WINTHROP — The St. Mary’s girls hockey team brought a strong offensive effort into Larsen Memorial Rink Wednesday, skating to a 6-1 win over Winthrop.
“This is a tough place to play,” Spartans coach Frank Pagliuca said. “Winthrop always gives us a tough challenge. They’re a good team and they’re very aggressive. We knew we would have our hands full coming in. We haven’t had a ton of success in this building over the last six or seven years.”
The Spartans had plenty of success Wednesday led by three goals from senior Lexie Turner. Maggie Pierce, Makayla McGrath and Zoe Solomons each scored one goal and Samantha Porazinski dished three assists.
“I thought Makayla McGrath played a really great game,” Pagliuca said. “She hasn’t seen a ton of ice time but she took advantage of her opportunities. She scored a big goal for us where she came right out in front of the net. She brings a physical element to the game that we sometimes miss. I really thought she brought a lot of energy and played hard.”
A 5-goal loss stings for the Vikings but head coach Butch Martucci has no shame in falling to the Spartans.
“I would assume this is one of the best teams we’ll see because they’re ranked pretty high,” Martucci said. “They took in a couple of very good players. For us, we want to see these teams. It’s a good eye-opener. We’re really young this year. We’re aging and gaining experience.
“It’s great for our players to get out there against a team like that. I felt they adjusted pretty well as the game went on, we did a little better. Just too many mistakes and it’s not a good day to make those mistakes against a team like St. Mary’s.”
Those mistakes started early on when Turner found herself with a point-blank scoring chance and cashed in to put the Spartans on the board just a few minutes into the opening period.
Winthrop bounced back just 23 seconds later. Mia Martucci ripped a shot from the right faceoff circle that found the back of the net and tied the game at 1-1.
But the Spartans offense exploded from there, scoring three goals in a 1-minute span to get back out front. Porazinski started things off with a nice assist on Pierce’s goal. Next, Turner got on the board again McGrath added another tally just 15 seconds later to put St. Mary’s ahead 4-1.
“It’s good to jump out,” Pagliuca said. “We scored and then we gave up kind of a crazy bounce type of goal. I was proud of our kids for responding right back and building the lead back up. It showed a lot to me how we came back and responded in a positive manner.”
Midway through the second period, Solomons grabbed a rebound behind the net and scored on a wrap around. Turner capped off her hat trick a few minutes later with a shorthanded goal assisted by Kelsey Sullivan to give the Spartans a 6-1 lead.
Winthrop had a chance to chip at the lead with a 5-on-3 power play in the third period but Spartans goalkeeper Angela Catino made four saves and St. Mary’s held on the rest of the way.
“This is a game that I always try to make sure we take because it’s a good measuring stick for where we actually are,” Martucci said. “If we play them well, that means we know we’re a strong team in a good place. If this happens we know we have some work to do.”
Both teams are back on the ice Saturday. Winthrop (4-1) has another tough test at Peabody/Lynnfield (4) while St. Mary’s (4-0-1) hosts Boston Latin (4).