On March 13, 2022, Northwood’s girls’ hockey team traveled to Union College in Schenectady, NY to take on Gilmour Academy for the league championship. Assistant captain Kennedy Wilson ’22 and captain Ella Fessette ’22, known together as the team’s glue, helped guide their team to the North American Prep Hockey Association (NAPHA) championship.
The Girls’ Hockey team after defeating Gilmour in the h American Prep Hockey Association (NAPHA) championship game (photo: Instagram).
Head Coach Trevor “Gilly” Gilligan has been coaching for 14 years. 11 of those years at Northwood steered his team to a record of 39-24-2. Gilligan is proud of the 2021-22 squad.
“We have many players that stand out in my eyes, for different reasons, but the backbone of our team and hockey program is Ella Fesette. Ella has been at Northwood and on the hockey team for five years and is directly responsible for helping create the culture we have today,” Gilligan said. “She is a natural leader and will forever be remembered for helping lay the foundation for the future of our program.”
Gilligan went on to say that this year’s team understood that they needed consistency in their work ethic, and the players were not afraid to call others out and push each other to succeed.
The team will lose Kennedy, Fessette and six other seniors to graduation, but Gilligan thinks he has a good foundation to build on the success of this year’s team.
“I am excited about next year’s group as we return with 14 players who all know the expectations from myself and what it takes to be a part of our culture. Culture fuels itself internally and although we will miss our senior leaders, we have returning upperclassman that will fill into leadership roles.”
As seniors graduate, the torch gets passed to the rising class in hopes for another successful Northwood girls’ hockey season.
