The Adirondack Northstars learned some valuable lessons on their way to a history-making season. The first is that it’s not how you start the year that matters, it’s how you finish that counts. The second lesson is to never give up on a player, or a dream.

Like most seasons, the 2022-23 campaign began with high hopes for this 14 & Under team. After tryouts in mid-August, the Northstars roster featured 18 skaters and only one goalie. Missing from the list was Aurora Graham-Hayes, who didn’t make the cut. Fortunately for her and the team, she refused to take “no” for an answer and returned for a second tryout session a week or two later.

As the season wore on, Graham-Hayes proved she belonged as she became a fixture between the pipes in leading the Northstars to the first USA Hockey National Championship in program history.

The 13-year-old netminder would play every minute between the pipes for the Northstars as the team outscored its opponents 29-9 on their way to a 6-0 tournament record.

“We might’ve scored a lot of goals, but it was our defense that actually won our championship,” head coach Ben Marcantonio said of the team’s 2-1 victory over 

Team Colorado.

The Northstars were one of five New York teams to come home from Nationals with a championship trophy. They joined the Long Island Gulls (Tier I 16 & Under), Saints Hockey (Tier I 14 & Under), the Rochester Grizzlies (Tier II 18 & Under) and the Valley Eagles (Girls 19U Tier II).

While the defense was the backbone for the Northstars down the home stretch, things didn’t start out that way. The team dropped its first two games against a Tier I team from the Central section, 7-1 and 13-2. That left Marcantonio thinking it might be a long year.

Still, they had a couple of things working in their favor. One was being able to practice and scrimmage against the association’s 16U team that has won three consecutive state titles. 

The second was the creation of a high school team that gave many of the girls extra ice time and more competition against older players.

“To play against older girls really helped them develop that toughness and grittiness that they needed to do what they did,” Marcantonio said.

That was evident at the New York State Tournament in March in Amherst as the Northstars shut down the Malone Miners 46ers to punch their ticket to Nationals held in Irvine, Calif., a month later.

While it was hard to keep from California dreaming about palm trees, sandy beaches and Disneyland, they knew they were traveling 3,000 miles for a reason.

“Just to be able to go cross country for a lot of them is part of the experience and well worth the trip. And the bonus on top of that is you get to play hockey,” said Marcantonio, who had been to three Nationals with his older daughter. 

“It’s an unbelievable experience and a testament to the hard work and dedication that it takes to make it there.”

Given the game schedule of one game a day, the players and their families had plenty of time to explore the area. But the focus was first and foremost on living up to their potential both in the classroom and on the ice.

“Their first commitment was school because a lot of the girls were missing days of school for this. Second one is, we were there to play hockey. Third was enjoy the time that we had together in a place that we might not make it back to,” the coach said.

While only a few family members and friends would make the trip, many more back home in Glens Falls followed the team’s progress as they prepared to give them a hero’s welcome with a victory parade that streamed through town and ended at the team’s home rink.

“I told them all along they had something special,” Marcantonio said. “Beginning of the season it was a little bit of a struggle, but when push came to shove these girls believed in each other. And when we won states and were making it to nationals, everybody was all in. It was all hands on deck, and they all committed to the team.”

The championship banner that now proudly flies inside the Glens Falls Recreation Center is not only a testament to this battle-tested group of female hockey players but it also shows every player wearing the association colors that there is more to strive for this season and beyond.

“What I’ve noticed most is the willingness and the commitment to learn and to put forth their best effort and practice every day,” said Marcantonio, who is now coaching a nucleus of last year’s team at the 16U level this season.

“You get some players that get out there and just go through the motions, but it seems like with success they’ve gained an understanding of what it takes to win and made that commitment to learn and get better every time they step on the ice.”