Girls’ Hockey before a game at the 2023 Northwood Invitational. Photo: Mr. Michael Aldridge.

Girls’ hockey went 3-2 at the prestigious Stoney Creek Showcase in Ontario September 15-17.

Their first of two games on Friday was against Durham West U22, a top-ranked team in Canada. The Huskies fell 4-1, but a highlight was Anna Monette ‘26 scoring her first Northwood goal. Later that day, they topped Toronto Aero’s U22, and goalie Jersey Graham ‘24 got a shoutout.

Saturday, the Huskies played two more games and won both, including a 6-0 win against North Shore, where Graham earned her second shutout of the weekend.

On Sunday, the squad found themselves in the semi-finals of their bracket but fell to the Burlington Barracudas U22, a strong team with top prospects from all of Canada.

“We just need to play with a lot more dedication and not doubt ourselves when we play against some of the best teams because we have a strong team, and the competition is only going to get better,” forward Brac Kelley ’24 said after the game. “There are many positives to take away from the weekend. We had a strong week of practice. Girls were battling and competing. It is something that is going to fuel us for the rest of the year.” Kelley added.

The players gave new Coach Hanna Rose ’18 high praise, saying she is making a big impact on the girls’ hockey team this year. “Having a female figure as an assistant coach makes our team that much stronger. She always has the most energy, and it is contagious,” Kelley said. “The first time our team met her was at our summer tournament, and right from the start she was eager to get started.” Added Kelley.

Girls’ hockey travel has a strenuous travel schedule, and it’s always challenging to stay on top of academics. On the road, the Huskies have study halls in a hotel lobby or on the charter bus.

“Coach Rosie” is not only a hockey coach, but she is an excellent math teacher. “Being on the road with the girls and this past weekend, I think I got 50 [math] questions, and it was so awesome to see the lightbulb moment for the girls when they understood it. It has taken off so much stress, and I am just so happy to help,” Rose said.

Girls’ hockey travel to Exeter, NH this weekend to play in a 4-game showcase.

Sam Knauf ’24 in action at home last season. Photo: Mr. Michael Aldridge.

The Northwood program traveled to Albany in September, NY to compete in the NXT LVL Showcase which saw an attendance of over 80 college coaches. The U19 squad lost to Combine Academy and defeated Northfield Mt. Herman. The U17 side topped Hoosac School and drew with Millbrook School.

Northwood U19s 0-1 Combine Academy.

Northwood U19’s weekend opener was a rough one. The first 30 minutes of the match were back and forth with possession on both sides, but no concrete scoring chances. This changed with about 15 minutes left in the half when Combine scored off a failed defensive clearance. For the remainder of the game, Combine sat in a 5-3-2 low-block and conceded 80% possession, but it proved to be what was needed as the game finished 1-0. Northwood kept trying to force the ball down the middle, and there wasn’t enough activity in the wide spaces. Neither team had good scoring chances in the second half, and the game ended in a tight defeat.

Northwood U19s 3-0 Northfield Mount Herman

It was a great game for the U19s, coming after a disappointing loss. Both teams were energetic from the whistle, and it was a cagey first 20 minutes in a classic New England prep school derby. The first goal came from a counterattack. The ball found Sam Knauf’s ’24 foot just inside the area and as the goalkeeper rushed from his line, the ball rocketed perfectly into the top right triangle of the net. There were more chances at both ends, and with 5 minutes remaining in the half, the striker for NHM beat the last defender and had a good look on goal but Leon Brody ‘24 was quick off his line to smother the ball. Northwood led 1-0 going into the break. The second half was entirely dominated by Northwood. The second goal came from a penalty. Sachiel Ming ’24 took it and placed it bottom left. The scoring was capped when Knauf drove from the baseline and finished cross-goal with his left foot. He celebrated by hitting a knee-slide to the corner flag to cap what was a brilliant individual and team performance.

Knauf was happy with his performance. “I thought I played well, and the biggest contributing factor was scoring two goals. I think the reason I played well was because I got some good assists from my teammates,” Knauf said.

Coach Jon Moodey summed up the success against NMH with five words: “Belief, trust, confidence, patience, execution.”

