Senior goalie Troy Takesian hears the jokes.
A 3rd-year starter on the North Andover boys hockey crew, he’s made a reputation for himself on the town. Cracking 1,500 profession saves earlier this month provides to this system’s first successful file since 2020, and Takesian is ready to make a run on the Arizona State membership crew subsequent 12 months.
According to some round him, it sounds a bit too much like what North Andover native Joey Daccord did in his path to beginning in web for the NHL’s Seattle Kraken this 12 months – except for his enjoying at Cushing Academy – to be a coincidence. Takesian is playfully teased that he’s making an attempt to be like Daccord.
He isn’t, although it’s a reminder of how he provides to a kind of goaltender legacy produced out of the city, a legacy that reached an excellent increased degree this 12 months.
Takesian surpassed 1,500 saves on Feb. 16 in opposition to Tewksbury. As a part of a 57-save outing in opposition to Notre Dame (H), North Andover junior Julianna Taylor reached the identical plateau for the HPNA co-op the subsequent day.
In uncommon timing, they’ve made the historical past books collectively.
“It just feels great that my hard work on my own has affected a group of 20-plus guys so positively,” Takesian stated. “I think it’s kind of crazy that North Andover, the way that we have produced goalie talent specifically.”
“(1,500 saves as a junior) means a lot … I’m facing a lot of shots but I’m in the best league in the state so it’s going to happen,” Taylor stated. “But it’s just hard work that pays off to get to that point. … I think when you think of North Andover teams, you think they have good defense, good goalies.”
The work each have put in to achieve this level has impressed their coaches.
Hillies head coach Gary Kane will present as much as a rink to scout one of many many elite rivals HPNA faces within the MVC/DCL Large, and he’ll see that Taylor is commonly already there, eyeing the competitors.
Only 4 occasions has she allowed greater than two objectives in regulation this 12 months, and lots of of these 20 whole video games noticed her get peppered with pictures.
“Especially with the teams we have played in the last three years, she has just been spectacular,” Kane stated. “With a goalie of her caliber, it’s not that the kids let down, but they just trust she’s going to cover up some of the inequities and the things that we might not do well. She’s just allowed us to play at a higher level.”
A starter since her freshman 12 months, Taylor is among the most assured gamers Kane has ever coached. Her talent set has drawn the eye from prep colleges, although she’s determined to remain. Part of that reveals her loyalty and connection along with her teammates, and one other half reveals the aggressive hearth she has with the Hillies.
That’s additionally seen in her self-criticism in even a one-goal loss that she stood on her head in.
“If my team scores and I let in a puck, I feel like there could always be one more thing I could’ve done to stop the puck,” Taylor stated. “I just want to keep on pushing myself and not just be like, ‘Oh, that happens.’ I want to just work on getting better every single time.”
Takesian didn’t begin his sophomore 12 months because the lock-in starter – two had been combating for the job. But after he got here in as an harm substitute within the first sport, it’s been his job ever since.
“There’s not a lot that I can’t say about Troy,” stated North Andover head coach Scott Green. “Even as a sophomore, just through his play he was earning the respect of everyone in the program, and so then once they started to see what he was doing, anytime he spoke up people were listening. … His off-ice attitude and work ethic is just second to none with how hard he works to prepare with working out in the offseason, and training, and doing different camps.”
Much like for Taylor, the MVC/DCL II has produced fairly a number of offensive skills Takesian’s needed to face – particularly Tewksbury and Concord-Carlisle. The plan is all the time to carry opposing groups to at least one or two objectives, but when that’s not understanding, it’s specializing in a shutout within the third interval.
Offseason camps and golf equipment have helped him enhance to anchor a turnaround from the crew’s 5-11-4 file final 12 months, to now stand at 11-8-1. Since having to struggle for his job at a younger age, laying all of it out in follow has been a significant focus for him.
And it’s labored.
“Had a lot of work in high school and I don’t think I would’ve had it any other way,” Takesian stated. “When I was younger, I was always on club teams where I had to fight for that starting job and nothing was ever guaranteed. … In high school, especially when I was a sophomore showing up to practice, being able to compete with the older guys and showing them I was there for a reason was always something that lit a fire under me to keep working hard.”
Back in Div. 2 after a quick keep in Div. 1, Takesian and his eight senior teammates lastly attain the state match for the primary time of their careers. Wins over groups like Concord-Carlisle, Boston Latin, Masconomet and Arlington Catholic depart room to imagine the group might make some noise, matching up with No. 20 Milton because the thirteenth seed on Thursday.
“It just feels amazing not only to play in a playoff atmosphere, but to have it at home and all our friends there to watch,” Takesian stated.
HPNA seems to avenge an early exit within the Div. 1 state match final 12 months, preaching that it’s anybody’s sport and seeding doesn’t essentially matter. It has 9 losses this 12 months to seize the twelfth seed, however solely two of these losses have come by greater than two objectives regardless of dealing with fellow powers. It’s the one crew within the league to beat champion Lincoln-Sudbury, ended the 12 months with a win over Peabody/Lynnfield/North Reading and misplaced to NDA 1-0 in additional time.
Count on her and Takesian on giving each groups their greatest shot.
Source: www.bostonherald.com