MARLBORO, Mass. — Some of the best players from around New England flocked to the New England Sports Center this past weekend to try out in the New England District’s girls player development camp tryouts.
A total of 302 players across the 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 age groups took the ice.
I did my best to see each group an equal amount, minus the 2010s. I spent Friday night focusing on the 2007s before catching the 2009s and 2008s on Saturday morning. On Sunday, I caught the 2009s All-Star game before splitting time between the 2007s and 2008s
Going forward, players in the 2007, 2008 and 2009 groups will be selected to participate in the New England District development camp from June 21-25 at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. The 2010 players selected from this tryout will participate in the New England Girls 14 Eastern Selects Camp from June 26-30 at Saint Anselm.
The 2007, 2008 and 2009’s will 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 in July at Miami University (Ohio). The Girls Under-18 Select (2006-2008) camp will be in August at the Northwood School in Lake Placid, NY.
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.
Let’s dive into eight standout 2008-born players from the weekend.
Olivia Austen
Deerfield/Mid Fairfield CT Stars u14, 10/2008, F, right shot, 5-6
Hometown: Darien, Conn.
Austen was all over the ice this weekend. Her lines dominated attacking zone time and chances, especially on Friday. She put on puck possession clinics in the offensive zone, and she constantly created chances around the net for her teammates between her good hands and vision. She set up Sofia Nardelli (Cranston, R.I.) for a great look in front off the cycle. Austen later dangled to the slot for a Grade-A chance, but couldn't solve the goalie. She stuck with it and pick-pocketed Victoria Hausberger behind the net to extend the pressure. The chances didn't come as easily on Sunday, but she was still effective. She did well at the face-off circle and made plays defensively, including knocking Maja Wielgos off the puck to start the breakout.
Annie Schwarz
Loomis Chaffee/Mid Fairfield CT Stars U16, 02/2008, F, left shot, 5-5
Hometown: Fairfield, Conn.
Schwarz created chances all weekend. She scored an easy goal on Friday, cutting to the middle of the offensive zone off the rush before picking the top right corner. On Saturday, she scored on another nice shot, keeping the play alive at the half wall before rotating toward the high slot. She found open space in the slot and picked the short-side corner. She was equally strong setting up her teammates, particularly on Saturday. The rising Loomis junior made a nice rush, protecting the puck from the defender before slipping a sweet backhand feed to Williston's Brenna Ziter (Williston, Vt.) in the slot for a great chance. Schwarz later found Kate Hall (Greenwich, Conn.) coming in late off a change, leading her into space for a great look out high. Defensively as the center, she did a good job of supporting her defenders down low with puck retrievals and battles.
STANDOUTS: 7 2007-born skaters who impressed at New England District girls festival
Sofia Nardelli
Cranston-East Greenwich Co-op/Boston Jr. Eagles U16, 12/31/2008, F, left shot, 5-2
Hometown: Cranston, R.I.
Nardelli had a strong connection going with Austen throughout the weekend. They fed off of each other in cycles in the offensive zone, opening up chances for both of them in the slot. She's speedy which helped her create offense in transition, too. She had a great look off the rush on Friday, busting up a seam through the middle to get open for a pass before motoring in and getting a good chance in the slot. Nardelli helped execute a perfect rush with Austen and Exeter's Erin Sears (Bridport, Vt.), flying in as the trailer, taking the drop pass, making a nice move and getting a good shot off from the left circle.
Carly Dann
Loomis Chaffee/East Coast Wizards U16, 7/21/2008, D, left shot, 5-9
Hometown: Hanover, NH
Dann seems like the total package on defense. She's a good skater with plenty of strength, size and hockey IQ. The rising Loomis Chaffee junior did an excellent job of scanning the ice and making quick decisions on breakouts and regroups. She did well at keeping forwards to the outside off the rush and was a hard physical defender, especially in front of her net, where she dolled out plenty of punishment. Dann flashed some of her offensive game too on Sunday, leading the rush with some strong strides through the neutral zone before cutting inside to beat the defender and trying to go five-hole. Williston's River Grady (Bedford, NH) stoned her with a good save.
Lauren Xu
Shattuck-St. Mary's, 2/8/2008, F, left shot, 5-6
Hometown: Westport, Conn.
Xu, who is heading to Shattuck after two seasons with Phillips Exeter, was dangerous offensively on Friday. She scored with a sweet forehand-backhand finish on a penalty shot, freezing the goalie with a pump fake. She scored another goal with a hard net drive on a later shift, burying a rebound in tight. Xu nearly picked up a third moments later when she rifled one off the crossbar in transition, fending off Dann's stick pressure and managing to get a strong shot off.
Victoria Hausberger
Lovell Academy U16, 2/11/2008, D, left shot, 5-6
Hometown: Nashua, NH
Hausberger was an intriguing player to watch for a lot of the same reasons as Dann. Defensively, she maintains good gaps and stick positioning, forcing forwards to the boards off the rush and preventing centering passes. She's a difficult matchup along the boards and in battles because of her strength. She picked her spots well stepping up in transition, too, closing down shooting lanes and getting her body in the way of the puck. On Friday, she kickstarted a sequence leading up to a goal for her team, intercepting a pass in the defensive zone, leading the rush and laying the puck into space for her forward off the boards into the offensive zone.
MASS. FINAL 40: 7 standout ’07-born players | 6 standout ’08-born players | 6 standout ’09-born players
Erin Healy
Bishop Kearney Selects 16U, 09/2008, D, left shot, 5-5
Hometown: South Burlington, Vt.
Healy handled forechecking pressure really well on breakouts and puck retrievals behind her net. She spun out of pressure to find Hausberger to start an easy breakout. She finished it off by jumping up through the middle to take the pass off the boards and exit the zone with possession. Later on Friday, she fended off a forechecker bearing down on her before making a good pass from her knees. On Saturday, Healy made a nice move inside the offensive blue line to open up a shooting late, landing a quick, hard shot on net. She made a good pinch to keep the sequence alive before making another move at the left circle and setting up a scoring chance down low.
Kathryn Hall
Shattuck-St. Mary's 16U, 7/2/2008, D, left shot, 5-10
Hometown: Greenwich, Conn.
Hall did a great job of utilizing her long reach and stick positioning to break up plays in transition throughout the weekend. She had some good looks offensively, too. On Saturday, she rang the crossbar with a great release, coming in as a trailer off the bench. That was a confidence booster as Hall started to take advantage of more shooting opportunities. She can hammer the puck, but accuracy got away from her at times.
