After helping Williston Northampton capture two New England championships during her four-year prep career, Violet Carroll has kept on winning as a freshman on the Holy Cross women’s team.
The fact that Carroll (Milton, Mass.) has been right in the middle of a special season for the Crusaders comes as no surprise to Williston coach Christa Talbot Syfu.
“She is just a tremendous player and competitor, so I’m not surprised at the kind of success she’s having because she thrives in an environment where she can contribute,” Talbot Syfu said. “She’s so versatile, and she’s able to play in so many different kinds of situations. She just adds such a positive jump when you get to play with her.”
Carroll led the Crusaders to their winningest start since joining Hockey East in 2018-19 with a 18-11-3 record, posting nine goals and a team-high 25 points.
It has helped the Crusaders to some serious success.
They debuted at No. 14 in the USCHO poll on Jan. 19 (and are still there), marking the first time any Holy Cross women's program has been nationally ranked at the Division 1 level. They are tied for third in Hockey East.
Those standout numbers aren’t possible without a major role, and Carroll quickly worked into one for coach Katie Lachapelle (Lewiston, Maine) and the Crusader squad this season.
The 5-foot-7 winger has skated on a line with senior Lane Lewis and classmate Naemi Herzig while seeing consistent time on the power play and the nation's sixth-best penalty kill (87.5 percent).
“As a freshman, I just came in with the mindset of wanting to work as hard as possible and earn everything that I can earn. At Williston, we had a saying that was ‘Always Earn, Never Given’ that I’ve always used,” Carroll said. “I knew nothing would be given to me coming in here, so I felt like if I worked my hardest, that would really help me. I’m just really grateful for the opportunities and the people that I’ve gotten to play with.”
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Carroll has impressed Lachapelle and the Holy Cross staff with her work ethic since the start of the season, but her talent was also undeniable, dating back to their first glimpses of her play at Williston. She also played for the Massachusetts Spitfires organization during her youth, competing at a high level on the club circuit.
“She’s a great teammate, works her butt off, and she just never quits,” Lachapelle said. “You can visually see the skill that she has, the shot that she has. She had a knack for scoring in high school. When you see all those things combined, if you work hard, you hope that it can translate to getting a lot of playing time.”
And it has.
Carroll’s ability to score was always evident in prep, but her journey through that level is unique in that she played both forward and defense.
When multiple injuries left Williston short on defenders early in her freshman year, she stepped up and filled the void —an experience that has helped her adjust to the physicality of the game and emphasize the importance of playing all 200 feet.
“I feel like I’m an offensive player. I like to score goals and create offense,” said Carroll, who played at Williston with current Crusader junior captain Emily Crovo (Melrose, Mass.). “But having a defensive mindset, I think, definitely makes playing on the offensive side easier. (Our line) has clicked right away, which really helps. I like to go to the net and score as much as possible.”
Needless to say, Carroll excelling in a variety of roles is nothing new.
“She’s just one of those kids who will do whatever the team needs,” Talbot Syfu said. “We said to her that (playing defense in her freshman year at Williston was) a short-term solution to a long-term problem, then she stayed there … and had success. … I think that experience of playing so many different roles here definitely helped her, but I also think she’s just a gamer. She’s like, ‘I’ll play wherever.’”
Today, the Crusaders are happy to have her near the top of the forward lineup as they continue building a program in the upper echelon of the college hockey world. Lachapelle believes that the arrival of Carroll and her classmates represents a key step in that development.
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The team’s prospects for this and future seasons are made even more exciting by room for continued growth. What more could a coach want?
“Because we’re still so young in Division 1, we’ve definitely had freshmen on power plays and things like that, but … it’s rare for someone to make such an impact on it,” Lachapelle said. “We’ve got her right in the middle of what I’d call our top-producing group. And that’s one of the biggest keys, right? It’s the production part of it.
“I don’t know that there’s a limit to her (game). I’m hoping she gets an invite to a USA Hockey camp somewhere down the line. I think that will just keep making her want to work harder and harder.”
With the new year underway, it’s all about Hockey East action the rest of the way for the Crusaders. Carroll looks to help them turn a strong start into a strong full season, with hopes of making a conference championship run in March.
“I feel like everyone has bought in and we have a lot of different pieces falling together,” Carroll said. “How we’re growing and what we’re doing in Hockey East is incredible, and I feel like we have even more to give and show people in the second half. … We want to win, and we know we can win.”
