Expectations are always high at Loomis Chaffee.
The Pelicans have made it to the Elite 8 in nine consecutive seasons, going back to 2014. Last year, Liz Leyden's team fell to eventual champion Williston Northampton in the first round, finishing a 14-7-4 season.
"For us, making the Elite 8 is always a goal," Leyden said. "I think that's something I take pride in for our program. We've been in that top eight for the past many years. It's not just a flash-in-the-pan type of thing."
Much of last season's success was buoyed by an 11-game unbeaten streak (8-0-3) to close out the regular season en route to the Elite 8. They were the only team to hand Williston any sort of blemish on their 27-0-1 record with a 2-2 tie on Feb. 18.
With seven freshmen playing key roles last year, the midseason improvement wasn't overly surprising in Leyden's eyes.
"We last year started pretty slow and then really came on down the stretch," Leyden said. "When we play together, we're really hard to beat. I think often in the most challenging games, our team was one that typically rose to the opportunities. We're a team that often has done well being the underdog."
This year, it will be key to start on the right foot.
"I think the goal for us this year is to stay true to the process and really commit to that process from Day 1 to be able to build on the success from last year and not take sort of take as much time as it did last year to be able to get fully into it," Leyden said. "If you ask any kid on our team, we are looking to be in that top tournament at the end of every year. But we're also recognizing that every year brings its own unique challenges and opportunities."
Replacing last year's leadership
Loomis lost a chunk of its leadership core last year after graduating four seniors. Fortunately for Leyden and the Pelicans, they return a strong portion of their core.
Four of their top six forwards and their two leading scorers, juniors Chloe Obser and Grace Morin, are back.
"They're probably our two most established forwards," Leyden said.
On defense, senior Emma Hannah (Newtown, Conn.) will assume the captaincy, taking on more responsibility on and off the ice.
"I'm really expecting growth out of her," Leyden said.
Both goalies, senior Leila Fournier (West Kingston, R.I.) and sophomore Adeline Roper (Kennebunkport, Maine) are back in the fold once again, too. Each saw playing time last year, and Leyden sees that continuing.Â
"When your goalies exude confidence and play consistently, that really translates to how everybody else on the team feels," she said.
Leyden believes a lot of the second half success last season had to do with the senior leadership communicating and meeting with each other. Their graduation "leaves a big hole." Keeping that dialogue going will be important for this year's core.
"I think to improve this year, it really comes down to communication and making sure that kids continually communicate in ways that then become effective, learning how to communicate the stuff that's good but also being able to communicate this stuff that's hard," Leyden said. "How do kids respond to one another? How do they support one another? On the ice in terms of production ... having kids willing to do the gritty stuff, to be able to score goals is going to be something that's really important that we start off the year with."
Another step for the sophomore class
Roper wasn't the only freshman to see ample playing time last year. Leyden believes last year's crop of rookies did well with strong first impressions.
"Those kids, as returning sophomores, understanding what we do and how we do it will make a big, big difference," Leyden said.
Among the sophomore returners that Leyden expects to take an additional step is defender Carly Dann (Hanover, N.H.).
"She's got a lot of potential," Leyden said. "I think like her taking a step forward will be really big."
Leyden also has high hopes for defender Megan Hosman. Hosman saw plenty of special teams time last year, but she should see an increased role this season.
"She was a power play kid as a freshman and played a lot of minutes on penalty kill," Leyden said. "I think for her to take a step forward will be huge for us."
Hosman skated at USA Hockey's national U18 select camp alongside junior blue-liner Catie Collins (South Burlington, Vt.).
"When I say that I think our D will have a lot of depth, I think that our top half of our D will really be pretty elite," Leyden said. "I feel like if our D are gonna be successful, it's like the rest of our team will be because the D are the ones that often control the play, in terms of breaking the puck out and being able to transition."
Also among the sophomore forwards are Lindsay Stepnowski (South Glastonbury, Conn.) and Annie Schwarz (Fairfield, Conn.), who Leyden anticipates will have big years. Incoming sophomore Bella Zolezzi is expected to step right in, too.
Schwarz and Stepnowski each participated at the U.S. national 15 camp this year, and Morin was at the national 16/17 camp.
Leyden believes Schwarz to be an excellent skater who sees the ice well. For her, last year was about learning to compete with players that were three to four years older than her. Now bigger and stronger, Schwarz could be primed for a big sophomore season.
"She's coming into the season, knowing what she can do and how she can do it," Leyden said. "I think her ability to be a vocal leader, but also her ability to truly lead on the ice and take those reins I think is something that she's capable of stepping in and playing really well there. When you're 14 and seeing success against 18 year olds, I think that gives you a huge amount of confidence to be able to be successful that second year."
