As girls ice hockey continues to grow across New York and the region for the 2022-23 season, so does the talent.
So let’s shine a light on it.
The road to Utica is paved with dedication
Here is a look at eight of the top players who have dreams of hoisting the regional state championship in February.
Sr., F, Clinton
Kopek is one of the most prolific scorers in Clinton school history.
The senior right-handed forward came into the season with 66 career points, six away from breaking Mia Lopata’s school record of 71. Lopata is a sophomore at Quinnipiac.
“Mia took Drew under her wing when she was in eighth grade and guided her through,” said Clinton coach Rob Kopek, Drew’s father. “It’s pretty cool that Drew is six points away from taking over that record. I expect her to do it within the first few games.”
Kopek was hoping his daughter would have accomplished the feat last year but a late-season injury resulted in her playing only 12 games. The Section III first-team All-Star and finalist for Section III Player of the Year still finished with 12 goals and 16 assists for 28 points to help Clinton reach the section final.
Kopek describes his daughter as a power forward who uses her size and speed to her advantage.
“She has a great shot and good vision,” he said. “She’ll pass the puck before she shoots. She’s a flat-out competitor who doesn’t like to lose. I think that is what makes her so strong in the corners and in front of the net. She uses her size and strength to her advantage.”
The Cortland State commit was an assistant captain last year and the coach anticipated her being a captain this year.
“She leads on and off the ice,” Kopek said. “She’s well-liked in the locker room and is looked up to by the younger players. I’m not just saying this because I’m her father, but as a coach, you would want 10 of them in your lineup like her. I think that is why she will have a successful college career.”
Sr., F, Franklin Academy
St. Hilaire is the heartbeat of Franklin Academy’s program.
Nowhere was that more evident than when she went down with an injury in the first period of the Huskies’ state regional final last year against Skaneateles, the program’s first appearance in the game. Skaneateles won 3-1.
“That definitely changed the game big time,” Franklin Academy coach Scott Marlow said. “It really hurt us without having her out there.”
The six-year varsity player is coming off a junior year where she paced Section VII in scoring with 14 goals and 18 assists. The Section VII first-team All-Star scored the game-winning goal early in the third period of the Huskies’ 2-1 win over Plattsburgh in the sectional final and tallied twice in Franklin Academy’s 3-1 win over Section X Potsdam in the state semifinals.
“Teams know where she is so someone is always on her, but she still finds a way to get free,” Marlow said. “She is always on the scoreboard, whether it is goals or assists.”
A two-year captain, Hilaire is a leader on and off the ice.
“She leads by example but when she needs to be vocal in the locker room, she definitely steps up to the plate,” Marlow said. “A lot of girls have improved just by her presence and what she does not only on the ice but off the ice as well. She is so patient with our younger girls.”
On the ice, Marlow said Hilaire is very strong on her skates and works the entire ice. That includes going into corners for pucks, and she plays tough in the defensive zone.
St. Hilaire, who also plays volleyball and softball, is undecided on her college plans, but she would like to play college hockey.
Jr., F, Massena
Terry is a threat on the ice whenever she has the puck.
In 18 games as a sophomore, she recorded 33 goals and 12 assists and was named Section X MVP. Massena lost to Potsdam, 5-3, in the Section X final.
“She’s literally a step above the other players,” Massena coach AJ Kormanyos said. “She’s playing on a U-22 team in Ottawa, the Ottawa (Junior Lady) 67’s, so she is at an elite level. She has the skill, size and athleticism to do great things. She’s strong and doesn’t get knocked off the puck. She’s fast and has an unbelievable shot. She is also very smart to the point where she can float around and ends up being in the right spot at the right time because she knows how some of these other girls are going to work with the puck. It’s one of the big reasons why she is able to score multiple goals in games.”
Last year, Terry also took faceoffs when needed in big situations and played defense on power plays or defended against the opposing team’s top player.
Kormanyos fully expects Terry to continue playing well this year.
“I know our team is going to struggle with goaltending,” he said, “but what makes it easier on me is knowing that our goaltending can let in five or six goals, but with Brooke, we are going to be able to score seven or eight goals.”
Jr., F, Skaneateles
Oudemool played a huge role in Skaneateles winning last year’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association regional championship. Although some key players have graduated, like Rebecca Cain, Rachelle Cain and Lizzy Sachar, Oudemool knows she has to step up her game and be a leader to the younger players.
“We have a lot of new girls who are eighth-graders and freshmen and I think part of my job is to help welcome them to the team and get them used to playing high school hockey like others did for me when I was a freshman,” she said.
“With losing a bunch of seniors, the expectations for her will be a little bit higher, but I think she is capable of having a little bit more pressure and responsibility,” Skaneateles coach Andy Rozak said. “There wasn’t a moment last year that wasn’t too big for her. She will also look to elevate other players on the team as well. She leads by example and I think that is very contagious. She is always one of the hardest workers in practice and in games so I think that will help set the tone for the season.”
Oudemool is coming off a sophomore season where in 16 games she finished with team highs for goals (21) and assists (29) and was named Section III Player of the Year. The junior captain recorded at least one goal in all but two games, including the Lakers’ opening goal in the state final over Section VII’s Franklin Academy, and one assist in all but two contests.
