LYNN – Rolling out of bed in the dead of winter for a 6 a.m. ice time may not find its way onto Abby Gauthier’s list of fondest high school memories, but you won’t hear her complaining.The St. Mary’s senior did something most high school athletes can only dream about doing when she signed a national letter of intent Wednesday to play hockey at Providence College. In doing so, Gauthier became the first St. Mary’s female student to receive a full athletic scholarship to a Division 1 college.”I’ve seen other kids (get scholarships), but I never thought in a million years this would happen to me,” said Gauthier, who hopes to be the first of many Division 1 scholarship players to come out of St. Mary’s.Gauthier’s accomplishments on the ice speak for themselves. She heads into her senior year with a shot at becoming the all-time leading scoring leader in Massachusetts high school girls hockey. She has 137 goals and 131 assists for 268 points. She can surpass the current record-holder, Katie Cox of Framingham, with 36 points. Cox has 303.Getting a full boat to Providence, however, required more than just hockey skills. Gauthier had to work equally hard in the classroom.”I’ve been working on it since I was 14, in and out of the classroom,” Gauthier said, adding that there were always some doubters out there who didn’t think she would be heading to college on a hockey scholarship.Behind every college hockey player, there is usually a parent or parents who spent half their lives inside a hockey rink or in the car driving to the next game, tournament or practice. Brian and Marianne Gauthier have been there, and they couldn’t be happier about the way everything has worked out for their daughter.”It involved a lot of hard work on her behalf,” Brian Gauthier said. “Going early action, her grades all had to be there.”Marianne Gauthier credited St. Mary’s with helping her develop the confidence she needed to succeed.”It was all positive, nothing negative,” she said. “I can’t say enough about the school.”St. Mary’s head of school Raymond Bastarache, whose son, Marc, plays on the Providence men’s hockey team, was thrilled by Gauthier’s choice.”We’re extremely proud of her,” he said, adding that Gauthier has proven what hard work in class, on the ice and off the ice can do. Bastarache said it’s very difficult for a student who isn’t doing a post-graduate year at a prep school or taking some other avenue such as independent hockey to earn a four-year scholarship.Gauthier, a center, first strapped on the skates for St. Mary’s when she was in the seventh grade, and since that time, she’s played in 107 games, including 13 tournament appearances. The team’s record over that stretch is 80-20-7.Gauthier’s best year in terms of goal-scoring was her freshman year, when she had 39 goals and 22 assists and the team won the Division 2 state championship. Last year, she had her highest point totals (66 points). The team made it to the Division 1 state semifinals the last two years.”Abby has improved tremendously, especially in the defensive end,” St. Mary’s coach Frank Pagliuca said. “More than just the points, her ability to kill penalties, take face-offs and understand the roles of all the players on the ice has set her apart.”Gauthier has an older sister, Emily, who is currently in law school, and a younger brother, Brian, who is a junior on the St. Mary’s boys hockey team.