The Whitman-Hanson/Pembroke girls hockey team wasn’t able to get a win in their second game of the season against the state champion Duxbury Dragons, but they were able to take a big step forward.

The Dragons beat WHP 10-1 on Dec. 17, and WHP was able to cut the goals in half at Bridgewater Ice Area Saturday in a 5-1 loss that head coach Joe Coulter said was a drastic improvement from one month ago.

“It was a lot better than our first game against Duxbury,” Coulter said. “There’s been improvement, which we’re seeing … We’ve been shaking up the lines a little bit and we’re starting to come together nicely.”

The Dragons dominated the puck possession in the first period, but WHP did a nice job skating into their shooting and passing lanes and Mel Hatch made 12 of her 35 saves in net to keep the game scoreless.

“We took away the middle, which is what we were trying to do,” Coulter said. “The girls played well.”

WHP ran into trouble in the second period when Duxbury took the lead on a slapshot by Lily Connolly with 8:48 to play and padded their lead three minutes later when Marissa Fichter knocked in a rebound. Connolly then struck again with one minute left to play in the period when she slid a shot from the blue line that got through Hatch’s legs to send WHP into the final break down three goals.

The Dragons continued their onslaught with a goal by Jane Dudley a minute and a half into the third period, but WHP was able to regroup and put some pressure on the Dragons’ defense and goalie Rachel Myette for the remainder of the game. Assistant captain Jackie Sullivan was able to break through for WHP with a one-timer from Giana Deacetis with 3:59 left in the game.

“Jackie had a great goal,” Coulter said. “Giana got the assist, and it was a great play. It was all hustle.”

Fichter scored again for the Dragons with about 1:38 left in the game when she redirected a slapshot from Caroline Shaunessy with Duxbury on the power play.

WHP has a busy week ahead of them with four games in four days beginning Jan. 18 in Randolph against North Smithfield, RI. The team then travels to Braintree for a game against Fontbonne Academy on Thursday and hosts Canton at Bridgewater on Friday before finishing up the week at Falmouth Saturday afternoon.

“It’s a great week coming up,” Coulter said.