The Peabody/Lynnfield girls hockey team may have graduated some key players from last year’s Northeastern Hockey League title-winning team, but there’s still plenty of talent and experience returning in 2020.
The Tanners went 14-5-1 last season to capture the NEHL title, earning the No. 9 seed in the Division 1 tournament before eventually falling to No. 8 Boston Latin in the opening round.
“I think the most important thing for us is that we’ve laid a really solid foundation over the last couple of years, and last year especially,” said coach Michelle Roach. “We added a lot of young talent last season and those girls got some great experience, and now the key is to keep building on those successes.”
Peabody/Lynnfield will be returning to the ice this season without three of its best players from last year’s team, as Sammie Mirasolo, Jeny Collins and Carolyn Garofoli have all graduated from the program. Mirasolo — the Tanners’ all-time leading scorer with 144 points — was a two-time NEHL MVP and last year’s Item Player of the Year, while Collins was an All-Item selection and Garofoli was an Item All-Star.
“The gaps left by those three leaving will be big ones to fill, that’s for sure,” said Roach. “Those girls were all key players for us and they were with us for four years, so it’ll be tough to replace them.”
Luckily, Peabody/Lynnfield has plenty of talent returning as well. Jen Flynn, last year’s second-leading scorer and an All-Item selection, is back to lead the way as a senior alongside key contributors like Jenna DiNapoli and Paige Thibedeau. Audrey Buckley is set to take over for Collins between the pipes, and the Tanners have also added seven new players to the roster.
“We have a great mix of experienced players and young talent this year,” said Roach. “This year and last year we’ve added a lot of young players, and we only lost three girls from last year’s team, so we’re happy with the core that’s coming back.”
Peabody/Lynnfield got a bit of a delayed start to the season, starting up tryouts and practices last Saturday. With their season opener still two full weeks away, the Tanners still have time to put in plenty of work on the practice ice.
“We’re still a young team relatively speaking, but we’re very talented and that’s a great start,” said Roach. “We’re definitely focused on development at this point, but we’re confident that we’re going to be competitive in the league once again this year. We’ve got our eye on that opener in two weeks.”
Peabody/Lynnfield opens up the 2020-2021 season Jan. 9 (4) at home against Masconomet at McVann/O’Keefe Memorial Rink.
“We’ve got 14 games this year and they’ll all be tough,” said Roach. “The NEHL is a very strong league and we’ve got to be ready to go every night, and that’s going to start right away when we take on a strong Masconomet team.”