For juniors Eliza Belle Carestia and Russell Coogan, family time has often been spent at the ice rink, where growing up together meant sharing practices, games, and countless hours on the ice. This winter season, these two cousins stepped into their first year as starting goalies for the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School’s (MVRHS) girls’ and boys’ varsity hockey teams, an accomplishment that has been years in the making, and carries a storied family connection to the sport.
“I feel like we’ve practically lived with each other our entire lives. We were over at each other’s houses at least four times a week, and I feel like we’re really close because of that. Now that we’ve played the same position, we understand each other a bit more,” Russell said.
Eliza Belle and Russell’s hockey careers began at age 4, when they played for the MV Youth Hockey program’s House Mites team. Russell started playing goalie when he was 8, and encouraged Eliza Belle to try the position when she was 10 years old.
Nell Coogan, a guidance counselor at MVRHS, is Eliza Belle’s mother and Russell’s aunt. Ms. Coogan explained that she first noticed Russell’s willingness to help guide Eliza Belle’s development as a goalie during a hockey clinic. “As an aunt, I was super-impressed with Russell and how much he wanted to teach [Eliza Belle],” she said.
For Eliza Belle and Russell, the love of hockey is a family tradition, passed down from parents who were both former MVRHS hockey players. William Coogan, Russell’s father and Eliza Belle’s uncle, also played goalie, and said that the sport is woven into the family’s history. “My father — their grandfather — always said ‘Coogans play hockey,’ so they have both played since they were able to skate,” Mr. Coogan said.
Eliza Belle explained that being a goalie is as much a mental game as it is a physical one, demanding focus, resilience, and the ability to reset after every shot.
“To be a goalie, you have to be a person who’s willing to get shot on for fun, and it takes one crazy person on each team to do it. It’s a big responsibility, and it takes a lot of guts. And my cousin and I do it for fun, so that means we’re the crazy ones,” she said.
Eliza Belle added, “In hockey games sometimes goalies have to be like goldfish, because they have short-term memory. You just gotta be like ‘all right, that sucked, but I just have to stop the next shot’ and let it go.”
Teammates have witnessed firsthand how much Russell and Eliza Belle have grown over the years. Junior Max Metell, assistant captain of the boys’ hockey team, shared his appreciation for Russell. “I think Russell has been great about handling some stressful situations and being able to navigate those. He’s been a really good leader, he’s been a great teammate, he’s a great guy. It’s a pleasure to be able to play with him,” said Max.
Junior Kelly Pachico, who has played with Eliza Belle since they were 4, highlighted Eliza Belle’s performance in the last home game. “She was making saves left and right, sliding across the net — glove save over here and blocker save over there. She was just killing it,” said Kelly.
For Eliza Belle and Russell, being cousins has meant always having someone to lean on. “It’s big to know that we always had each other’s back, no matter what. Just knowing that we’re going through the same thing and that we always have each other to fall back on,” Russell said.
