As the Saint Anselm Hawks have soared against Division 1 and Division 2 ranks, the Manchester, N.H.-based college has added talent from one of the strongest women’s hockey regions in Massachusetts. A contingent of South Shore of Boston talent has migrated north to New Hampshire, where they are helping build a power program.
With a 14-2-3 overall record and convincing efforts against Div. 1 Holy Cross (0-0 tie, 1-0 loss), Saint Anselm was riding high heading into late January. Without a Division 2 national tourney to compete in, could the Hawks earn an at-large bid to the D-1 postseason tournament? If so, a trio from the Bay State will be crucial in that accomplishment.
The high school hockey programs on the South Shore are some of the best in New England. But with so many options after college, Maddie Scavotto, Haley Marshall and Meagan MacNeil chose to take their talents to the budding program at St. A’s. Despite never playing on the same teams growing up, the trio have connected with the Hawks and bonded with the success.
For Scavotto, success is nothing new. The junior goalie starred at Falmouth (Mass.) High School, winning a state title in 2014-15. "My recruiting process was a little bit different as a goalie," she said. "I had to look for teams who were graduating out goaltenders the year that I would become a freshman. A few different teams ended up on my list, and St. A’s was one of them, graduating two goalies."
Scavotto was browsing through team rosters on college websites and researched the Hawks, who seemed like a fit. The other school she considered was Holy Cross, another team in a holding pattern this season, as the Crusaders will join Hockey East next season. She confides that she had never even heard of Saint Anselm until the summer of her senior year, but she’s made a home now under coach Kerstin Matthews.
Marshall knew just how good Scavotto was, facing her while at Notre Dame Academy in Hingham, Mass.. While the two teams were rivals, Marshall and Scavotto didn’t know each other much, but there was a mutual respect. "We played each other in high school, since she played for Falmouth," Marshall said. "We played each other a few times during the season."
Scavotto said Marshall wasn’t on her radar during high school, but the Cougars skater was certainly aware of the tough goalie she had to face at least twice a year. "We didn’t know each other individually, but I knew of her, because she was very good," said Marshall. "Falmouth was always a rival for us. It was a competitive game, and I always looked forward to it. In my junior and senior years, we were always the teams that would end up in the playoffs against each other."
Scavotto was in net when the Clippers lost in the 2013 state final, 1-0 against Duxbury, and the next year Falmouth fell in the semifinals to Wellesley. Finally in the 2015 title game, the Clippers defeated Wellesley, 3-2 in overtime, to cap off Scavotto’s high school career.
At the same time, Notre Dame was rising, advancing to the quarterfinals en route to becoming a power itself. Marshall was a part of the Cougars’ turnaround into one of the strongest girls hockey programs in the Bay State. NDA emerged as a contender for the state title every season. "My years at Notre Dame Academy started off slow," Marshall said. "We had a coach who had been there a while, but her focus was not really where I wanted it to be. My sophomore year, we had (former University of Maine star) Jean-Yves Roy come in with his daughters, and the experience he brought from hockey turned the entire program around."
With a state title her senior year, Marshall’s exposure skyrocketed. She wanted to find a Division 2 or 3 program with a focus on academics, and St. A’s turned out to be the perfect fit.
MacNeil took a different path after her first two years at Weymouth (Mass.) High, competing with the Boston Shamrocks on the junior hockey circuit. She’s had to transition from high school, to juniors, to college in a short amount of time. "Going from high school to juniors was challenging," she said. "You have to balance school with travel. Thursday through Sunday we’d be away, then you have all the makeup work."
MacNeil visited Saint Anselm her junior year and fell in love with the school. Knowing where she wanted to go certainly made the process easier. "I had to make sure I could get in. It was the most challenging school," she said.
Scavotto has been with the program the longest as a junior, so she’s seen the progression from a Div. 2 team with no conference to call its own, to potentially becoming a thorn in the side of Division 1 hockey. If the Hawks continue to play the way they have, there could be a few questions for the NCAA selection committee.
"In my third year here, it’s been great to see how every year is different," Scavotto said. "Our culture hasn’t really changed. We try to be successful every year. To be competitive we recruit girls who want to play hockey and put the team first, always want to get better, and if everyone comes in with that attitude, we can be the best we can to improve. I’m not sure I understood it as a freshman; there was a bit of a learning curve, but you see upperclassmen doing extra work, and that makes you do as much as you can."
Even for the younger players, they can see the train coming, and the Hawks are going to be playing at that next level. "After being here for five months, you can tell everyone here has your back," said MacNeil. "The upperclassmen set examples to hold yourself accountable. Not just in the rink, but going to school here as well."
What’s the future of Saint Anselm women’s hockey? Signs point to competing in Division 1. The program won’t go backward into D-3, as some have pressed for. But with D-2 diminishing and D-3 schools no longer allowing partnerships with schools up a level, the only way for the Hawks to fly is upward.
