Late start hasn’t hurt oldest relative
By: Bob Nuse
Blathnaid Mahon may have gotten a late start, but she’s making up for it rather quickly.
Mahon, a junior at Princeton High School, comes from an ice hockey family. But, despite being older than her siblings, she actually started playing the sport after her younger sisters.
"My cousin and sister started when they were 6 or 7 years old," said Mahon, whose younger cousin, Cami, is a sophomore on the PHS team and younger sister, Dee Dee is a freshman. "I started when I was in eighth grade. One day my dad was dropping off my sister and I decided I wanted to play since she was playing. I asked him if I could play because it looked fun. I started off playing with Nassau and I really liked it right from the start."
From the Nassau Hockey Club, where she still plays, Mahon moved on to playing for Princeton High. This year, the junior has scored six goals and added four assists for the Little Tigers, who are 7-1 after a 7-3 win over Summit on Saturday. She is just one of three Mahons making an impact for Princeton. Cami has four goals and six assists, while Dee Dee has added five goals and six assists.
"They all bring a little experience," said Princeton coach Matt Becan, whose team will play at Princeton Day School on Thursday. "They all play together on their club team, so I try to pair them up when I can. They play very well together.
"It’s nice to see them come in and help the program get stronger. We had Blathnaid come in the first year, then Cami, and now this year Dee Dee. It’s nice that the whole family gets involved. They all take the sport seriously."
At Princeton, the sport seems to be more and more serious each year. This year, with a relatively young team, the Little Tigers are putting together their best season yet.
"The team has really bonded well," Mahon said. "The chemistry is great and we’re just clicking. Now that we have two strong full lines, we feel like we’re deeper and better than we were last year.
"A lot of us also play for Nassau, about half the team. So that helps us because of a lot of us have played together quite a bit. We lost a lot of seniors from last year. But this year I think we’re playing well together."
For Mahon, having her sister and cousin playing for the team certainly makes things easier. And from watching them on the ice, it would be hard to tell Blathnaid got started well after the others.
"Everyone is surprised when I tell them how long I’ve been playing," Mahon said. "I knew how to play because I have four siblings that play and I had watched them. I also play field hockey and lacrosse, so I have a lot of athletic experience. I just had to get used to playing hockey. There are three girls in my family and we all play."
Mahon devotes a lot of time to ice hockey, but that doesn’t keep her from playing other sports as well. She is also a key member of both the field hockey and lacrosse teams at PHS.
"It’s different because with hockey you really need to be a part of a team to get ice time," Mahon said. "With lacrosse, I can just go outside and work on my skills and practice. I think it helps the new players that a lot of us play on two teams and we get to play a lot. As long as we keep playing together, I think we’ll keep getting better."
The Little Tigers will get a good idea of where they stand this year after playing PDS on Thursday. The teams have not met yet this year after playing some close games a year ago.
"It will be exciting," Becan said. "We’re looking forward to it. I think we’re two evenly matched teams. It’s a game that should come down to the wire and it should be exciting."