Drew Caps Successful Season Between the Pipes for Milton High Girls Hockey

Off the ice, Emma Drew is calm, cool and composed, but on it, she established herself as one of the finest high school goaltenders to ever don a sweater. After leading the Wildcats to a pair of tournament berths in her sophomore and junior seasons, Drew finished her high school career on top, allowing just 34 goals in a 19 game span as a senior.

Despite Drew’s microscopic 1.78 goals against average, the Wildcats failed to make the tournament, finishing with a tough 4-12-4 overall campaign.

Even as her senior season failed to see the tournament, Drew was quite pleased with her team’s efforts.

“We knew going into the season that we were going to be a very young team,’’ said Drew. “We had a lot of underclassmen and a few eighth graders, and scoring goals was going to be a challenge for us. It was great to watch the eighth graders and underclassmen really grow and develop into great hockey players.”

A lifelong Milton resident, Drew’s passion for the sport developed at an early age when she would participate in area youth hockey leagues with the boys. Since the age of three, Drew played the game, and suited up the goalie pads as a seventh grader.

“My (grandfather) was the president of (Dorchester Youth Hockey), and hockey has always been a huge sport around the house,’’ said Drew. “I started playing hockey in area leagues, and I was a defenseman for the most part. I enjoyed playing out and skating with the others, but then there was such a need for a goaltender that I decided to give it a shot.”

As a seventh grader, she served as a goaltender in the Milton House League as well as the Boston University Lady Terriers before practicing with the Wildcats’ varsity squad as an eighth grader.

“I couldn’t get the eighth grade waiver, but coach (Radley) would let me practice with the girls, and I got a lot of experience out of that. It was a lot of fun going against the high school girls when I was only in eighth grade, and I really learned a lot from the older girls and the coaches.”

Earning a varsity spot as a freshman in the 2008-09 season, Drew saw limited action, playing in just five games, as the Wildcats advanced to the Division 2 state title game.

Suffering a 6-1 loss to Hingham at Harvard University’s Bright Arena, Drew managed to see extended playing time and fared impressive in the game’s final eight minutes.

“It was just awesome being on the ice in a state championship game,’’ said Drew. “There was a rush when I got onto the ice, and I just tried to enjoy every minute of it that I was out there. Unfortunately, we didn’t win, but being out there was something I definitely enjoyed.”

As a sophomore, Drew earned the starting job and posted an impressive 0.93 goals against average while leading the Wildcats to a fine 13-3-4 mark.

“Emma is one of the best goaltenders I’ve ever seen,’’ said coach Maggie Radley. “She’s a true warrior and she leads by example both on and off the ice. She’s an absolute pleasure to coach, and she’s someone I’m definitely going to miss. She left it all out on the ice for us, and she really carried us through in some games.”

Earning her first Bay State All-Star selection, Drew guided the Wildcats into the post-season, but the stay was brief following a 3-1 first round defeat to Norte Dame of Hingham.

“It was tough losing in the first round,’’ said Drew. “You’re hoping that you can at least win the opening round game and see what happens after that. We played hard, but in the end, we just came up short and couldn’t pull off the win.”

In her junior season, Drew turned in another fine campaign, en route to an 11-3-5 mark along with another high seed in the Division 2 tournament. Unfortunately, the Wildcats fell in a tough 5-2 first round defeat to Wellesley.

“It was really tough losing in the first round of the tournament for the second straight season,’’ said Drew. “Wellesley was the better team, and they just came at us on offense.”

With the losses of some key graduating seniors, the Wildcats were filled with youth and inexperience, and despite Drew’s efforts, could only score 21 goals throughout a 20 game season.

One highlight was a 1-0 win over Braintree when Drew held the fort, while stopping 36 shots.

“Braintree is a really good team, and we did everything we could to stop them,’’ said Drew. “It was just one of those games where I was able to make some key saves and keep us in the game.”

Continue to struggle for goals, the Wildcats maintained within striking distance against opponents throughout the much of the season. During her sophomore and junior seasons, Drew posted a combined total of 10 shutouts while racking up a pair this year.

“Every game was pretty close, and we lost by either one or two goals,’’ said Drew. “The girls came out and really gave it a great effort, but we just a little trouble scoring goals.”

In the last week of the season, Drew suffered a dislocated ankle along with torn tendons. Despite missing just one game, a 5-0 loss to Dedham, Drew returned to the ice while playing her final game, a 3-1 defeat to Falmouth.

“I didn’t want to miss playing in my last game at Milton High,’’ said Drew. “I did everything I could to get myself out on that ice, and play that game. It was very painful, but I was able to suck it up and pull through.”

For the third consecutive season, Drew earned a spot on the Bay State Conference All-Star team, and hopes to take her talents to the next level. Currently, she’s looking at Division 1 schools such as the University of New Hampshire, Maine, Northeastern and the University of Connecticut. While she may not be guaranteed a scholarship, she’ll definitely try out as a walk-on.

“I hope I still get a chance to play in college,’’ said Drew. “It’s still too early to decide where I’m going to go, but we’ll just have to see what happens and take it from there.”