LYNN– St. Mary’s girls hockey senior Alex Iacoviello hasn’t seen a ton of playing time in her final go-round as a Spartan. In fact, Iacoviello, a center/left wing, hasn’t scored a goal yet this winter. Iacoviello doesn’t provide many game-winning plays for the Spartans, but what she does bring is an element that every winning team needs: leadership.
“Alex is everything you want from a captain and a leader,” St. Mary’s coach Frank Pagliuca said. “She doesn’t play consistently and that’s a tough thing to control. She keeps a positive attitude with her teammates. She’s everything you want in a leader on your team and she brings it.”
Iacoviello, a Lynnfield native, is a four-year member of the Spartans varsity team. After joining the roster as a freshman, she missed her entire sophomore season with a hip injury. She found her way back on the ice last winter as a junior and was named a team captain prior to the start of her senior season.
“Alex definitely has the respect of her teammates,” Pagluica said. “She’s a great role model for how to put the team first. She exemplifies those qualities both on and off the ice. It’s a very unique quality that she possesses.”
Captaining a team always brings its share of challenges, especially when the group carries a handful of first-year varsity players and plenty of underclassmen. Iacoviello’s one of just three seniors on St. Mary’s roster. Pushing a group of younger players to prepare themselves for the varsity level isn’t the easiest of tasks, but Iacoviello hasn’t backed down.
“We’ve had a wave of new players come in,” Pagliuca said. “Our returning players have done a great job getting the younger players acclimated to varsity hockey. Alex has done a great job and it’s great to see. Just because you don’t play a ton doesn’t mean you can’t be a great leader and she exemplifies that.”
Coming into her senior season, Iacoviello’s main goal was to continue making positive strides in recovering from her hip injury. She spent the majority of her junior campaign getting re-acclimated to the ice.
“Due to my injury sophomore season, I had to have surgery and I didn’t start skating again until my junior season,” Iacoviello, who has dished three assists this season, said. “My junior season was sort of a rough comeback. Coming into my senior season, my last season on the team, I just wanted improve and make the most of the year.”
Despite not seeing as much playing time as she might’ve hoped, Iacoviello has left a lasting impact on the team. A two-sport athlete who also played goalie for the girls soccer team, Iacoviello holds her leadership abilities in high regard.
“If your team doesn’t have good leadership, you’re going to struggle,” Iacoviello said. “Our team has a lot of young players. It’s important because the younger players need good role models to look up to. Sometimes younger players lose sight of how important it is to work hard. Having good leaders is important to keep them motivated and confident.”
Iacoviello’s leadership as team captain has helped the Spartans get off to a strong start, as St. Mary’s has won 11 of its 13 games. St. Mary’s lost a handful of key seniors from last year’s team but Iacoviello feels the underclassmen have done a solid job in filling their vacancies.
“Looking at my three years playing here, we’ve had some tough starts,” Iacoviello said. “With a big group of young kids, we lost a lot of starters. We were hoping to start the season on a good start. Having three weeks of preseason really helped us develop our hockey IQ.”
The end goal for Iacoviello in her senior campaign is to lead her Spartan teammates to what the boys team achieved last season: a state championship. St. Mary’s has reached the tournament three times in Iacoviello’s four years. This year’s team qualified for states with a 6-2 win over Winthrop this past Saturday.
“For this final season I have a lot to prove,” Iacoviello, who carries a 3.8 GPA, said. ‘Making it to TD Garden this year would mean a lot, especially since the boys have been there the past two years. It’s everyone’s goal now, even the younger players. We want to be in the Garden in March and that’s what we’re pushing for each game.”
Iacoviello credited Pagliuca for believing in her throughout her four years with the Spartans.
“Coach Frank has been a really big influence in my hockey career,” Â Iacoviello said. “He’s really important to our team. I have to thank him for continuously believing in me, especially through my injury. He works hard in practice. He stresses hockey IQ and that’s really important for our younger girls. He’s a big aspect in the reason we’re doing so well this season.”
Iacoviello and the Spartans are back on the ice Saturday afternoon (2:10) when they host Auburn.