The 2023-24 New England girls prep hockey season was filled with intriguing storylines and exciting players to watch.
Nobles and Williston, the NEPSAC’s top two teams throughout the season, met in the Elite 8 final. The Bulldogs edged the Wildcats for the championship, denying the latter’s bid for three straight titles.
BB&N caught fire late in the regular season and rode the momentum to a Large School title over Dexter Southfield. In the Small School tournament, New Hampton took down Groton for the second straight season.
We’ve still got some runway left in the summer, but fall hockey is nearly upon us.
Here are six storylines to watch as puck drop in prep nears in a few short months.
Can Nobles repeat in the Elite 8?
Tom Resor guided the Bulldogs to their 11th title during his time as head coach and first since 2020, capping off an undefeated 24-0-4 season.
Getting back to the top won’t be easy for Nobles, though.
Star defenders Olivia Maffeo (Canton, Mass.), Sophia Levering (Westwood, Mass.), Jaime Griswold (Concord, Mass.) and Ainsley Gray (Wellesley, Mass.) plus star goalie Anya Zupkofska (Braintree, Mass.) authored much of the success of last season’s group. All five are off to the collegiate ranks this season.
The Bulldogs will look to returning forwards like senior Calleigh Brown (Foxboro, Mass.), senior Northeastern commit Molly MacCurtain and junior Gretta Hulbig (Foxboro, Mass.) to lead the way up front once more. Brown and Hulbig enjoyed breakout seasons in 2023-24.
One of the biggest keys to Nobles’ success last season was its depth and impactful contributions from youngsters, be it sophomore Lily Bromley (Carlisle, Mass.) or freshmen Alexa Georgantas (Foxboro, Mass.), Catherine McCool (West Roxbury, Mass.) or Francie Ames (Brookline, Mass.).
The biggest question marks lie in goal and on defense. Senior Annie Spring (Concord, Mass.) and sophomore Annika Jonas (Weston, Mass.) performed well in the limited minutes they saw in net. On the blue line, more responsibility will fall to returning senior Laney Mead (Bedford, Mass.) and junior Maddie Jaeger (Westwood, Mass.).
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Ava Decourcey (Rockland, Mass.) will mark a key addition on defense. She’s reclassifying to the class of 2027 after back-to-back 20-plus point seasons at Tilton. The right-shot blueliner finished with a career-high 16 goals and 24 points last season, leading Tilton to the Small School tournament.
Who else will contend?
A few usual suspects should remain in the mix as the season begins.
Williston Northampton graduated perhaps the best skater in the NEPSAC in Monique Lyons (Bedford, Mass.) as well as stout defender Caroline Aufiero (Belmont, Mass.). But the Wildcats still have one of the strongest returning groups in the region, be it starting goaltender Olivia Ferebee or top-flight forwards Nora Curtis and Violet Carroll (Milton, Mass.). Mia Daley (Lynnfield, Mass.), who had a strong freshman season, could take on an even bigger role after a strong summer. Christa Talbot Syfu’s teams are always challengers for hardware.
Phillips Andover graduated only three players from last season’s team, which made it to the Elite 8 semis, and Martha Fenton has one of the deepest returning squads in the NEPSAC. There are headliners on defense, be it senior Yale commit Molly Boyle (Scituate, Mass.) or sophomore Maggie Averill (Wayland, Mass.), an exciting prospect. Kimee Duplessis (Framingham, Mass.) and Sienna Glass (Andover, Mass.) have followed up solid freshman seasons with good summers. Up front, there’s still plenty of firepower, be it Caroline Averill (Wayland, Mass.), leading goal-scorer and Boston College commit Emily Mara (Winchester, Mass.) or top point-getter Sarah Powers (Lynnfield, Mass.). Starting goaltender Avery Rodeheffer (New Haven, Conn.) is expected back.
