ROCKLAND, Mass. — Fall hockey season is officially here.
The NAHA Labor Day tournament took over the Bay State this weekend with droves of players, parents and teams spending the unofficial last weekend of the summer in area rinks.
I spent Friday and Saturday focused on the U19 (primarily Navy) and U16 divisions. Of course, it's not possible to see everybody in a field so large, but I did my best to cover as much ground as I could.
Among the U19s, I caught the Boston Jr. Eagles, Northwood School, Stanstead College and the Valley Jr. Warriors at Lovell Rink on Friday morning before watching Winchendon against the Bay State Breakers at Babson College in Wellesley the evening. On Saturday, I returned to Lovell to see NAHA Navy against the St. Louis AAA Blues before NAHA White against the MN Jr. Whitecaps White.
For now, we'll focus on the uncommitted players in the U19 divisions. Although several committed players also deserve their due, like NAHA's Kassidy Carmichael (Westford, Mass.), Northwood's Hilary Wilkin (Vermont) and Meghan Crowley (St. Lawrence) or the Valley Jr. Warrior's Campbell Krotee (Stamford, Conn.; Holy Cross). Carmichael had a four-point game for NAHA against the Whitecaps, Wilkin and Crowley were huge play drivers for Northwood against the Jr. Eagles and Krotee, who will be a senior at Deerfield, was sensational in net for VJW against Stanstead. New Hampton's Trinity Walsh (Middlebury) and Deerfield's Allie Correiri (Devens, Mass.; Colby) were also strong with the Jr. Eagles.
As for uncommitted U19 players, here are 11 who stood out.
