LYNN — When a team consistently finds itself in the state tournament and in the hunt for titles, expectations tend to remain high year after year. Such is the case for the St. Mary’s boys hockey team, especially when the bulk of last year’s roster is back on the ice this season.
“We have 18 players returning from last year’s varsity team, so there’s a lot of playing experience coming back,” said St. Mary’s coach Mark Lee. “We have high expectations every year no matter what, and this year is no different.”
The Spartans had a solid year in 2018-2019 despite a less-than-ideal finish. St. Mary’s finished with a 16-7-1 record and earned a berth in the Division 1A “Super 8” play-in game. After falling to Marshfield there, the Spartans earned the No. 1 seed in the Division 1 North tournament before falling to St. John’s Prep in the quarterfinal.
St. Mary’s lost only five seniors from last year’s team, but they were all key players. Captains Colin Reddy (18 goals, 11 assists), Nick Napolitano (12 goals, 11 assists) and Kyle Ouellette (3 goals, 10 assists) helped lead the way last season along with fellow seniors Damon Maribito (7 goals, 11 assists) and Jared Coppola (1 goal, 4 assists).
“Every year you lose players, and usually it’s the top scorers and things like that,” said Lee. “So it’s something that we’re used to, but we have a really good core that’s ready to step in and fill the void that those guys left behind.”
And there is plenty of talent returning. Sophomore Davis Kinne — who had a breakout freshman year with 10 goals and 12 assists — and junior Brady Carpenter (10 goals, 5 assists) are the top returning scorers, while Owen Maguire, Chris Kolodziej, Colby Magliozzi, Christian Moran and a host of others will also be looked upon to carry the load. Maguire and Kolodziej will serve as team captains.
“It’s something that we preach every year — you’re a year older and a year stronger and that comes with taking on more responsibility with the team,” said Lee. “A lot of these guys have progressed a lot over the past few years and they know it’s their time to step up and take the lead.”
The Spartans are also dealing with the departure of goalie Joe Purtell, who transferred to the Kent School after putting up a save percentage of 0.932 and six shutouts in his junior season. St. Mary’s has a transfer student of its own coming in to battle for the starting spot in senior Sal Caruso, who comes over from Catholic Central League foe Austin Prep. Sophomore goalies Sam York and Owen Giagrande, who both played on the Spartans as freshmen last season, will also be in the mix.
“Sal is someone we have high hopes for — he’s a great kid and a hard worker,” said Lee. “Owen and Sam were on the team last year and they’ve improved tremendously over the offseason, so there’s going to be a great battle for that starting spot.”
The Spartans opened up practice earlier this week, with 42 players coming out for tryouts. The roster has since been cut to 30 players, and after a series of scrimmages this weekend — Woburn on Friday, St. John’s Prep on Saturday and Arlington on Sunday — Lee will make the cuts down to the final 25-man team.
“We’re still a young team with a really nice sophomore and junior class, even with 18 players coming back,” Lee said. “So I think early on we’ll have some growing pains and some question marks, but I think we have a really good nucleus to start and build off of.”
St. Mary’s opens up the season at home on Wednesday, Dec. 18 (8) against Lowell Catholic at Connery Memorial Rink.