Defense still NDA’s calling
Cougars led by standout goaltending, blue liners
Ava Larkin’s parents put her on skates as soon as she could walk.
The younger sister to four hockey-playing brothers, she would often be called upon to help with their target practice.
“We were always playing street hockey outside, and being the only girl, my brothers would just stick me in the net,” said Larkin, now a senior goaltender at Notre Dame Academy (Hingham). “I grew a love for the position and begged my parents to let me play on the ice, and eventually, they caved.”
With an almost perfect save percentage (.989) and a 0.38 goals against average, Larkin — along with sophomore Erin Kral (.950 save percentage) — serves as the backbone of an unflappable defense behind NDA’s success.
The Cougars, ranked third in this week’s Globe Top 20, are 62-1 in their first nine games, the latest victory a pivotal 2-0 triumph over previously undefeated Malden Catholic on Jan 6.
Despite the pressure of facing such a skilled opponent, Larkin and her defense carried an air of nonchalance as they stepped onto the ice for the first period — and that feeling never wavered. Larkin’s 23 quick, calculated stops rarely left the puck loose. The Cougar defenders were completely in synch, forming a wall in front of Larkin that prevented her from seeing a single shot through their two penalty kills.
For John Findley, this is the standard.
“That’s the strength of our team — defense,” the sixth-year head coach said. “We have a postand-trail system on our penalty kill . . . the defense just doesn’t move. [They] just stay in their spots so we clog up the ice on [our opponents].”
The Cougars have only let up six goals this season — half as many as last year’s in as many games — and they’ve only allowed more than one twice. Five of their wins have been shutouts.
A constant strength through Findley’s tenure at the helm, NDA’s defensive model places one forward at the back of the cluster to remind each player of their responsibility in each zone, to generate more offensive chances up the ice. As a result, the troop of skilled blueliners, led by senior captains Sarah Francis and Lucy DelGallo, is accompanied by an offense that averages just under three goals per game.
“We have faith that each person is going to get the job done . . . We try to go into each period with a positive mind-set and take it shift by shift,” Francis said. “That helps our game in the offensive zone because we can try to put our creativity to the test and make something happen [from] the defensemen as well as the forwards.”
That confidence sets Larkin at ease, as well.
“It’s very easy to play calm and collected when I have such a good team that I can trust,” the 5-foot-8-inch netminder said. “I know that if I miss a rebound, then my forwards and my defense are back, and they’re ready to help me right away as best they can.”
Where the team sometimes falls short, Findley said, is in “puck luck” — the deciding factor in the Cougars’ losses to No. 1 St. Mary’s (2-0) and Boston Latin (2-1), as well as a tie with Braintree (0-0).
“We got beaten by two goalies [St. Mary’s and Boston Latin]. We had 40 shots in each game, and we just couldn’t score,” Findley said. “It’s just puck luck.”
The Cougars haven’t been to the Division 1 final since Findley’s first season, but each year since they’ve danced between the quarterfinals and semifinals. In the 2023 semis, eventual state champion Shrewsbury beat them by a goal. The year before, they suffered the same fate in the quarters.
With a little more puck luck, Findley believes the Cougars can go all the way this season.
“We can make the finals if we play our cards right and we work hard,” Findley said. “We just have to find more goals, that’s all.”
Ice chips
■ On a Falmouth roster that only goes 17 players deep, with 10 that are freshmen or younger, it’s only natural that the returning top scorer stands out. Junior Casey Roth leads the seventh-ranked Clippers (71-0) in points just as she did a year ago.
“She’s very talented, she can do it all — all 200 feet,” coach Brian Ferreira said. “She’s still young, and she’s got all the tools to be a really good player.”
But among the newcomers, freshman Maeve Turner has emerged as the team’s leading scorer with 12 goals through eight games. Aspen Devlin, the lone goalie on the roster, is another freshman. Rylinn Briggs and Estelle Duffany are key members of the defense, and the new third line of Regan Ferreira (Brian’s daughter), eighthgrader Violet Cox, and Caroline Shearer — are seeing regular shifts against top competition.
The Clippers’ lone loss came to No. 6 Burlington (5-1-0) in overtime, and they hold key wins over No. 8 Nauset (5-1-0) and No. 11 Sandwich (4-3-1). A rematch with Nauset looms, as well as a meeting with upstart No. 15 Martha’s Vineyard (5-1-0) within the next two weeks.
■ The first round of MIAA power rankings is due to be released Friday, with updated rankings each Tuesday and Friday through the end of the regular season.