Last season, Nobles entered as a young team. There was experience on defense, but Nobles had lost a bunch of talent up front — most notably current Harvard freshman Ben MacDonald (Weston, Mass.) — and had a sophomore '06 as the starting netminder.
Young teams don't always find success in the choppy waters of the ISL.
Nobles, however, did.
Head coach Brian Day's team came out of last season with a 17-4-5 record, which earned them the No. 4 spot in the Elite 8 Tournament. Until losing in the quarterfinals to Brunswick in overtime, everything seemed to go right for Nobles.
Day hopes that will be the case as he enters his 23rd season at the school.
"I guess if you look at it in its entirety, it seems like a lot," Day said of his career. "But when you're in it day-to-day, it just seems like it's the next season. When I'm done, I'll look back on it more but I'm all about getting into the next cycle of the year with recruiting and with coaching and things like that. It seems like another turn of the page."
This is the beginning of a new year with some new strong recruits. But there will be areas in which Nobles will look different.
With Thatcher Bernstein gone, it's Tyler Bloomfield's net
It could be argued that no goalie had a higher upside in prep hockey last season than Thatcher Bernstein (Brookline, Mass.). The '06 burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2021-22, winning the Flood-Marr MVP award and never letting go of the starting job.
Bernstein's star has risen on the national level since then. In spring 2022, he secured an invite to the United States National Team Development Program's Evaluation Camp. He made the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup team this summer after a solid performance at USA Hockey's Select 17 Camp.
Most importantly for Nobles, his stable play in net last season (.915 save percentage, 2.24 goals-against average) was a large reason why the Dedham, Mass., school had home-ice advantage in the first-round of the Elite 8 Tournament.
He moved on to the USHL's Dubuque Fighting Saints in the offseason.
"I knew it was a real possibility," Day said of Bernstein leaving. "A high profile kid like that, unfortunately that's kind of the track record for most kids these days, as much as he loved Nobles. So no, I wasn't shocked when he told me that. I know it was a really hard decision for him."
The good news for Nobles is Tyler Bloomfield (Hudson, Mass.) is there to take on the starting job.
"I was happy for Tyler Bloomfield that he'll have the opportunity to really assume all the minutes this year or certainly most of the minutes," Day said. "Because he's a good goalie and circumstances with Thatcher being Thatcher, he didn't necessarily play as much as he might've with some other teams. But he's a really good goalie. We're really confident in how well he's going to play."
Bloomfield, an '05, was older than Bernstein. He plays on the Little Bruins this fall. At least last season, he would've been more than capable of going elsewhere for more minutes.
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"It speaks to how much he loves the school and he's a team-first guy," Day said. "We always were communicating with him where he stood and when he'd play and he always knew what was going on. At the end of the day, if you stick with things, a lot of times, things will work out for you."
Bloomfield won't be the only change to Nobles' own zone. Defensemen Will Brophy (Worcester, Mass.), Brian Grant (Mansfield, Mass.) and Matt Tully (Foxboro, Mass.) are gone due to graduation. That's three of Nobles' defenders from last season's top four.
Senior Andrew Higgins (Weston, Mass.) and junior Lou Munger (Dedham, Mass.) will be expected to step up. The same goes for sophomores Tuck Gilbane (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) and Jack Hartwell (Cohasset, Mass.).
"They're guys that are going to have a lot of ice time available to them," Day said.
Lots of firepower up front
Nobles is projected to be a strong offensive team. That's because Dennis Davidson (Newton, Mass.), Teddy MacAusland (Westwood, Mass.) and Ethan Cox (Westboro, Mass.) — last year's three leading scorers — are all back for their junior seasons.
Davidson led Nobles in goals (16) and points (31) last season. MacAusland is known for his top-tier playmaking abilities, as he posted 23 assists last season. Cox provides a little bit of both, as he notched 12 goals and 26 points last winter. All three will look to impress college coaches this season, too.
All three are '06s, and they surely won't be the only players from that birth year making an impact offensively.
Juniors Kyle O'Leary (Medfield, Mass.) and Ben Nakata (West Barnstable, Mass.) are slated to take big steps this season. Senior Liam McCarthy (West Barnstable, Mass.), an '05, falls under the same umbrella. Sophomore Billy MacAusland (Westwood, Mass.) is an intriguing '07 who had eight goals last season and should be a major factor in Nobles' offense.
"We've got a real good group of forwards this year," Day said. "That's going to be the depth of our team and the experience of our team."
Another interesting depth piece is Amir Jamal (Boston, Mass.), an '05, who enters his senior year.
"He's not a kid who gets on the scoresheet a lot," Day said. "But he works hard and he's hard to play against."
Day also brought in '06 Matthew Welch (Boxborough, Mass.), who is expected to contribute immediately. At 6 feet and 185 pounds, the right-shot should be a strong player at the prep level.
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"How well do we integrate the new guys within the team?" Day said. "How valued does everybody feel as quickly as possible? It's not about my goals for any team. It's not about we want to win this, this or this. We want to be the tightest, most hard-working and competitive group as we possibly can because that'll give you the opportunity to be the best team that you can."
