DEDHAM, Mass. — Nora Shea picked her spot.
Nobles had survived a lopsided second period and was tied, 1-1, with Loomis Chaffee midway through the third.
Shea got the puck at the point on the power play, closed toward the left circle and fired a wrister that had eyes, ringing off the lower right post and in to give the No. 4 Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.
They never looked back.
Rachel Zhao (Westwood, Mass.) made it 3-1 with 1:23 to go, finishing off a 2-on-1 with Gretta Hulbig (Foxboro, Mass.). Shea scored on an empty net with 39 seconds left for the 4-1 final.
Catherine McCool (West Roxbury, Mass.) also scored for Nobles (2-0-0), and Hulbig had two assists. Annika Jonas (Weston, Mass.) earned the win in net.
Sophie DiGioia (Milford, Conn.) scored for the No. 1 Pelicans (0-1-0). Adeline Roper (Kennebunkport, Maine) started in net.
DiGioia opened the scoring two minutes into the second on the power play, and McCool tied it with 3:30 to go in the period, burying a rebound after Roper saved Hulbig's initial shot on a 2-on-1.
Let's dive into seven standouts before getting into four takeaways from the game.
Rachel Zhao
Nobles, Class of 2026, F, right shot
Hometown: Westwood, Mass.
Zhao was a difference-maker throughout the game for Nobles. The uncommitted senior's strength allowed her to win battles in the offensive zone and create chances off the forecheck. She had a great setup for Francie Ames (Brookline, Mass.) from behind the net in the first. In the third, Zhao made a great, subtle play below the goal line to keep her feet moving and power through pressure, setting up the sequence in the lead-up to Shea's go-ahead goal. Later, Zhao's strength was on full display when she did a hell of a job to play the body and tie up Carly Dann (no easy feat) to win a 1-on-1 battle with a forecheck.
Zhao finally got rewarded with a sweet finish on the 2-on-1 with Hulbig, driving to the slot and going forehand-backhand with a defender pressuring from behind. Zhao has three goals in two games to begin the season after scoring twice at New Hampton on Wednesday.
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Nora Shea
Nobles, 08/2008, D, left shot
Hometown: Braintree, Mass.
Shea had some good instances of using her length and skating to her advantage to evade some forechecking pressure and skate it out. It's what helped her get her second of the game on the empty net, skating it up out of the defensive zone and shaking off a defender before scoring. Shea also did a good job of keeping her head up and finding a shooting lane on a perfectly-placed, seeing-eye wrister for the go-ahead tally.
Elyse Harris
Loomis Chaffee, 3/4/2009, F, right shot, 5-9
Hometown: Washington, D.C.
Loomis' third line was fantastic, and Harris was a major part of that. She was physically imposing and used her frame and reach to protect pucks, including one instance in the first when she set up Easton Pramuka in the slot after curling behind the net. Harris also had a shift in the third where she forced three turnovers as Nobles tried to exit, using good stick and body positioning to break them up.
Gretta Hulbig
Nobles, 8/11/2007, F, left shot, 5-7
Hometown: Foxboro, Mass.
NCAA: Yale
Hulbig drove play all game for Nobles. She generated speed through the neutral zone with powerful strides, and she created offense off the rush. She took advantage of turnovers for 2-on-1s and goals, putting a perfect shot on net for a rebound on McCool's goal and slipping a nice feed to Zhao for her goal.
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Ava Decourcey
Nobles, 7/24/2008, D, right shot, 5-6
Hometown: Rockland, Mass.
NCAA: Yale
Decourcey was effective in skating the puck out of danger for Nobles. She was confident and did a good job of using her body positioning to protect the puck from defenders. She was also deceptive at the point offensively, changing shooting lanes and using her skating to evade defenders. Decourcey showed some nice finesse with some slick edgework against Schwarz at the point in the second, shaking free toward the slot for a chance. She also had some great stickwork in the defensive zone with Nobles under siege in the second, cutting off puck carriers and breaking up plays.
