Some losses were expected. The Noble and Greenough girls hockey team went into the season knowing it would be without its top two scorers from a year ago — graduated standout Becca Gilmore (Harvard) and Casey O’Brien, who joined the U.S. Under-18 Team.
Other losses were unexpected.
Talented freshman defenseman Jenna MacDonald, a Harvard commit, suffered an offseason injury and never played. Another freshman, first-line forward and Boston College commit Katie Pyne, hurt her shoulder five games in and didn’t return.
"It was a little difficult watching so many players get injured," said senior captain Katie Tresca, whose 22 goals led the team despite missing 10 games at midseason after suffering a concussion. "It was frustrating at times. But we worked so hard to bond and jell. We were a really close-knit team."
By the end, they were also a championship team.
For the fourth time in seven years, and first time since 2016, top-seeded Nobles won the New England Division 1 title. The team finished with a record of 25-3-2 and conceded just one goal in three tournament wins last month.
"This team, it was just resiliency," said coach Tom Resor. "The team kept finding ways to win close games. Someone would always step up."
It began on defense, a unit overseen by assistant coach Steve Cedorchuk. Junior standout Lily Farden (Harvard) was strong at both ends, putting up 15 goals and 30 points and scoring five game-winning goals.
"Just a real force for us," said Resor.
Senior captain Steph Nomicos, juniors Rose O’Connor (Harvard) and Nicki Lutschaunig (Harvard), sophomore Cassidy Piersiak and eighth-grader Kaley MacDonald also had big roles on a blueline unit that allowed just 0.76 goals per game.
"Our defense was unbelievable this year," said Tresca.
So was the goaltending. BC-bound senior Kelly Pickreign, winner of more than 100 games in her Nobles career, finished with a .963 save percentage and was named MVP of the New England tournament.
Farden set up Courtney Hyland’s game-winning goal in a 2-1 win over eighth-seeded Buckingham, Browne & Nichols in the quarterfinals and scored the game-winners herself in the semifinals (1-0 against No. 4 Loomis-Chaffee) and championship (2-0 against No. 7 Williston-Northampton).
The defense did the rest.
"It says a lot about our defense; I didn’t expect that to happen," said Resor. "We played three really good teams. Fortunately, it was sort of the way our season went; when we needed a goal we’d get it."
Tresca finished with 39 points and seven gamewinning goals. Hyland, another Harvard commit, had 10 goals and 33 points, and senior captain Abby Volo (BC) chipped in 10 goals.
A tournament that saw Nobles get all it could handle in each of its three games, and Williston upset No. 2 Kent (2-1) and No. 3 Tabor (4-3) on its way to the title game, reinforced just how little separated the region’s best teams this winter.
And Nobles had the resiliency to take the prize at the end.
"I’m so proud of this team," said Tresca. "A lot of people doubted us, didn’t think we’d be as good as we’d been in previous years."
Vermont Academy tops Rivers in D-2
With a new coach but good talent, Vermont Academy was determined to put last winter’s 9-20-4 record in the rear-view mirror.
It did — and didn’t stop until it had claimed the program’s first Division 2 championship. Secondseeded Vermont (35-2-2) capped its title run with a 5-2 win over top-seeded Rivers last month.
"They wanted to change their reputation," said first-year coach Lisa Marshall. "They wanted to be the team that caught everyone by surprise."
In linemates Chloe Aurard (Northeastern) and Krystyna Kaltounkova, the Wildcats boasted two of the top three scorers in New England, and they came up big in the biggest games.
In the 2-1 semifinal win over No. 6 St. George’s, Kaltounkova set up Aurard on a late two-on-one break, and Aurard buried it with 11.6 seconds left in regulation. Against Rivers, Kaltounkova scored three goals and set up two others, which belonged to Aurard.
"They knew they were the underdogs and really embraced that role," said Marshall.
Senior Lotti Odnoga (Dartmouth) was the leader on defense. After splitting time all season with Sarah Jacobelli in goal, Blanka Skodova got the call in the playoffs and won all three games.
For Marshall, it was a memorable one-and-done season. Shortly after the tournament, she accepted a position as head coach at Berkshire.
