At one point in January, the Buckingham Browne & Nichols Knights were just 2-7-2. With 17 freshmen and sophomores on the roster, many of the girls needed time to adjust to NEPSAC competition.
Knights coach Ed Bourget and his staff challenged the girls to keep working hard and not stress the results. Soon enough, the team started winning games.
“It took them a while to get used to the pace of play, because we had a bunch of 14-year-old kids out there,” Bourget said. “By the end of the year they didn’t look like they were 14.”
The season culminated with a 4-1 victory over Deerfield Academy in the NEPSAC Large School tournament on March 6. BB&N relied on a mix of seniors and underclassmen to finish the regular-season strong and earn a pair of postseason wins.
The two seed in the Patsy Odden tournament, the Knights (13-10-3) defeated Hotchkiss in the semifinals before knocking off top-seeded Deerfield in the final. Bourget said his team played consistent hockey the whole weekend.
“I thought they got stronger with each game they played,” Bourget said. “Pretty much what we spoke about all year long, just trying to improve every day and play the game the right way, do the small things and pay attention to little details. They took that to heart and they really came through in a big way.”
Sophomore goaltender Alexsa Caron earned tournament MVP honors, stopping 28 of 29 shots vs. Deerfield to keep the Knights in front. Caron also recorded 24 saves in the semifinal.
Bourget’s message to his goalies is always to stop the first shot in a possession and to trust their teammates to collect any rebounds. In the last two games of the season, Caron made that her priority, and Bourget said it paid off.
“I think the most important thing about Aleksa is the maturity that she has in the net and her self-confidence, especially only being a sophomore,” Bourget said. “She knows her abilities, she works hard to improve upon her game. … She really stopped every first shot and focused on that as her job.”
On the other end of the ice, freshman Hannah Weyerhaeuser scored twice against Deerfield to pace the Knights’ attack. Senior captains Ashley Hallice and Sophia Kennedy (Colby College) added goals, and fellow captain and Ohio State commit Gali Levy tallied a pair of assists.
The backbone of the Knights’ identity this season was skating. The girls made sure to work on that in the offseason, as speed on the ice is something Bourget regularly preaches.
“Skating and speed is kind of essential for the game and it puts pressure on your opponent,” Bourget said. “You might not necessarily be the most talented team, but you can work on your hands and your passing and stuff like that. It’s really difficult to find a good skating team, and that’s something that we harp on.”
Once the girls adjusted to the prep level, the losses turned into wins. BB&N went 11-3-1 after that cold start, winning five of its last six. Seniors Sydney Bernstein, Anna McGrath and Hillary Galle helped the trio of captains build team chemistry in the second half of the season.
Besides solid fundamental skating, Bourget said team togetherness was a core identity for this Knights group. It helped the younger girls have a short memory after mistakes and play for the team.
“Before you can perform on the ice and be a selfless player, you have to respect your teammates,” Bourget said. “We did that, and then that showed through on the ice.”
