The 2022-23 New England girls prep hockey season presented a lot of interesting storylines.
Williston Northampton and Phillips Andover, the two best teams on the girls side, met in the Elite 8 championship game, with Williston Northampton hoisting the trophy.
St. Paul’s School took down Taft for the Large School championship, while New Hampton upset Groton for the Small School championship.Â
While it's August and the fall hockey season hasn't even begun, here's a very early look at five storylines in the girls prep hockey world this season.
1. Who will be the best team?
Last year was a bit different, in that Nobles wasn’t one of the top two teams. Instead, it was Williston Northampton and Phillips Andover as the top two teams entering the Elite 8, and to no one’s surprise, those were the final two battling it out for the crown.
Both of those teams should be back in contention for the Elite 8.
Kent, Tabor and Nobles will all be back in the mix again, too. Kent lost six seniors, while Tabor and Nobles lost seven each. The key will be sophomores and juniors from 2022-23 stepping up as they become team leaders this season.
2. Who will be the best player?
Monique Lyons (Bedford, Mass.) stands out as one of the top returning players.
The Brown commit led her team in goals in 2022-23 with 26, along with 24 assists for 50 points. Her next step could be one of the must-watch storylines in prep hockey this season.
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Another player to watch is Olivia Maffeo (Canton, Mass.) from Nobles. The Boston College commit has been an impact player for head coach Tom Resor since she stepped foot on the Dedham, Mass., campus.
Caroline Averill (Wayland, Mass.) from Phillips Andover was a freshman last season and will be expected to take a big jump into being one of the NEPSAC’s best in her sophomore year.
3. Can Williston Northampton go for a three-peat?
Just like last year, head coach Christa Talbot Syfu’s team has a target on its back. We know her squad can handle it.
It’s no secret that Williston lost some key seniors in Ava DeCoste (Marshfield, Mass.), Emily Crovo (Melrose, Mass.), Katherine Kang (Amherst, Mass.), Miranda Calderone and Jenna Guglielmi (Branford, Conn.).
But players like Lyons, Caroline Aufiero (Belmont, Mass.), Emily Hamann (Marlboro, Mass.), Ava Hunter (Southampton, Mass.) and Camille Armaganian (Concord, N.H.) will be expected to step up this winter.
4. Is Phillips Andover primed for another deep run?
Lots of credit to New England Hockey Journal RinkWise podcast host Stephanie Wood — she called it. Last season in our girls prep preview episode, she had her eye on Phillips Andover making a deep run, and it did, going 24-3-1 overall and securing the No. 2 seed in the Elite 8 tournament.
Phillips Andover lost nine seniors to graduation, so head coach Martha Fenton will be busy finding the next wave of talent to replace them. She’s one of the best coaches in prep hockey, so she shouldn’t have too much trouble doing so.
There were only two juniors on the roster last season — Ava Murphy and Shea R. Freda (Lexington, Mass.) — so Fenton will count on rising juniors and sophomores to pick up the slack left behind by the seniors, too.
5. Surprise teams
Austin Prep burst onto the scene this past winter. In its first season in the NEPSAC, Wood — who was also Austin Prep's head coach — guided her squad to finishing as the No. 4 seed in the Large School tournament. Expect Austin Prep to be back in the mix, but with a new coach — as Wood left Austin Prep to join the Merrimack women's team as an assistant coach.
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Groton added young talent in the offseason and will build off last season’s success. St. Paul’s fits the same bill. Loomis Chaffee and Choate will contend for the Elite 8. So, too, will BB&N, which has tons of talent and is still young.