Northwood U17s 5-4 Hoosac U17s

In the first game for the U17s, it was yet again another high-scoring thriller. Northwood and Hoosac have had a long-standing rivalry, and this time, Northwood came away with the three points. Once again, Northwood came out to an early 3-0 lead with a double from Said El Eyssami ‘26, and one from Jace Donowa ‘25. The shutout didn’t hold until halftime as Hoosac scrapped a goal just before the break. Right after the restart, Hoosac scored another goal to make it 3-2, and another a couple minutes later to knot the game at 3. The game was far from over, and El Eyssami scored his third goal of the match to regain the Northwood lead. Shortly after, Hoosac responded with another goal and tied the game again. Everybody thought the game had finished but Donawa came to the rescue for the second game in a row by scoring the winner in the last 5 minutes.

Northwood U17s 3-3 Millbrook

The second and final game of the weekend for the 17s saw another high-scoring match. Donawa scored the first goal by driving centrally and finishing to the bottom left from just outside the box. Five minutes later, the lead was doubled when El Eyssami received the ball at the top of the box, took two players on, and finished with his left foot near the post. Millbrook scored a few minutes later off a counterattack, and the half was closed out by El Eyssami scoring again from a loose set-piece rebound. This lead lasted into the break, but the second half was different. Millbrook earned a penalty early on, but Gavin Kruger ‘26 made an excellent save. Shortly after, another penalty was awarded to Millbrook. This time, however, it was converted, and the lead slipped to 1 again. With two minutes remaining, Millbrook scored an equalizer and the game ended in a stalemate.

After the game, Head Coach Jose Coss was asked how the team can keep up it’s scoring pace while reducing goals conceded.  “I think by working on team unity, mental strength and sense of belonging. That way, everyone will push 100% of the game, starters and non-starters,” Coss said. “We’ve proven we are able to score a lot, and now we have to prove to ourselves that we can give the same effort and sacrifice to defend as well. It’s not easy. It takes a lot of maturity and hopefully, we can build on the fact that we are still undefeated,” Coss added.

This weekend, both teams take on Hoosac School at home.

Pirca Trail. Photo: Ms. Raychel Germaine.

Photo provided.

Many of the FIS Alpine ski racers traveled to Chile for a training camp. We were all so excited and nervous at the same time because we all knew the departure was early in the school year. In fact, we went to school for just two days before we loaded vans and headed to the airport.

Chile has always been my favorite trip for many reasons, but this year was even better than the last time. First, we have the largest ski team Northwood has ever had, which makes a dynamic unique in its own. I asked ten athletes on the team what their favorite moment or highlight of the trip was so that our readers could experience the best parts of our trip.

If I had to choose a highlight of this ski camp, I would have to be, the powder day we had. It must have been one of the best ski days I have had in a long time, there was a nice blue sky, the temperature was hitting 35 degrees Celsius. We couldn’t complain.  We all used our slalom skis, which is normally not a pair of skis to use for powder because they’re not made for that much snow, but the feeling of floating on a nice white snow was hard to beat. It just felt so good to be back on skis after such a long time. I was happy.

Aston Ferrillo ‘26

It was Aston’s first time in Chile. “I never he saw that pretty of a sunset,” Ferrillo said. Everyone was enjoying the moment and that’s when someone said, “Gang we’re in Chile – that’s insane!” Everyone realized how lucky we were to be here. Aston has a passion for taking pictures of landscape and he brought his camera to Chile. He took beautiful pictures of the sunset, here’s his favorite.

Sunset in Chile. Photo: Aston Ferrillo ’26.

Charles Leduc ‘25

Charles is new to Northwood, and he said the highlight of the camp was on the first day off, when everyone was enjoying the sun and sitting around the pool. He felt the connection with his teammates. Charles knew he was in the right place with good people.

Gavin Ebert (NYSEF)

Gavin is one of the “NYSEF” athletes who has been part of the team for the longest time. In fact, this year will be his 10^th year with NYSEF. It was Gavin’s second time in Chile. He told me that last year, he and the guys found a dog on the ski hill. No one knows who’s dog it is, what his name is or how old he is, he’s just the dog of the mountain and they named him “Stan.” Gavin forgot about the dog during the past year, but on his first day here, he saw Stan standing at the same place. Gavin was so happy to see Stan again and he called this moment his “favorite” of the trip.

