Athletes of The Week: Lydia Anderson, Chiara Christie, Kathryn Kester & Michaela O'Brien

A girl in a green jersey speeds down the ice, winds up and shoots a wrist shot. The puck flies through the air until senior, co-captain and goalie Michaela “Moby” O’Brien slides across the crease and deflects it from the goal. The three other senior co-captains, Lydia Anderson, Chiara Christie and Kathryn Kester, along with the rest of the team, leap onto the ice to celebrate their shootout victory over Brooks. 

As captains of Girls’ Varsity Hockey, Anderson, Christie, Kester and O’Brien are guiding the team of 21 through their winter season using their distinct personalities and unique repertoire of skills. The four seniors have led Big Red hockey to an impressive 5-2-3 record thus far. 

O’Brien first picked up a hockey stick at the age of four and has not put it down since. She started her hockey career as a forward but quickly found her groove in front of the net, remaining a brick wall for Big Red since arriving as a prep. She credits her love of hockey to her dad who has played hockey his whole life. “He has been there for me for it all and has rarely missed a game,” she said. 

Upper Jenna Brooks described O’Brien as the “the wild one” because of her vocals and the energy she brings onto the ice. Christie  said that O’Brien is able to “get the team hype before games.” Anderson simply said, “Moby is a complete bro in the most basic sense of the word.” 

During games, O’Brien is always a reliable and strategic player, whom upper Keaghan Tierney compared to a “quarterback.” “She tells everyone what they should be doing when it’s in our zone,” Tierney said.  

Lower Alyssa Xu also highlighted O’Brien’s grit. “Moby is very quick in goal and is not afraid to drop bodies both in front and behind the net.” Xu shared her favorite memory of O’Brien. “I went to pick the puck up from behind our net when Moby skated around the net to stop the puck and on her way back around, absolutely demolished the girl forechecking me. She landed hard on the ice and Moby got a penalty, but those girls definitely learned not to mess with Moby.”

Like O’Brien, Anderson started playing hockey when her father encouraged her and her siblings to pick up the game after she learned to skate at the young age of four. Her passion for theesport comes not only from how fun winning a game can be, she said, but also the people that she gets to play with and the friendships that she forms. 

As varsity starter since prep year, Anderson recognized the significance of being elected a captain. She sees her role as someone who provides staunch support for the team even when they are the underdogs, making sure everyone on the team is feeling “seen and respected.” According to Tierney, who dubbed Anderson the “mom” of the team, these are the very qualities that the captain embodies. 

Christie lauded Anderson for her ability to always keep the team focused on executing their game plan. O’Brien highlighted Anderson’s skills and reliability as one of the team’s leading scorers. “Lydia is just a goal scorer and a playmaker. You can always count on her to score in big games,” she said.

Tierney echoed O’Brien’s sentiments and added, “Lydia is so smooth with the puck and is very skilled in the offensive zone. Lydia never gives up.” Xu agreed and pointed out that Anderson is a “super hard worker who wins lots of 50/50 puck battles.” 

For Christie, her passion for hockey began when her older brother inspired her to play. “I started skating as soon as I could walk on the pond in my backyard with my older brother,” Christie said. She started her hockey career in the net, blocking shots as a goalie for a boys’ team, but she switched to playing forward for a girls’ team at age 13. After ditching the bulky pads to be a forward, Christie quickly improved in her new position with help from her brother. “My brother played a big role in helping me adjust to my new position by helping me with my shot and giving me pointers after my games,” Christie said. 

Christie is thankful to hockey for the connections she has made. “Whether it is your own team or you meet someone who has played somewhere else, you instantly have this camaraderie I haven’t found with other sports,” she said. 

As a leader, Christie strives to be available to her teammates when needed. Though the team is always supportive of each other as a whole, upper Jill Cloonan believes that Christie in particular is “always there to pat teammates’ back if they make a mistake.” 

Brooks, meanwhile, pointed out that Christie is one of the most hardworking players who “leads by example.” Cloonan noted that Christie is always “looking to set a good example to the underclassmen who look up to her for her kindness and keen vision on the ice.” Fellow captain Anderson added that Christie is not “necessarily the loudest in the locker room, but when she has something to say, people listen.”

This year, Christie’s versatility and commitment to the team was put on display when Tierney suffered an injury early in the season. Without any complaints, Christie switched to play defense to fulfill the team’s needs. O’Brien said, “Christie usually played forward for us, but, when Keaghan got hurt, Chiara stepped up and went back on D which she is doing a tremendous job with.” Xu added that “Chiara excels at having patience with the puck and playing defensive hockey.”

Growing up in New York City, Kester first hit the ice on figure skates. However, she was still raised around the influence of hockey due to her uncle and grandfather who both played the sport competitively. After much persuasion, Kester’s parents found her a team in New York City, and Kester is grateful for how supportive her parents have been throughout her whole hockey career.

Kester recalled how insecure she was upon arrival at Exeter; one mistake was enough to shake her confidence on the ice. However, she believed that, over time and with the help of coaches and teammates, she got better at recovering from her mistakes.

To Kester, being a captain means “being a leader both on and off the ice and setting an example for everyone on the team.” She hoped to show people the importance of working hard and being supportive of one another. Prep Molly Longfield pointed out that Kester demonstrates these qualities especially off the ice, where “Kester is always there to help her teammates through issues.”

Keaghan highlighted Kester’s skills, saying, “She is a massive threat on the ice with her hockey smarts. She is super solid on defense and rarely anyone gets by her. If they do then she makes up for it.” Brooks marveled at Kester’s slap shots, saying, “Kester’s slap shot is so hard it hurts to block her shots.”

When asked about her favorite memory on Big Red’s Girls’ Varsity Hockey team, Kester said she would always remember her prep year E/A at Andover, when “Kaleigh Conte ‘18 dangled the defender and passed [her] the puck for a clean shot to score the first goal of [her] high school career.”

Anderson shared that she will miss “the little things about hockey—the feeling when you block a shot, or dancing in the locker room and in general getting to play my favorite sport with my favorite people.”