Freshman defender stands out for BC Eagles
It’s a Friday night in Boston University’s Agganis Arena and the third period clock is ticking toward zero in a 2-2 match-up between the hosts and their Commonwealth Avenue rivals, Boston College.
On the Eagles’ bench, catching her breath between shifts, freshmen defender Madelyn Murphy shoots a quick look behind her shoulder, where several rows of fans— mainly young girls, all wearing royal blue and red jerseys with the name “Dorchester emblazoned across the front— are cheering her on.
Then, with 3:18 left, a teammate buries the puck in the back of the net. The Terriers never respond. For BC, it’s a sweep of the weekend series, and for the two dozen Dorchester Youth Hockey players cheering behind her, Murphy was the “coolest person” on the ice.
The Eagles are lucky to have her. Halfway through her first collegiate season, Murphy, who plays defense, has posted 12 points to her stat sheet with 4 goals and 8 assists, making her third in scoring points on the team. Last month, she was named Hockey East Rookie of the Week after a stellar performance against Merrimack, where she helped BC secure a 4-0 win with both a goal and an assist.
The Eagles record is 9-9-1, and with a short holiday break in place, Murphy is using the “downtime” to keep up her training, take her final exams, and leave the Heights campus for Dorchester, where she’ll spend the holidays with her parents, Katie and Jim, and her three siblings: Kaitlyn, 21, James, 19, and Christopher, 11.
“I grew up in Dorchester, and I started hockey there at the Learn to Skate program,” the 5-foot-8 Murphy told The Reporter in an interview early this month. “My brother and I were out there together just messing around. When he joined his first team, I thought he was the coolest person, so I obviously wanted to continue with that.”
Madelyn Murphy, who wears No. 2 for the Boston College Eagles women’s ice hockey team, is a standout defender and has four goals and eight assists in her first season at The Heights. The 18-year-old skater is one of four children of Dorchester’s Katie and Jimmy Murphy. BC Athletics photos
She added: “I was the only girl on the team, but my coach believed in me since day one. There, we won state and league championships. All my success comes from those first couple of years with Dorchester Youth Hockey (DYH).”
Jeff Hampton, a longtime DYH leader who coached Murphy, has caught a few of her games at BC’s Conte Forum. “We saw her play against Saint A’s [St. Anselm], and it seems effortless for her to play at that level, to play Division I hockey. The way that she can skate now, knowing how she was when she was 8 and so small, it’s really fun to watch.
“There are a lot of freshmen who can’t make the impact that she does,” he added. “I think BC is very lucky to have a player of her caliber make such an impact so early in her career.”
Murphy’s first point, an assist, came quickly – in the team’s opening exhibition game against Stonehill College. “I came down, took a shot, and then Emma Conner buried the rebound. That was like no other feeling.”
A few weeks later, she hit another milestone while playing in BC’s Conte Forum against Holy Cross. “I took a shot on the power play, it bounced off like two different people, and then it ended up in the back of the net,” she said. “That was my first goal – it was quite the experience for a first goal, but I loved it. Everybody jumped on me, and when I went through the line, I just felt like one of the happiest people ever. It was unreal.”
A REDHEAD NAMED ‘MADDIE’
Hampton first spotted Madelyn Murphy’s potential when she was eight. “My first impression actually came when I watched her on the soccer field when my boys were playing in Dorchester Youth Soccer. She was easily the best athlete out there,” he said.
“On the ice, she was easily one of the best skaters that DYH has ever had. From 8 years old, moving up, she progressed. It was natural to her,” he said. “She is just an athlete.”
A few months later, Hampton volunteered to coach the team his sons, Michael and Patrick, were playing with. Amidst the group of rowdy pre-teen boys was a red-headed girl whose nickname was “Maddie.”
“I can’t say enough good things about her,” he said. “She’s the player you want to have on the team, but even more so, she’s the kind of person that you want your kids to be friends with, she’s that good of a person.”
After years of playing with the boys, Murphy traded in one red, white, and blue jersey for two others. During the school year, she wore the Dexter Southfield crest on her chest, and in the off season, she skated for the Assabet Valley girls’ club hockey program out of Concord.
