The position of goalie in ice hockey can be rather isolating.
You’re all alone down one end of the rink, and typically only half of the game action involves you. Meanwhile, you’re not contributing to your team’s scoring and are viewed as the last line of defense preventing your opponent from scoring.
Very isolating indeed.
Imagine though being a goalie who happens to be a girl on a team of all boys. That’s taking something already isolating and adding another complex layer. Yet Erin Nilan has fully taken the complexity out of the situation and has thrived on the ice for St. Edmund Prep H.S., Sheepshead Bay.
Nilan is the senior goalie and team captain – and only girl – on the St. Edmund’s varsity ice hockey team. The 17-year-old netminder is about to wrap up her high school hockey career after spending all four seasons on the varsity level.
As a freshman, sophomore, and now senior, Nilan was named a Catholic High School Hockey League First Team All-Star. Considering that she lost her junior season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she received First Team All-Star honors in each full season she played.
Nilan’s family hails from St. Columba parish, Marine Park. She started playing ice hockey at age 4 and also played Catholic Youth Organization softball for St. Columba while attending elementary school at P.S. 207. In addition to hockey, Nilan enjoys art, robotics, and skateboarding while also being a top-notch student in the classroom.
Growing up, Nilan watched Eagles’ hockey games at Aviator Sports Complex, so when it came time for her high school decision, St. Edmund’s was her top choice. She also played for the New York Stars, a local youth hockey organization based out of Abe Stark Arena in Coney Island.
Nilan, who is one of just a small handful of girls playing in the Catholic League, said she has never been intimidated suiting up alongside boys. The CHSAA currently does not have a girls hockey league, so if you’re a girl in Brooklyn or Queens and want to play hockey, you’ll be playing with the boys.
“All my life I’ve played with the boys,” Nilan said. “I never really felt like it mattered to anyone else. It shows that if you can play hockey, it doesn’t matter. You’re just like everyone else when you’re on the ice.”
Not only is Nilan breaking barriers, but she’s also doing so at an All-Star level. St. Edmund’s head ice hockey coach Mike Leahy constantly receives positive remarks from opposing coaches about how impressed they are with Nilan, her skill level, and her bravery.
As for her teammates, all they care about is having the talented Nilan between the pipes stopping pucks. That’s it. They’ve accepted her as an important piece of a team looking to win as many games as possible.
“They never treated her any other way than as a teammate and as their goalie,” Leahy said. “I went in this with the mentality that I want to make sure Erin is treated just like I would want my daughter treated.”
The coach plans to have a postseason talk with his star goalie to reflect upon the amazing feat she accomplished over the past four years. It may have been lost in the shuffle, since Nilan and the team were sole focused on ice hockey. However, the strength of her character was constantly on display.
“She has shown that she can accomplish anything,” Leahy said. “This is something she’ll be able to look back on later in life when she comes up against obstacles.”
The CHSAA stands for the Catholic values of sport, such as sportsmanship, teamwork, and inclusion. There’s not a better example of inclusion than the way the St. Edmund’s Eagles accepted a girl goalie onto their team of boys.
It was those boys though who were able to enjoy some peace of mind while competing, knowing they had a three-time All-Star goalie stalwart in net. As isolating as it is to be a goalie, a goalie’s teammates surely get a boost of confidence knowing their goaltender is reliable in net.
And who really cares if that goalie is a girl? No one.
Contact Jim Mancari via email at jmmanc@gmail.com.