There’s also Loomis Chaffee. The Pelicans gave Nobles a tough test in the semifinals last season. Like their counterparts above, they return plenty of key pieces. Liz Leyden’s team will see the return of its top 10 leading scorers. Their top five point-getters, Annie Schwarz (Fairfield, Conn.), Ellie Lachance (West Hartford, Conn.), Lindsay Stepnowski (South Glastonbury, Conn.), Grace Morin and Chloe Obser are expected to lead the forwards. On the blue line, Princeton commit Catie Collins (South Burlington, Vt.), Carly Dann (Hanover, N.H.) and Megan Hosman lead one of the strongest defensive cores in New England. There is a question mark in net with the departure of Leila Fournier (West Kingston, R.I.). Junior Adeline Roper (Kennebunk, Maine) performed well in a small sample last season, which is encouraging.
Another team to keep an eye on is New Hampton. The back-to-back Small School champions have their sights set on the Elite 8 this season. Craig Churchill’s squad is expected to bring back nine of its top 10 leading scorers, including top forwards in UNH commit Julia Loughlin (Scituate, Mass.) and Yale-bound Kennedy Walker. UConn commit True Thompson headlines the defense after leading the Huskies with 35 points last season. There’s a strong supporting cast with forwards Caroline Thomas and Kayleigh Michaud-Nolan (Wells, Maine) as well as defender Reese Luber (Norwood, Mass.). The Huskies are also bringing in Addyson Peel (Scarborough, Maine) from Brooks. New Hampton graduated standout goalie Vera Lee to the collegiate ranks, but with a deep, experienced team, Churchill’s squad can make some noise if things come together in the crease.
Who are the top returning skaters to watch?
The NEPSAC continues to see some of the region’s most exciting prospects make their way through its ranks. This season figures to be no different.
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Among defenders, there’s Andover’s Boyle and Maggie Averill. Averill, a top 2008-born prospect, brings an intriguing blend of size and skill on the blue line, and she has a rocket of a shot. She totaled 10 goals and 18 points as a freshman. Boyle, meanwhile, is an effective two-way defender who typically makes excellent decisions at both ends of the ice. She also had 18 points for the Big Blue last season. Caroline Averill, meanwhile, is also one of the more exciting prospects among 2007-born skaters. The game seems to slow down whenever the puck is on the crafty center’s stick. She also had 18 points with Andover.
Another blueliner to watch is Dann at Loomis. She’s had an impressive summer between the New England District’s Festival and the Wizards Showcase. The junior is a stout defender who keeps plays to the outside with a good stick and physical play. Among the forwards, Morgan McGathey (Braintree, Mass.) is one of the region’s top prospects. The Harvard commit has scored over a goal per game in two straight seasons and has 111 points in 73 career games. Her 42 points were fifth in the NEPSAC last season. She can take over games and figures to again spearhead Thayer’s offense along with linemate Kate Sullivan (Hingham, Mass.), a UNH commit.
Curtis and Carroll, two-thirds of Williston’s prolific top line the past few seasons, are hard to play against and strong producers. Curtis plays a solid two-way game and brings size down the middle. The Cornell commit tied McGathey with 42 points. Meanwhile, the versatile Carroll, a Holy Cross commit who can play both forward and defense, had 29 points in 26 games last season after switching between the two positions at different points in the season. BB&N’s Hannah Weyerhaeuser (Cambridge, Mass.) was a point-per-game player after returning from a broken collarbone to help lead the Knights to the Large School title. With a clean bill of health, a big senior season could be ahead for the Yale commit.
Another uncommitted prospect who’s sure to be a popular recruit is Groton’s Tina Scalese (West Boylston, Mass.). The shifty center has led the Zebras in scoring going back to her eighth-grade season. She’s the leading scorer among prep returners, coming off a career season with 25 goals and 51 points.
Who will be the top goalies?
Some top-flight goaltenders graduated last season, be it Zupkofska, Lee, Fournier, St. Paul’s Ally Martiniello (Salem, N.H.) or Groton’s Veronika Hadamovsky (Groton, Mass.).
Still, there are plenty to keep an eye on this season.
Ferebee has proven capable of leading Williston to a title in the past, and she’s coming off a strong .939 save percentage in 2023-24. Rodeheffer, meanwhile, improved steadily as the season went on at Andover. She finished with a .941 save percentage.
