Loomis Chaffee had to be better.
It was Feb. 22, and the Pelicans had just lost, 4-0, to Williston Northampton in a major litmus test against NEPSAC’s top team at the time. Liz Leyden knew her team had more to give.
“We played really quite poorly,” the longtime coach of the Pelicans said.
The loss ended a 14-game winning streak and a 21-game unbeaten streak that Loomis had gone on since a 1-0, season-opening loss to Nobles.
The following game, Leyden got the response she was looking for. The Pelicans took down Phillips Andover, 2-1. It was the second time they triumphed over the Big Blue after tying them, 3-3, and winning the shootout to take the Patsy K. Odden Invitational championship against Andover for the second straight season.
“We came back and that next game we played Andover, and we came to play,” Leyden said. “The resilience of being able to bounce back after the Williston loss was huge.
“At that point, it seemed like, ‘Maybe we can do this.' Then, we just kept rolling.”
It was a galvanizing moment for Loomis.
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The Pelicans took that momentum to the Elite 8 championship. They beat eventual Large School champion Deerfield in the regular-season finale before hanging seven goals on No. 7 Cushing in the quarterfinals. They blanked No. 6 BB&N, 4-0, in the semifinals.
But after winning four straight, Loomis had its backs against the wall once again, battling Andover for a third time in the title game.
The No. 2 Pelicans opened up a 3-0 lead on the No. 5 Big Blue early in the first period, and they led 4-1 entering the third period. But amid penalty trouble, the momentum shifted. Andover quickly cut it to 4-3 with a pair of power-play strikes early in the third. It became all about survival for Loomis.
“I was just trying to figure out how to keep going through,” Leyden said of the frantic moments.
That’s exactly what her group did.
Just 1:02 after Andover made it a one-goal game, the Pelicans answered. Postgrad forward Megan Duplantie, a Union commit, got the puck in the slot and wired it top shelf for a 5-3 lead.
Even with critical insurance, it remained about survival.
Loomis bent but didn’t break amid a barrage of power plays and chances for the Big Blue, including ending regulation on the second of two five-minute majors in the third.
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“Honestly, all I was thinking was, ‘Get the puck out of the zone or let the puck hit me,’ just anything to keep the puck out of the net,” junior defender Megan Hosman, a Penn State commit, said. Hosman hardly left the ice down the stretch as she helped kill off the late penalties. “I would do anything for this team. The way people describe us, like our coaches, we’re ruthless. Just get the puck out. Block shots. Do whatever we can to win.”
Junior goalie Adeline Roper (Kennebunk, Maine) put an exclamation mark on the season with a scrambling kick save in the closing seconds to help deliver Loomis’ first title since 1989.
“When you’re down a person, your biggest penalty killer has got to be your goalie, and Adeline was,” Leyden said. “I’m really, really proud and impressed with her. She was really incredible down the stretch. You don’t win without a good goalie.”
Roper had a .942 save percentage in the playoffs, making 28 saves against Cushing, 25 against BB&N and 28 against Andover. Her efforts in the championship earned her the Bruno Gloves, a postgame tradition the Pelicans began this season to honor the late Chuck “Bruno” Vernon, a longtime fixture in the Loomis Chaffee community and the Elite 8 tournament’s namesake. He passed away in the fall.
“The fact that we were able to win this tournament this year, somewhat in his honor, is tremendous,” Leyden said.
For the players, that belief Leyden had after the second Andover win always was there.
“Honestly, after the Nobles game, I think all of us deep down believed that this was the year. This was the year we were going to win it all,” Hosman said. That belief in themselves was the culmination of a deep, experienced group ready to take that next step.
Behind four seniors and one postgrad — including captains in defender Catie Collins (South Burlington, Vt.), a Princeton commit, and forward Chloe Obser, an RPI commit — the Pelicans boasted one of the strongest and biggest junior classes in the region.
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They returned nine of their top 10 leading scorers. Of their eight juniors, four are committed to play Division 1 hockey. Harvard commit Lindsay Stepnowski (South Glastonbury, Conn.) and Yale commit Annie Schwarz (Fairfield, Conn.) helped set the pace up front along with Obser, Duplantie and fellow senior Ellie Lachance (West Hartford, Conn.). On the back end, Collins, Hosman and Cornell commit Carly Dann (Hanover, N.H.) formed the best defensive core in NEPSAC, along with junior Hattie Willard. In net, all eyes were on Roper as the lone incumbent.
“Last year, our sophomore year taught us a lot,” Hosman said. “A lot of us thought, ‘Oh, this is our year.’ As juniors, being seniors next year, we’re almost done. I think we wanted to win for our seniors this year, and next year we’ll bring their leadership with us and just channel that.”
The bar was high, and they more than exceeded it.
Stepnowski, who finished third in NEPSAC with 44 points and tied for second with 25 goals, had a career season, as did Schwarz (37 points), Obser (34), Lachance (34), Hosman (28), Duplantie (22), Collins (17), Dann (12) and others like sophomore Easton Pramuka (15) and junior Bella Zolezzi (13). Roper had a .945 save percentage in her first season as the starter.
They kept pace in the postseason. Stepnowski had seven points (six goals) in three tournament games en route to Most Valuable Player honors. Obser (two goals) and Duplantie (three goals) each had five points in the playoffs. Schwarz and Hosman each had four points. The latter had two assists in the final.
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“I mean, they popped, right?” Leyden said. “You have Lindsay Stepnowski getting the MVP. Annie Schwarz up front, too, playing both forward and defense on the penalty kill, something she’s done all year. Megan Hosman was tremendous. The number of minutes she played all year is unbelievable. Carly Dann took huge steps, and so did Hattie Willard and then Adeline Roper in net. Bella Zolezzi scored two goals in the championship. Elle Pagliaro chipped in two in the playoffs.
“Our team is one where every kid works hard and plays together.”
That Loomis could roll out impact players like Schwarz and Duplantie on its second line is a testament to the depth that pushed the team over the top. “Oh my gosh, I mean, this team is just so much fun,” Leyden said. “Every day, they’re working hard. When you have really good players, really good forwards and really good defenders, it makes practice better, which makes every kid better.
“The way that these kids were able to come together, being totally selfless — they didn’t care who scored as long as we won as a team — that showed.”
