grows a set

I'm afraid to write and say we won our last game, and remain undefeated in this still young season, lest I jinx it. But, indeed we did, a good solid game all around albeit over a lesser opponent. Sorry if that's blunt, but we did outplay them most of the time.

One area they had no problem with, however, was aggressiveness around the net. Most of them were pretty big, and although our defense did a good job of tying them up or moving them away most of the time, there was the odd time that I'd find a big hulking opponent in my space. So I added something I don't normally have in a game; a little bit of elbow grease. Not in terms of literal elbows to other players, no I wouldn't do something like that! Even if there was only one ref and he didn't have a clear view of what I was doing, I wouldn't use my elbow. I think the edge of a blocker does a good enough job.

There were several occasions where I felt I defended my territory and myself pretty well. Whether it be just a good healthy shove (while maintaining my own balance- that's critical), an eye-for-an-eye style whack to the back of the legs, or letting my feelings be known about being slashed on the wrist after I already had the puck in my glove... I think I started to be a little more proactive in defending myself and not leaving it all up to my defensemen. I knew I was getting the message across when I nudged one particularly large player who was in the blue paint, and he actually pressed back. That's when I gave him as hard a shove as I dared with the side of my blocker in his back, and he let up. There's only so much I can do against someone who outweighs me by 50-75 lbs, but I'm learning how to do what I can.

All within the rules, of course.