“When I was in 8th grade, I made the varsity team with coach Maggie Taverna. I was on the varsity team for five years, and it was honestly the best time of my life,” she said. “In 8th grade, I never played, I didn’t touch the ice actually once, but [Taverna] was taking a bet on me and developing me as a player. She believed that I belonged there.”
A large contingent of Maddie Murphy fans, including a group of girls who play with the Dorchester Youth Hockey program, cheered for her at a recent BU-BC contest one of her recent games at the Agannis Arena. DYH courtesy photo
At 13, even without touching the ice once, Murphy was dreaming of one day playing for the Eagles’ maroon-and-gold team in Chestnut Hill. Luckily for her, Coach Taverna knew what it would take to get there.
She graduated from Boston College in 2009 as the school’s record holder for most games played, having earned Hockey East All-Star awards on defense for straight times, and, in 2016, induction into the Beanpot Hall of Fame.
By 2020, she was helping a future Eagle learn how to fly.
Of the Madelyn Murphy who suited up for the varsity in eighth grade, Taverna said: “She rode the bench a lot, to be honest. Learning how to play with the pace, learning how to be a good teammate, learning how to play selflessly for the group, all those things.
“By the time she hit freshman year, she really advanced. I don’t know if it was a growth spurt or just the maturity she had, but that’s when she started showing up and being a pivotal player on the defensive end.”
Murphy earned her Eagles’ wings during the summer heading into junior year at Dexter Southfield. “After your sophomore year, you can get contacts from colleges. I sent out a few emails,” she said. “My first was sent here to Boston College. Once I got the text on June 15 from my coach, I was in awe. I didn’t know how to react. I was sitting next to my mom, and we had so many emotions.”
Murphy verbally committed to the BC that August, but she still had two seasons left in Brookline.
While attending high school, she had picked up a third, and perhaps her most meaningful red, white, and blue jersey, when she laced up for the U18 USA Women’s Select Hockey team for a rivalry series against Canada in Lake Placid. That same year, she was invited to participate in the 2023 USA Hockey Women’s National Festival.
With a strong conclusion to her high school career and multiple appearances with USA Hockey behind her, Murphy moved onto BC’s upper campus last summer.
“This was my first choice, my dream school always, and I am lucky to be here.”
Murphy is a nifty puck-handler in her maroon-and-gold BC uniform. BC Athletics photo
When she’s back home in Dorchester, her favorite spot should come as no surprise: Devine Memorial Rink on Morrissey Blvd. Returning there “brings back memories.” She also gets chances to cheer on her brother Chris, who might just be her biggest fan.
“My parents and little brother have been to every single one of my games, even the ones that are far away,” said Murphy. “We played at Cornell [660 miles round trip], and they were there. They come to all of the games.”
For both player and her clan, another milestone looms next month, on Jan. 13, when Madelyn “Maddie” Murphy will step onto the ice for her first Beanpot game. “I’m beyond excited about that,” she said. “We’re looking forward to the Beanpot and having a successful year.”
When asked how she would describe herself as a player, Murphy gave her family, coaches, and teammates much of the credit, but added something that perhaps is rooted in her DYH experience.
“I like to say I bring the physical game every game. I’m leaving it all out there,” she said. “I always want to bring my best, so my team succeeds. Whether that’s trying to create offense or playing a defensive game, I’m doing whatever I can to make our team successful.”
Hockey observers are already predicting big things for Murphy’s career.
“She’s only 18, she’s got so many years of hockey ahead of her,” said her youth-time coach, Jeff Hampton. “I hope she continues to grow, get better, and get stronger. I want her to make it to the world championships, Olympics, and the PWHL (Professional Women’s Hockey Lague) , and I don’t think there is any doubt that she will.”
Added Maggie Taverna: “The thing with Murph, I think, [is that] she doesn’t have a ceiling. How much she’s willing to put in, how much discipline she has on the ice, in my eyes, the sky’s the limit for her since she is such a dynamic player.”
While these observers and others envision milestones and awards, whether in collegiate or PWHL play), in Murphy’s future, the player herself is taking things one game at a time while enjoying every second of college life.
“I do hope to play with USA Hockey in the future and in the PWHL, but as for right now, I’m not really focused on that, just on our season.”