“She just wants to be successful and works hard at it,” Rozak said. “She scores goals and sets people up, has great vision, stickhandles well and has a very good, accurate, quick and powerful shot. She also does stuff that doesn’t show up on the scoresheet, like winning faceoffs, killing penalties and playing strong defense against the other team’s top players.”
Oudemool plays hockey outside of Skaneateles with Rome Girls Hockey’s 16-U Tier I team.
So., F, Kenmore/Grand Island/Lockport
Jayme’s play on the ice changed dramatically from her eighth grade to freshman year. Granted, her first year was the COVID-19 season where all teams played reduced schedules so she only finished with five goals and one assist in 10 games.
But as a freshman, the second-team All-Star from the Western New York Girls Varsity Ice Hockey Federation in Section VI played 24 games due to the team making the regional state final and finished as Section VI’s leading scorer with 21 goals and 15 assists for 36 points. She tallied five power-play goals and six game-winning goals.
Coach Jeff Orlowski said when she was an eighth-grader, Jayme would try to skate through three opposing players, whereas last year she understood how to use the defense to her advantage, shot the puck a little more and came up with some nice goals.
“She is deceivingly quick, has a long stride and great stick skills,” Orlowski said. “She puts herself in the right positions and takes shots from better areas. Her teammates know where to feed her and she likes to slide into open areas and bury rebounds. She has a knack at putting the puck in the net and creates so many opportunities when she is on the ice.”
Sr., D, Potsdam
Emerson literally can play anywhere on the ice except goalie.
The Potsdam senior started her career as a forward, tallying 17 goals as a seventh-grader, 22 goals as an eighth-grader and 42 goals as a freshman, shifted to defense and forward for her sophomore year, scoring 13 goals, and then moved primarily to defense for her junior year, scoring another 13.
Emerson played the first half of her junior year with the Nepean Junior Wildcats’ U-22 team that plays out of Ottawa in the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association, considered the highest level of junior women’s amateur ice hockey in Ontario, and the second half with Potsdam, helping it to the regional state semifinals, where it fell to Franklin Academy, 3-1. Emerson scored Potsdam’s lone goal.
Assistant coach Joe Stark said Emerson’s speed and shot help her stand out from other players.
“Her shot is as good as three-quarters of the boys,” Stark said. “She can rush the puck when she picks and chooses, but she’s a threat anywhere in the offensive end with her shot.”
Emerson will continue her hockey career as a defenseman 10 miles away at Division 1 St. Lawrence University, but Stark said that program will have the flexibility to play her at forward.
“She has always been a good player since she was young,” he said. “She puts the time in on and off the ice. She always had a vision of wanting to play at a high level. She still enjoys playing with her friends.”
Sr., D, Williamsville
You don’t see many three-sport athletes anymore. Then again, many players aren’t like Martin.
A senior at Williamsville North, she plays field hockey, ice hockey and lacrosse, and is good at all three.
“She has the skill set to play all three at the collegiate level, but she is going to have to make a decision on what direction she wants to go,” Williamsville coach Rick Hopkins said.
Martin has been a stabilizing force on defense in helping Williamsville, which combines players from Williamsville North, East and South high schools, to Section VI girls hockey titles as a freshman and sophomore, as well as sectional runner-up as a junior.
As great of a defender as she is, Martin also was the second-leading scorer among defenders in Section VI last year with eight goals and six assists.
“She’s that hybrid defenseman where she can be a lockdown defender against a team’s top line but other teams also have to worry about her offensive skill set,” Hopkins said. “She’s a threat any time the puck is on her stick. She’s great on the penalty kill and the power play. She covers a lot of ice and puts herself in the right positions. She has great anticipation and vision as well. She might not come off the ice this year.”
Martin, the lone returning first-team All-Star in the Western New York Girls Varsity Ice Hockey Federation in Section VI, is a returning team captain.
“She’s a leader, works hard in practice and has fun,” Hopkins said. “She is very relaxed, which is a great characteristic to have in pressure situations. Having her on the ice is like having an assistant coach out there.”
Jr., G, Frontier/Franklinville/Lake Shore/Orchard Park
Coach Bob Klimowicz thinks his team could be a little thin on offense this year but should be strong on the back end led by McCarthy.
The junior was one of the top netminders in Section VI last year, finishing third in save percentage, 0.931, and goals-against average, 1.54. She also posted a 11-5-2 record, including three wins in shootouts. She earned third-team honors in Section VI.
“We’re going to need her to keep games close and low scoring,” Klimowicz said. “Out of all the positions in hockey, you would want your goalie to be the most competitive. She hates getting scored on. She wants to stop everything, even in practice.”
McCarthy moves well from post to post, her angles are good and she does not allow many rebounds. She is aggressive in the crease and will get down low to search for a puck if there is a scrum in front of the net.
“She was taught well before she got to me,” Klimowicz said. “It’s nothing I have done to make her a better goaltender. It’s the clinics that she goes to and the extra work she gets from goaltending coaches that make her the player that she is, and you combine that with the drive, passion and competitiveness that she has, it’s a good recipe for success.”
Kerrigan also stepped up her leadership last year. Klimowicz said he doesn’t have anyone on the roster with a ‘C’ on their jersey, but he wants his players not to be afraid to speak out in a positive way, which Kerrigan does.
“When we are sitting between periods and coaches are going over things that the team needs to get better at, she is also talking with the defense and the team trying to pick them up,” Klimowicz said. “You don’t see too many goalies like that. That side of her really came out last year.”
