A new era has arrived at Phillips Andover.
Longtime girls hockey coach Martha Fenton will be stepping away after over three decades behind the bench. She announced the news to players and parents last week.
"It has been an honor to coach this team for the last 32 years, and I am grateful for the opportunity, the relationships, and the memories," Fenton wrote in a statement to New England Hockey Journal. "No doubt I will miss the game and my interactions with coaches across the league, and most of all being on the ice every day with my players. I leave loving the game, which, in my book, is the way to go!"
Andover has not yet announced a successor.
"Martha Fenton has been a pillar in the NEPSAC girls’ hockey community for more than three decades, and her impact on the game and on generations of Andover student-athletes has been immeasurable," athletic director Lisa Joel wrote in a statement. "Through her leadership and longstanding dedication to Andover athletics, Martha has helped shape and elevate girls’ hockey across New England, leaving a lasting legacy for which we are deeply grateful."
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This past season, Fenton helped guide Andover to a 21-3-1 record, reaching the Elite 8 as well as a fifth straight Patsy K. Odden Invitational final. The Big Blue boasted wins over the likes of Loomis Chaffee, Williston Northampton, Phillips Exeter and St. Paul's en route to the No. 2 seed in the Elite 8.
Andover tied for the third-highest-scoring offense in prep with 115 total goals, while their 29 goals against were the second-fewest among NEPSAC programs. Seniors Caroline Averill (Wayland, Mass.; Princeton) and Sarah Powers (Lynnfield, Mass.; Boston College) finished tied for fourth in NEPSAC scoring with 52 points apiece, while four other Big Blue skaters eclipsed the 20-point threshold.
Since 2018-19, Fenton, who has over 250 career wins since the 2005-06 season, has led Andover to seven straight Elite 8 appearances, including trips to the finals in 2020, 2023 and 2025. The Big Blue went 127-34-17 in that span, claiming back-to-back PKO Invitational titles in 2021 and 2022.
"I am proud of our successes and the hard work behind them," Fenton said in her message to the team. "I am equally grateful for our losses and the lessons they’ve taught us. Most of all, I am proud of the generations of young women who have come through this program and who model everything that is best about Andover athletics."
Among the notable alumni to have played under Fenton is New York Sirens forward and former Yale captain Anna Bargman (Boxford, Mass.), as well as Yale rising sophomore Molly Boyle (Scituate, Mass.). Boyle was named ECAC Defender of the Year as well as a Second Team All-American as a freshman this past season. St. Paul's head coach Kelli Mackey also played at Andover under Fenton, graduating in 2015 before a collegiate career at Union and Hamilton.
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A 1983 graduate of Andover, Fenton was a three-sport athlete in hockey, field hockey and lacrosse at Bowdoin. She has also coached field hockey and lacrosse at Andover, in addition to her role as a physical education instructor. Fenton was the school's first female athletic director from 1999 to 2007.
Before returning to Andover as a coach, Fenton spent three seasons as a coach at Phillips Exeter.
