EASTHAMPTON, Mass. — The prep holiday tournaments are officially behind us.
Some of the top teams in girls prep rang in 2026 earlier this week at the second annual New Year’s Prep Puck Drop, hosted by Williston Northampton.
The hosts took down Cushing in Monday’s championship for the second straight year, skating to a 3-0 shutout behind a goal and an assist for Mia Daley (Lynnfield, Mass.) and a 16-save shutout for Olivia Arsenault. Zola Piekarski (Concord, Mass.) and Nina Coffee (Old Lyme, Conn.) also scored.
The win capped off an undefeated weekend for the Wildcats, who also beat Canterbury, 10-0, and Rivers, 2-0, on Sunday.
Cushing reached the championship after beating St. George’s, 4-1, and Hill School, 5-2, on Sunday. Hill took home third place with a 4-2 win over Canterbury on Monday. The former also beat St. George’s, 3-1, while the latter also beat Rivers, 2-1, on Sunday. Meanwhile, Rivers tied St. George’s, 1-1, and won the shootout in Monday’s fifth-place game.
I made it out to Williston for Monday’s three contests, catching each team in the field.
We broke down 14 standout forwards from the final day earlier this week. Now, let's dive into 13 defenders and goalies who impressed.
Nina Coffee
Williston Northampton, 3/16/2007, D, left shot, 6-0
Hometown: Old Lyme, Conn.
NCAA: Holy Cross
Coffee was one of the most impactful skaters on the ice in Williston's win over Cushing, and a lot of it was thanks to her skating, which has improved a lot over the last few seasons. It allowed her to jump into plays, lead transition through the neutral zone and make an impact offensively. She was quick on regroups, including a nice give-and-go with Keira Gould, finding her in space with a pass before bursting through a seam up the middle. Coffee got rewarded with a goal to make it 2-0 in the second. She flew toward the slot after rotating with Daley out high, and Brooke Schlutter hit her with a cross-ice pass. After the initial chance didn't go, Coffee stuck with it and buried the rebound in the frenzy in front.
NEW YEAR’S PREP PUCK DROP: 14 standout forwards from final day
Julia Slaney
Hill School, 3/2/2007, D, right shot, 5-5
Hometown: Scottsdale, AZ
NCAA: Trinity
Slaney's decision-making, moving pucks quickly and finding passing lanes under pressure on the breakout stood out. She also showed an excellent ability to protect the puck and spin off pressure in the offensive and defensive zones. Slaney cashed in from the point in the second period against Canterbury, taking advantage of a moving screen in front and ripping a snap shot under the bar.
Kalyssa Bayne
St. George's, 1/24/2007, G, catches right, 5-10
Hometown: Coral Springs, Fla.
NCAA: Saint Anselm
Bayne was one of the biggest reasons St. George's got a tie out of the fifth-place game with Rivers. She was sound positionally, tracked shots through traffic and stood tall amid heavy pressure around her net. She was the Dragons' best penalty-killer, too, routinely coming through in the second and third periods, including one in the second where she miraculously denied Olivia Egirous (Waltham, Mass.) in a scramble in front. One of Bayne's best stops came in the third as she made a tricky blocker save on Kyleigh Rabazzi (Burlington, Mass.) in the third before denying swipes at the rebound. She also made some huge saves in the dying moments of regulation and in overtime during a scramble off Joelle Burns' (Winchester, Mass.) wrister.
Sadie Bellissimo
Cushing, 10/2006, G, catches left, 5-7
Hometown: Littleton, Colo.
NCAA: RPI
Bellissimo was phenomenal against Williston in Monday's championship, keeping Cushing in it on the scoreboard and facing a ton of pressure. None of the three Williston goals were on her. She made sound positional stops on shots through traffic and redirects, and consistently stood tall against Grade-A chances. The senior made an insane stop against Ashley Anderson (Wilmington, Mass.) as she flew into the slot in a bang-bang play. She also stoned Piekarski's initial bid before her goal and had Daley's number, holding the post on her short-side bid in the second before later making a shoulder save on her slot chance.
STAR POWER: 13 standouts, takeaways from Phillips Andover's win over Governor's
Mia MacDonald
Rivers, 06/2009, D, right shot, 5-5
Hometown: Walpole, Mass.