Sophia DiGioia
Loomis Chaffee, 1/23/2011, F, right shot
Hometown: Milford, Conn.
DiGioia, an '11, was one of, if not the, youngest players on the ice, but you would never have known. She played big minutes on the second line alongside Annie Schwarz (Fairfield, Conn.) and Lexi Buco (North Providence, R.I.). DiGioia's size and poise helped her fit right in, and she scored a beauty for her first prep goal. She took a drop pass from Buco at the top of the right circle, dangled one defender, toe-dragged another and scored with a wrister that found a way through.
Easton Pramuka
Loomis Chaffee, 7/20/2008, F, left shot, 5-4
Hometown: Palm Springs, Calif
Pramuka was effective centering the Pelicans' third line, and she did a great job around the net. She found open lanes in the slot and got to the front of the net, getting good looks in the slot off the rush and on plays from behind the net. She also did a great job battling in front and screening on the power play, hitting a post when she deflected Megan Hosman's wrister in the second.
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1. Loomis got "goalied"
The Pelicans were the better team for a lot of the game, especially in the second period. The only problem was Jonas standing in their way.
She was sharp from the start, anticipating plays to the slot and coming up with plenty of saves on high-danger looks. She took up a lot of net and came through with big pad stops in tight. Jonas also bailed Nobles out in the slot a couple of times, including one on Lindsay Stepnowski (South Glastonbury, Conn.) after the Bulldogs gave it away up the middle.
The Yale commit had Stepnowski's number all game, poke checking her as she dangled to the net on a partial break in the second, coming up with a key shoulder save on her bid from the slot later and denying her again in the third.
2, Nobles' experienced skaters proved the difference
Many of the Bulldogs' top players may still be underclassmen, like McCool, Ames, Shea and Reese Engel (Westwood, Mass.), but they still have a year or two of key prep experience on their resumes. Add in top upperclassmen like Hulbig, Zhao, Decourcey, Addy Keaveney (Westwood, Mass.), Ashley Loeber (Weston, Mass.), Julia Krepelka (Arlington, Mass.) and Maddie Jaeger (Westwood, Mass.), and you have plenty of experience that knows how to weather a storm like the one Nobles faced in the second period.
Loomis was all over Nobles after DiGioia's goal, hemming them in and sustaining pressure in the attacking zone.
But Nobles' top line with Hulbig, McCool and Loeber stepped up and retook momentum when it cashed in on a 2-on-1 the other way. A late power play to end the second was a confidence booster as well. Ames, Bromley and Zhao on the second line created chances off the forecheck and the cycle in the first, and they finished strong in the third.
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After Nobles lost key production with Molly MacCurtain (Reading, Mass.) and Calleigh Brown (Foxboro, Mass.) graduating, the question was whether the remaining forward core could continue to ascend. Through two games, it has.
3. Loomis' third line was excellent
I mentioned it a little bit above with Harris and Pramuka, but Loomis' third line was fantastic all game.
Harris, Pramuka and Brooke Murphy gave Nobles fits on the forecheck. Like Harris, Murphy forced turnovers and was strong in pursuing pucks. The trio had good layers, won races, played physically and cycled the puck well. It allowed them to take advantage of open space and create chances around the net, whether it was several looks for Pramuka in front or secondary bids off low-to-high plays.
4. Hosman and Dann could dominate as a pair for Loomis
Hosman, a Penn State commit, and Carly Dann (Hanover, N.H.), a Cornell commit, make up a top defensive pair that few, if any, NEPSAC programs can match.
It's a new look for the Pelicans after Hosman mostly played with Catie Collins (South Burlington, Vt.) previously. Collins is now a first-year defender at Princeton.
But the returns so far look good for Dan and Hosman together. Their length, size and physicality were critical to Loomis putting out fires defensively. They killed chances with their sticks and body positioning, and their strength down low helped limit zone time when Nobles did get offensive zone pressure early in the game.
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The two were also confident moving the puck, even when faced with heavy forechecking pressure. It wasn't always clean exiting the zone, but they never panicked.