There’s Tilton’s Evelyn Lacey (Braintree, Mass.). She faced one of the highest shot totals of any returning goaltender last season (632) and had a stellar .941 save percentage, leading Tilton to the Small School tourney.
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Campbell Krotee (Darien, Conn.) faced a lot of pressure at Deerfield last season, seeing 528 pucks come her way. She helped push the Big Green to the Elite 8, posting a .930 save percentage.
Serafina Applegate (Lexington, Mass.) has posted two straight seasons of quality goaltending at Rivers. She led the Red Wings to the Small School tournament this season with a .944 save percentage.
Another to watch is Portsmouth Abbey’s Jayden Elias. The junior faced the most shots of any returner (758) and allowed just 32 goals all season for a .958 save percentage.
Who are some newcomers to watch?
Every year there’s an exciting plethora of newcomers in the prep hockey scene, be it incoming freshmen, transfers from the MIAA or elsewhere. The upcoming season figures to see its fair share of MIAA standouts leaping to the NEPSAC.
Nobles landed a couple of key additions in Nora Shea (Braintree, Mass.) and Reese Engel (Westwood, Mass.). Shea is coming off a strong impression as a freshman forward at Braintree, and Engel had four goals and five points as a freshman defender at Notre Dame (Hingham).
Another NDA product, Devon Moore (Milton, Mass.), will head to Dexter Southfield. Moore had a 20-goal season last year, leading NDA to the MIAA Division 1 title game.
Bella Freitas (Everett, Mass.), whose St. Mary’s squad got the better of Moore and the Cougars in the D-1 title game, will head to Cushing. Freitas was one of the MIAA’s most electrifying players last season, scoring 48 goals.
Pembroke’s Jen Birolini will make the jump to Tabor. Another one of the MIAA’s most prolific scorers, Birolini eclipsed the 100-goal and 150-point milestones as a junior last season. Meanwhile, Groton will bring in defender Tatum Friedholm (Sudbury, Mass.). Friedholm had eight goals and 22 points as a freshman defender at Lincoln-Sudbury.
What are some surprise teams?
It’s hard to call two teams that reached their respective tournament championships “surprises,” but Groton and Dexter Southfield could be in perfect positions to build on their success from this past season.
The Zebras, who fell in the Small School title game, hovered around the Elite 8 field all season, thanks to a monster year from Scalese as well as her linemates Maddie Cronan (Ashland, Mass.) and Jaelyn Trudell (Andover, Mass.). They headline a strong group of returners, especially up front. The key for Tim LeRoy’s team will be who steps up in place of starting goalie Hadamovsky in net and No. 1 defender Keira Ley (Wayland, Mass.). If the goaltending and blue line come together, Groton could be an even bigger factor this season.
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Dexter, meanwhile, is in a similar boat after falling in the Large School championship. Maggie Taverna’s team graduated only one senior, returning four of its top five leading scorers, all three goalies and one of the best one-two defensive punches in the NEPSAC with Boston College commits Maddie Murphy (Dorchester, Mass.) and Alaina Dunn (Walpole, Mass.). Evelyn Doyle (Needham, Mass.) has had a strong summer, too, after leading Dexter in scoring as a sophomore.
Cushing is a team to watch, despite failing to qualify for the postseason. The Penguins feature a young team with plenty of key returners, plus a strong incoming class. Valerie Bono-Bunker’s team sees the return of six 10-plus point-getters, plus junior goalie Sadie Bellissimo, who posted a .921 save percentage in a timeshare last season. She could be primed to take over the starting role.
One more sleeper to keep an eye on could be Rivers. The Red Wings had one of the youngest squads in the NEPSAC last season, graduating just three seniors. Four of their top five leading scorers, including top producer Lindsay Morin (Weston, Mass.), are set to return. Applegate was one of the region’s strongest goaltenders, posting a .944 save percentage. She’s proven able to shoulder a heavy workload in each of her seasons as a starter, too. A run to the Small School semifinals could be key experience for a group that had 11 underclassmen last year.
