When a team goes 20-8-3, loses only three seniors to graduation and returns three players who received All-NEPSAC honors last season, that team is in strong position to compete.
That is the case for Berwick Academy this season under coach Kelly Souza.
Berwick is propelled by triplets Brittany Foster (19 goals, 19 assists), Sydney Foster (12 goals, 10 assists) and Tiffany Foster (10 goals, seven assists), among other valuable contributors. Last year, Brittany earned a spot on the All-NEPSAC Division 2 first team at forward, while Sydney, a forward, and Tiffany, a defender, earned All-NEPSAC Div. 2 honorable mentions for their standout performances.
“It’s huge to have that ability and experience,” Souza said of the triplets. “Every year they’ve been a part of the program, we’ve improved. It’s great to see them recognized in that capacity. I think it gives them some confidence headed into their last season. And with them being triplets, that’s a pretty cool dynamic as well.”
Having lost its goaltender from last season to graduation, Berwick should be an offensive-minded team with returnees like seniors Rayne Zimmermann (nine goals, 10 assists) and Delaney Kingsland (eight goals, 14 assists) contributing.
“We have some players up front who can put the puck in the net,” Souza said. “It’s not one player, it’s across the board. We have kids on all three lines who have the ability to score. That should be huge for us. I hope that serves us well throughout the season.
“Some of our younger kids have the ability to lead on the ice as well, looking at the freshmen and sophomores,” she added. “We’re looking forward to seeing what they can do.”
The team’s other senior this season is defender Anabelle Beaton (four goals, six assists), who is in her fifth year as a varsity player for the squad.
On last year’s team, eighth-grader Charlotte Wensley (12 goals, 12 assists), a defender, played strong two-way hockey, and sophomore Lindsay Goodman (nine goals, 10 assists) chipped in to the attack.
Souza noted the team’s experience and its success last season combined should be a confidence boost and a motivator for the team headed into this season.
“It’s definitely going to help us out,” she said. “We have a competitive group from our middle-school players up to our senior class. They’re competitive athletes. They’ve improved every season we’ve had them, and they’re not finished.”
Who to watch for
There is a plethora of talent returning to these 50 schools this season. The most obvious example might be Vermont Academy senior forward Kristyna Kaltounkova, a member of the USA Today All-American first team last season. The only returning New Englander on that list, Kaltounkova, who netted 51 goals as a sophomore, competed for the Czech Republic Under-18 national team last season at the World Junior Championship. She is committed to Colgate.
At the larger schools, there are a few players on the attack who are in a position to shine this year as well. Juniors Katie Pyne of Noble & Greenough School and Christina Vote of Williston Northampton School, as well as senior Natalie Tulchinsky of St. Paul’s School, fit that description. All three of them were Div. 1 All-NEPSAC first-team forwards last season.
Pyne, who helped Notre Dame Academy win an MIAA Div. 2 state title as a freshman, is a Boston College commit. Vote is a University of Wisconsin commit. Both of them have partaken in USA Hockey’s U-18 Select Player Development Camp. Tulchinsky, formerly of Albany Academy, has been playing varsity prep hockey since seventh grade.
On defense, three players stand out in particular, two juniors and one senior. One of them is Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School junior Mia Biotti, a Harvard commit who skated in the 2018 and 2019 USA Hockey Girls U-18 Select Player Development Camps. Another is Worcester Academy junior Shannon Burke. She played well in her first year of NEPSAC action last season. The Melrose, Mass., native transferred from Austin Prep after two seasons as a valuable contributor there. Last season, she was an All-NEPSAC Div. 2 first-team player. Plus, Julia Shaughnessy, a Boston University commit and All-NEPSAC first-teamer, will be back on defense as a senior for Tabor Academy and should again be a major asset to her team.
In net, there are three players returning who were NEPSAC first-team selections last season: seniors Maddie Beck of St. Paul’s School (Div. 1) and Kristen DiCicco of Holderness School (Div. 2), as well as junior Hope Walinski of Winchendon School (Div. 2). Beck competed for Canada’s Under-18 team at the World Junior Championship last season, and Walinski is committed to Providence College.
On top of that, sophomore Katie DeSa of St. George’s School showed promise last year, as an All-NEPSAC Div. 2 honorable mention. She shined in youth hockey growing up, excelling on a number of boys teams, including the New York Americans (Pee Wee Rangers AA).
New playoff format
This year, the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council tweaked its divisions and playoff format, creating an extra opportunity for a team to win a championship.
The days of a Division 1 and Division 2 NEPSAC champion for girls hockey are obsolete. Now, there will be three postseasons, and 20 teams out of 50 will make it to the playoffs in total; it is the same format used on the boys side since the 2008-09 season.
Now, the top playoff bracket will be the Elite Tournament; this will be called the Chuck Vernon Tournament and will feature the top eight teams in New England, regardless of school size. On top of that, there will be a pair of six-team tournaments, one for large schools (the Patsy Odden Tournament) and one for small schools (the Dorothy Howard Tournament). Each of these title games will take place on March 8 at Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center.
The Patsy Odden tournament will feature the top six large school teams that missed out on the Chuck Vernon Tournament. The Dorothy Howard will do the same for the small school teams.
“I was very excited,” Souza said of her reaction to the new playoff format. “I was on the committee that pushed that through. It took some time, but I think it’s best for all in different ways to get rid of the Division 1-2 stigma. It helps in recruiting and gives every team an equal opportunity to compete for those Elite 8 spots. It’s worked well for the boys. We’ve seen some smaller schools win that tournament. And it offers more opportunities for the girls to compete for something at the end of the year, so that’s nice to see.”
For these purposes, the NEPSAC will consider the following teams part of the large school conference: Phillips Exeter, Phillips Andover, Choate, Milton Academy, Greenwich Academy, Loomis Chaffee, Deerfield, Northfield, Hotchkiss, Taft, St. Paul’s, Kent, Winsor, Thayer, Tabor, BB&N, Nobles, Worcester Academy, Pingree, Newton Country Day, Middlesex, Westminster, St. George’s, Governors Academy and Lawrence Academy.
And the small school conference features: Proctor, Williston, Berkshire, Brooks, Rivers, Groton, St. Mark’s, Berwick, Pomfret, Millbrook, Cushing, Portsmouth Abbey, Brewster Academy, Dexter Southfield, New Hampton, Canterbury, Kimball Union, Gunnery, Holderness, Winchendon, Kents Hill, Tilton, Hebron, Vermont Academy and Hoosac.
