MARLBOROUGH, Mass. — Some of the best players in the state descended on the New England Sports Center last weekend.
Mass. Hockey's girls festival came down to its Final 40 across the 2007, 2008 and 2009 age groups.
Players will now be selected for USA Hockey’s National Development Camps in the summer. The Girls Select 16/17 (2007/2008) and the Girls Select 15 (2009) camps will be at Miami University (Ohio) in July. The Girls Under-18 Select (2006-2008) camp will be at the Northwood School in Lake Placid, N.Y., in August.
A friendly reminder, Massachusetts is its own district in the eyes of USA Hockey. Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont make up the New England District. The NE District will hold its girls development camp May 10-12 at NESC.
Let's dive into six 2009-born players who stood out at the Final 40.
Jane Daley
Shattuck-St. Mary's U16, 3/21/2009, F, left shot, 5-6
Hometown: Medfield, Mass.
Daley was perhaps the best player on the ice both Friday and Saturday. Her skating, playmaking and vision set her apart from the crowd. On Friday, she had a great zone entry, changing speeds to bait the defender before putting her on her heels to gain the zone with possession and buy time for reinforcements. She scored a pair of pretty goals on Friday, too, first dancing through the neutral zone before burying a quick release. Then, she pounced on a turnover with a ton of speed before finishing a smooth backhand toe-drag. Daley also set up a breakaway goal for Cadence Crowley (North Reading, Mass.) with a nice high lob through the neutral zone.
On Saturday, Daley made a great play to get to the slot and set up Sienna Glass (Andover, Mass.) for a Grade-A chance. She later won a puck battle along the end boards before zipping it to Mia Daley (Lynnfield, Mass.) on the doorstep for an easy goal. She also flashed another slick toe-drag finish in alone in transition.
Sienna Glass
Phillips Andover, 2009, D, right shot, 5-6
Hometown: Andover, Mass.
Glass's decision-making with the puck was strong all weekend. She made strong passes on the breakout, leading forwards into open space and identifying seams in the neutral zone to restart the rush quickly. The rising sophomore at Phillips Andover used her skating to evade pressure from forecheckers and had a good habit of making the simple, easy plays in front of her. She chose her spots well when jumping into the play, and it led to a point-blank chance with Jane Daley on Saturday.
Mia Daley
Williston Northampton, 2009, F, right shot
Hometown: Lynnfield, Mass.
Daley impressed as a freshman playing big minutes at Williston this season, and it continued into the Final 40. Her awareness in all three zones and positioning were particularly strong. She had a great connection with Jane Daley throughout the weekend, which was evident on her tap-in goal on the doorstep on Saturday. She slipped in behind the defense and was in a perfect spot to bury the feed. On Friday, she did a great job to rotate out high on the forecheck before intercepting a pass and getting a Grade-A look on net.
Catherine McCool
Nobles, 2009, F, left shot
Hometown: West Roxbury, Mass.
It's easy to see why McCool was so effective as an eighth-grader amid a championship run at Nobles this season. She was physically dominant relative to a lot of her peers in her age group this weekend, using her size and strength to win battles. Those traits combined with some explosive strides made her effective moving the puck up ice and gaining the offensive zone with possession consistently. She flashed a nice release when she picked the top left corner from the right dot on Friday.
Annabelle Lovell
Lovell Academy, 2/25/2009, F, right shot, 5-0
Hometown: Hingham, Mass.
Lovell can flat out fly with and without the puck on her stick. She can push the pace in transition, and her speed and edgework make her hard to contain in the attacking zone. It created space and chances for herself and her linemates. She had a shift on Saturday where she practically did whatever she wanted offensively, motoring around on an extended tour of the attacking zone and getting the defense out of sorts.
Rebecca Cohen
NAHA, 2009, G, catches left
Hometown: Dedham, Mass.
Cohen was strong in the crease on Saturday. She made a couple of huge breakaway saves toward the end of the first game. Cohen first made a sprawling glove save on Jane Daley. She read the forehand-backhand move perfectly and gave her nothing. She also made it look easy against Simone Burns (Winchester, Mass.) moments later. Cohen did a good job of tracking the puck through traffic and she anticipated plays really well. She made seemed to make big saves one after another.
