Hazel Hughes liked putting on the pads.
She loved the idea of carrying on the family tradition of strong goaltending. Harvard University fans still sing the praises of her father, Chuck Hughes, who backboned the Crimson to the program’s only national championship.
Listed as 5-foot-9 — he said he was actually 5-foot-8 — Hughes filled up the net nicely during his Harvard career, especially on April 1, 1989, the night he made 32 saves to fuel the Crimson past Minnesota in a 4-3 overtime thriller in St. Paul, Minn to win the title.
“I wanted to follow in my dad’s footsteps,” Hazel said.
She was a goaltender, from age 5 to 10. Then the boys she was playing against started firing shots into corners. Hughes found the net too big to cover.
“I loved playing goalie,” she said. “I loved being challenged. It gave me a level of excitement to play goalie. There was too much net (to shoot at) when I was in the net. I didn’t think I was good enough so I switched to forward.”
Good move.
Hughes, 15, is one of the top scorers at Worcester Academy despite only being a freshman. Utilizing a strong hockey IQ and elite speed, the Lancaster, Mass., native is a threat to find the net every time she hops over the boards.
Unsure of herself when the season started, the 5-foot-2 Hughes is off to a promising 9-7—16 start through 18 games for Worcester (9-9), a young team that recently played with just 11 skaters due to injury and COVID.
“She’s a really strong skater,” Worcester Academy head coach Kevin Zifcak said. “She’s been playing really well. She’s made the jump quickly. We’ve had some strong freshmen come in, but she’s one of the best.”
In her latest game, a 4-3 loss at Holderness, Hughes showcased her skills with a goal and assist.
Zifcak said Hughes compares favorably to two of his former players, Miceala Sindoris (Charlestown, Mass.), a senior on Northeastern’s powerhouse team, and Morgan Mordini (North Attleboro, Mass.), who’s putting up big numbers as a junior at Elmira College.
“She’s right there with those kids,” Zifcak said.
Hughes’ emergence has helped Worcester Academy cope with the season-ending loss of senior Lauren Potvin, a Sacred Heart-bound forward who was averaging a point a game when she suffered an injury at the Cushing Tournament.
“I can trust her in any situation,” Zifcak said of Hughes. “She plays without the puck pretty well. She has good speed and a great shot. She’s playing like a junior or senior.”
Hughes has joined Maribeth Fitzgerald (Boylston, Mass.) and Carly Brand (Hopkinton, Mass.) to form an impressive all-freshman line for the Hilltoppers.
“They all worked out last summer. It’s a message for all kids. The freshmen are shooting the puck much harder than before. Hazel probably has one of the hardest shots. She has very good strength. She just sneakily gets up on you,” Zifcak said.
Facing a quality Rivers School team with only 11 skaters this month, Worcester Academy tired late during a recent 5-1 loss. But Hughes was terrific, scoring a goal and managing three times to skate behind the Rivers defense and produce breakaways.
“Yes, she’s definitely a college hockey player if she keeps working at it,” said Zifcak, careful to not put a ceiling on Hughes. “I think she’s on that path. She can get there if she wants it. She’s a great student as well. She’s going to have a lot of options.”
A straight-A student, Hazel has plenty of time to think about college. Then she’ll have more time to think of a career path. She’s already started thinking about her post-college life, a sign of her maturity.
She’s thought of studying to become a lawyer.
“I like to argue for what I feel is right,” Hughes said.
Chuck Hughes said his daughter’s ascension over the last two years has been remarkable. Confidence has been an issue with Hazel, he said.
“Girls hockey is so much about confidence, so much about believing in yourself,” he said. “Since Dec. 1 the kid has just blossomed. She’s decided she’s just going to do it. She has a rocket of a shot. Right now Hazel just needs to be more confident coming through the neutral zone with the puck. She’s a sponge. She knows the game and learns.”
With a laugh, he says humility was not an issue even after he was cut from his freshman BC High team for being too small. He transferred to Catholic Memorial, grew three inches, and guided the Knights to three straight championships.
He took that cocky attitude to Harvard. In overtime of the national championship game, Minnesota clanked a shot off a post. After Harvard scored 4:15 into the first OT to win the program’s only national hockey title, a reporter asked Hughes if he had been worried. Hughes said he wasn’t worried. He told the reporter that if the shot was on target, he would have stopped it.
“I was really cocky back then because I thought that helped me overcome some of my limitations,” he said.
Hughes said when his daughter’s confidence catches up to her ability, an intriguing prospect will emerge.
“She’s not the best in her age group in the state of Massachusetts,” said Chuck Hughes, the owner and founder of Road To College, an admissions consulting service. “She’s closing the gap because of her drive and patience and maturity. Hazel is not going to be the girl who toe-drags the puck through the neutral zone. But if you give her a step wide she’ll beat you.”
Hazel Hughes has made a huge leap over the past year or two. Diligent off-ice training has been a major reason why.
During a recent visit to the Worcester Academy weight room, Hughes was feeling energized. She matched her deadlift record of 280 pounds. Then she lifted 300. With a friend videotaping her, Hughes surprised herself with a 310-pound effort.
“I love going to the gym. It’s probably one of my favorite things. I always want to better my max (personal bests). I was honestly so stoked,” Hughes said. “I could never imagine doing that. Two years ago I couldn’t deadlift 100 pounds. I’ve made so much progress. That’s really helped boost my confidence. In my stride I have so much more power. I was kind of shocked, but I was really proud of myself. Seeing that I did that just gave me more confidence. Seeing that work that I put in off the ice translate to what I do on the ice is one of the greatest feelings.”
During her journey to Worcester Academy, Hughes has risen the ladder within the East Coast Wizards program out of Bedford, Mass.
One of her Wizards coaches for two seasons was former U.S. women’s Olympic star A.J. Mleczko, who won a gold medal in 1998 and a silver medal in 2002 after starring at Harvard. She’s now an ESPN hockey commentator.
Like Hughes, Mleczko played prep school hockey (The Taft School). While at Harvard, she became the second winner of the Patty Kazmaier Award, given annually to the top women’s college hockey player in the nation.
Hughes said it was “inspiring” to be coached by Mleczko.
“It was just a great experience to have her around,” she said. “She would tell us after games, especially when things didn’t go well, that hockey is a game of mistakes. That quote has always stuck with me. It’s really good advice.”
Hazel raves about the support she’s received from her mother, Melissa, and her sister, Maeve, who’s three years older.
Maeve Hughes skated at Algonquin Regional High School before a serious bout with Lyme disease ended her hockey career. Hazel says she’s worked tirelessly to become the skater her sister was.
And then there’s her dad's influence.
“My biggest fan. He’s always been on my side,” she said. “His believing in me makes me believe in myself. I want to get better in having confidence in my skills. I’m not always confident. I want to be a more aggressive player. If I’m the first person on the puck I’ll get more opportunities.”
Unless she undergoes a major growth spurt, the 5-foot-2 Hughes is prepared to figure out ways to excel against bigger opponents.
“I think my size definitely has its disadvantages. When you’re skating it’s tough to go against big defenders,” she said. “But being small I can maneuver around the bigger players. When I go up against bigger players, I just say to myself, ‘I’m going to blow by them.’ I can use my speed to my advantage.”
Hughes isn’t looking too far into the future. She knows she has a lot to learn. She also knows her game is ascending.
“I never expected to improve the way I have,” she said. “I’m definitely very surprised. I didn’t think I’d be scoring every other game or scoring a point every game.”
Stopping the puck as a goaltender was fun. These days, though, Hazel Hughes smiles from ear to ear when she fires pucks into nets.