MacDonald was everywhere for Rivers against St. George's, playing with pace and using her speed skating to open up lanes up ice. She played with her head up and recognized when to take chances and when to find outlet passes, instead of getting into trouble forcing 1-on-1s. She also did a good job of keeping shots from the point low for tips and rebounds. In the third, MacDonald sold a head fake in her own end to open a lane, speeding the other way in an end-to-end rush before drawing a late power play. She also scored with a slick move on her forehand in the shootout.
Jaelyn Beauvais
Canterbury, 2008, D, left shot, 5-9
Hometown: East Haven, Conn.
Beauvais impressed with good mobility on the back end in Canterbury's loss to Hill. She had good backward skating and gap control against the rush. It paid off in the third when she stole the puck off a nice stick lift and got going the other way. It set up an extended attacking zone shift for the Saints as they pushed for an equalizer late in regulation.
Avery Cohen
Hill School, 1/20/2008, D, right shot, 5-8
Hometown: New Glasgow, NS
NCAA: Williams
Cohen was at the center of everything in Hill's win over Canterbury, finishing with a goal and an assist. She jump-started the rush that led to Jillian Smith's goal with a quick up to Nadia Wagner curling up the middle after getting a D-to-D pass from Slaney. Cohen also had a strong chance in the high slot in the second. She got rewarded with a key insurance goal in the third, burying a short-side wrister from the right circle after Smith found her through a seam.
DECEMBER TOP PERFORMERS: The best of the best from the first month of girls prep
Natalia Maserati
Cushing, 2009, D, left shot, 5-4
Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pa.
Maserati had good positioning inside the offensive blue line and did a good job of keeping plays alive out high at certain points. She had a strong keep-in during the second period, cutting off the puck carrier and staying strong on her feet to hem Williston in. Later in the third, Masertai did a great job jumping into a lane in the neutral zone, preventing numbers the other way for Williston with a good poke check.
Emersyn Fisher-Bailey
Cushing, 2009, D, left shot
Hometown: Duxbury, Mass.
Although there were times I would've liked to have seen her keep her feet moving, Fisher-Bailey still impressed with her skating and ability to take away time and space from puck carriers in the neutral zone and entering the zone. She closed down quickly and broke several plays up. She also did a great job of stepping up in the neutral zone in the third, cutting off Piekarski as she exited the zone, winning the puck and sending it right back in.
Kathryn Butkus
Rivers, 07/2009, D, left shot, 5-2,
Hometown: Hopkinton, Mass.
Butkus was excellent on pinches at the attacking blue line, keeping plays alive and helping Rivers stack up attacking zone pressure against St. George's. She had several quick-ups on regroups to catch St. George's on their heels as well. Butkus also had a handful of quality shots from the point, and she made a great play with Nora Swaim (Concord, Mass.) in the second, getting into space out high as Swaim curled around before executing a nice give-and-go to send her into the slot for a chance.
Keira Gould
Williston Northampton, 2009, D, right shot
Hometown: White Plains, N.Y.
Like at the Harrington, Gould's puck-moving was one of the highlights of her game. She moved it quickly and made strong first passes, leading forwards into space and putting it right on their tape. She also showed good anticipation without the puck on regroups, skating into open space and making herself available, rather than standing still for a D-to-D pass. It was on display on the aforementioned give-and-go with Coffee at center ice.
Caroline Rousseau
Hill School, Class of 2028, D, left shot, 5-6
Hometown: Falmouth, Maine
Rousseau did a nice job quarterbacking the power play, along with Slaney, in Hill's win over Canterbury. She moved the puck quickly out high and kept her feet moving. It led to a couple of good looks after she rotated to the right circle, including a hard one-timer. She showed off her skating with an end-to-end beauty to make it 2-0 in the second, finding a lane as she regrouped in her own end and speeding the other way before finding daylight with a low wrister. Her mobility also helped draw a trip later in the period.
Hayden Printz
Cushing, 2009, D, left shot
Hometown: Buffalo, N.Y.
Printz made quick plays with the puck and anticipated forechecking pressure, shaking forwards with reverses as well as stops and starts down low. She had a good play in the second period when she turned out of pressure with a quick cut before finding a skating lane out of the zone. She also helped set up an extended attacking sequence for Cushing with a low shot on net from the point off a won face-off. Printz had a great look in the first, too, shading toward the left dot all alone and getting into a perfect spot to one-time Fisher-Bailey's rebound.