Elleanore Pelletier ‘25

Elleanore is also in her first year here at Northwood. She said her highlight was when we took our first girl’s photos with the sunset. She felt like this new year was going to be good for her and that it was the beginning of new friendships.

Caroline Purcell ‘24

Chile was Caroline’s first big ski camp. She went to Austria the year before and was excited for new challenges to start her senior year. She said that the camp in general made her super excited and that it was the best preparation for a good ski season.

Julianne Brochu ‘25

Julianne is starting her second year at Northwood, and she describes Chile as her favorite ski camp. She said that everything was in her favor: the weather, the view, the location. Her highlight was when she woke up in the morning to get her little warm-up session. She would start with a little activation like running or jumping and then would use resistance bands to activate her lower body. Warming up with a view like the one in Chile surely made her biggest motivation at such an early time in the day.

Olivia Levesque ‘24

This was Olivia’s second time in Chile. She knew what was waiting for her, so that made her even more happy to go back, since she loved it so much the first time. Her favorite day was when the FIS women’s team trained on one of the mountain’s hardest and steepest trails, named Pirca. She said that it was challenging for each of us and that everyone learned something that day.

Arielle Haccoun Choquette ‘24

Arielle, in her first year at Northwood, is a good addition to the FIS team. Her energy brings positivity to the team. Her highlight of the camp was being so welcomed by her teammates. She is happy to be part of the team and she is ready for a year full of challenges.

Cara Dempsey ‘25

Cara really enjoyed her trip to Chile. She is a regular at Austrian ski camps, and Chile was very exciting because it was something new. One of her favorite parts of the camp was our dryland training. Sometimes, we would do agility ladders or hit a workout in the hotel gym, and sometimes we would play tournaments of ultimate frisbee.

Sydney Kuder ‘25

Sydney is a hard-working athlete who is dedicated to her sport. Sydney specializes in two events: slalom and giant slalom. Her highlight of the camp was the day we trained a slalom course on the “Fox-Trox” trail. She said that she skied well that day, which made her proud.

Edouard Brochu ‘24 is a member of Northwood’s Men’s FIS Alpine Ski Team. He wrote this guest column from his training camp in Chile.

Chile is the longest country in the world: over 4,200 miles from top to bottom. But other than that, it is a relatively unknown corner of the ski world. Skiers usually think of places like Europe, the Rockies, or Japan when going on a ski vacation, but the beautiful Andes mountains in the east of Chile are a magnificent, yet incredibly underrated, ski destination.

While not very popular with tourists, the Chilian Andes are a haven for ski teams for two reasons: First, the terrain is great for training for ski racing. Second, and most important, they are in the southern hemisphere. This means skiers can train during the summer in the North while it is winter in South America. This is precisely why the U18 Northwood ski teams ended up in Valle Nevado de Chile.

Lots of people have asked me, “Why so early in the school year, though?” The ski team left Northwood on September 9^th, after just a single day of classes. It might seem a little extreme to leave for two and a half weeks after just one day of school, but no athlete here regrets coming, and none is falling behind academically. We have some time every day to keep up with our classes. School definitely isn’t as easy 4,000 miles away, but the extra bit of work is worth it for our skiers.

“We skiers have to make sacrifices to be the best we can be”, says Elléanore Pelletier ‘25, one of our U18 racers. All of the skiers I have spoken to agree, and no one regrets it. The training quality is simply undeniable.

The training has been top-notch.  Since it’s the end of the season in Chile, there is abundant snow, and the whole mountain is skiable. The conditions allow the skiers to train on different terrains. Our coach Seppi Steigler chose this location because of the amount of snow it gets annually and the absolutely huge skiing area. And speaking of snow, the snow conditions here are quite near perfect for racing. All in all, this place checks all the boxes for a great training venue for ski racing.

“Five Stars!” That’s the only thing our skiers have to say about the Chile camp. From the magnificent scenery to the practically unmatched training quality, there aren’t many words that describe how near-perfect this trip has been so far. It sure isn’t the typical skiing trip, but Chile is definitely a place I will visit again, and I am sure I am not alone.