Just three days after beating the North Avalanche for the Section 1 girls hockey title, the East Green Wave found themselves back on the ice against the same team they edged in a 1-0 overtime finals battle.

Due to the structuring of the 2025-26 postseason, the two teams would square off again on Monday, Feb. 2 for the right to move to the regional semifinals. But this time, it wouldn’t come down to late-game heroics, as the Green Wave scored early and often to keep their season alive with an 8-1 win.

June Kleiner would get the Green Wave on the board with 6:39 left in the first period then add another three minutes later to give the Section 1 champs a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Kleiner would score three more times to finish with five goals on the day, sparking a one-sided victory that shows just how dangerous the East team can be when they’re firing on all cylinders.

“On Friday, we were playing very tight, we were getting frustrated and they played a very good game against us,” said East coach Jed Shahar. “They played a good game against tonight too, but we got a few early goals against them and that helped a lot.”

Izzy Zacchino, Lily Brickman and Penny Shahar rounded out the scoring for the Greenwave, while both Kleiner, Shahar and Lila To each chipped in two assists to fuel the offensive explosion.

“Getting out to an early lead definitely gave us a lot of energy, but we knew we wanted to keep it going,” said Kleiner. “We came in focused on getting that lead to take some of the pressure and the stress off.”

Shahar also praised the team’s defensive effort against the Avalanche, noting that the team surrendered just one goal to the North team in the last two games, thanks in part to the play of Akina Brittain (24 saves) in net.

“With Aki back there, I think once they gave up two goals, that was a tough hill to climb,” said the head coach.

“They got a lot more shots later in the game than they did in the first and second periods, but I had to continue to stay focused even when I wasn’t getting that many shots,” said Brittain. “It was pretty difficult but I think we did alright.”

With the win, the Green Wave now move on to the state semifinals. On Feb. 12, where they will take on a good Adirondack team that is no stranger to postseason success. Shahar said that although pressure typically mounts late in the postseason, he’s confident that his group has the right mindset for the situation.

“We’re playing Adirondack, the two-time state champs, and we’re just gonna keep on doing what we’ve been doing,” said Shahar. “You can hear them in the locker room right now and that’s not just because we won, this is a loose group.”