During the 2021-22 Division 1 season, four teams from New England reached the NCAA tournament, with two advancing to the Women’s Frozen Four. As teams gear up for more success in the 2022-23 season, they are doing so with plenty of talent from the New England region, including these standout players.
Annie Berry
Milton, Mass.; F, Sr.; New Hampshire
A two-time Hockey East All-Academic Team selection, Berry will be a team captain for the 2022-23 season. Along with her three goals and four assists last season, she finished with 35 blocked shots, fourth-most on the team and most among forwards.
Mia Biotti
Cambridge, Mass.; D, So.; Harvard
Biotti is primed for a strong sophomore season after an impressive first year. Not only did she appear in every game in 2021-22 season, but she was also near the top in team statistics. Her 13 assists were fourth-best on the team — and the most among defenders — while her 34 blocks were second-most on the team, only one behind Kyra Willoughby’s 35 blocks.
Kelly Browne
Burlington, Mass.; F, Gr.; Boston College
Browne is the first three-year captain in Boston College history, men’s or women’s. In her senior campaign, she led the team in points (34), assists (24) and faceoff wins (389). She became the 17th player in program history to join the 100-point club, and she led all forwards on the team with 27 blocked shots.
She is talented and dependable, having played in all 129 games the team has played in the past four years. Should that continue this year, Browne could join the top 10 list for games played in program history and pass Kenzie Kent, Kali Flanagan, Ryan Little and Willow Corson for the four-way tie for No. 1. Her 76 career assists fall just shy of the program’s all-time top-10 list, with 10th place’s Erin Magee only six assists ahead of her.
Stefanie Caban
Fitchburg, Mass.; D, Sr.; Franklin Pierce
The Ravens enjoyed a memorable 2021-22 season, setting a program record for wins (22), and earned their first New England Women’s Hockey Alliance Tournament championship. The defense was one of the best in the country, finishing sixth in scoring defense (1.66 goals-against average) and shutting out both opponents in the NEWHA tournament. Caban was at the center of it all.
The NEWHA first-team selection played in all 32 games and tied for third on the team in assists (11) and plus-minus (plus-18). She enters the season 17th in assists in program history (32). She could climb into the top 10 if she again plays every game and hits her career average for assists per game (0.50).
Kelly Golini
Tewksbury, Mass.; F, Gr.; Saint Anselm
The former Merrimack Valley Conference Most Valuable Player and Boston Globe and Boston Herald All-Scholastic selection from Tewksbury High School returns as a graduate student after skating as a senior alternate captain and earning All-New England Women’s Hockey Alliance second-team honors last year. She tied for the most points (30) and goals (14) on the team, while chipping in 16 assists. She also finished first on the team with a plus-20 rating and 272 draw wins.
Skylar Irving
Kingston, Mass.; F, So.; Northeastern
Irving scored six goals and added nine assists in her freshman season. The 15 points led all freshman on the team and earned her a position on the Hockey East All-Rookie Team. Irving came up big in the postseason, scoring a goal against Wisconsin in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament as well as a goal against Minnesota Duluth at the Frozen Four. She also contributed 23 blocks, which was second-most on the team among forwards.
Bella Parento
Montpelier, Vt.; D, Jr.; Vermont
In a season where testing the depth was a necessity primarily because of the Olympics and Olympic trials, Parento was one of only four players to skate in all 36 games in the 2021-22 season. A steady force on a defense that finished 16th in the nation in scoring defense (2.11 goals-against average), she finished third on the team with 47 blocks.
She also had a flair for the dramatic. The two goals she scored both were game-winners. The first came almost two minutes into overtime in the first game of the season in a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory over Rensselaer. The second came in arguably the team’s biggest win of the season, when she scored in the third period to lift Vermont over top-ranked Northeastern.
Caroline Peterson
East Falmouth, Mass.; F, Gr.; Providence
Peterson has played in every Providence game in each of the past three seasons and has scored the most goals on the team in each of the past two seasons, including a career-best 11 goals in 2021-22. With 129 career games played, she is 12 games from breaking into the top 15 in program history and 18 games away from claiming the top spot for herself.
Maddy Samoskevich
Sandy Hook, Conn.; D, Jr.; Quinnipiac
The Bobcats had one of the best defenses in the country in 2021-22 season with a 1.51 goals-against average, third best in the nation. Samoskevich played in all 39 games for Quinnipiac, and she proved to be a well-balanced player. She blocked 29 shots, had a plus-13 rating, and tallied 12 points on four goals and eight assists.
Her second goal of the season came on Jan. 2 against top-ranked Wisconsin and was the team’s only goal of the game. It also was an important goal as it answered Wisconsin’s only goal of the game and helped earn the Bobcats a tie.
Charlotte Welch
Winchester, Mass.; F, Sr.; Yale
A consistent scoring threat, Welch has 88 points in 93 career games and enters her senior year with 55 assists, tied for fourth-most in program history. She’s averaged just over 18 assists a year, which would catapult her into first place all-time.
Welch also stepped up and delivered during the ECAC Hockey tournament. She registered two assists in the team’s 3-1 victory over Princeton and followed that with an assist on the team’s lone goal in the championship game against Colgate.
