LYNN — It could be argued that no team got more out of its season last winter than the St. Mary’s girls hockey team. Despite starting the season three weeks later than normal and having to deal with all of the COVID restrictions that were put in place, the Spartans still played 20 games — losing only two of them and taking home a CCL Cup title in the process.
But now, the page has turned to 2021-22 and things are looking a little more normal off the ice. Which means on the ice, the expectations remain high for head coach Frank Pagliuca.
“It’s great to be back playing a more normal schedule in a more normal year,” said Pagliuca. “We were fortunate to have played as many games as we did last year, but we’re really looking forward to getting back to a more normal pace and we expect to compete with the best of them once again.”
The Spartans did lose a good bit of offensive production from last year’s team, as three of their top-five scorers — senior captains Samantha Porazinski (29 points), Marina DiBiasio (25 points) and Felicia D’Alessandro (23 points) — along with senior captain Makayla McGrath all graduated and moved on.
“Those girls were all tremendous leaders for us both on and off the ice, which was hugely important in such a tough year,” said Pagliuca. “It’s obvious that they’re leaving a big hole to fill, but we’re excited to see what our younger players do to step up.”
Luckily for the Spartans, there is a host of stellar talent returning to the ice this year. Leading scorer and newly named team captain Jenna Chaplain is back for her junior year with the Spartans after notching a team-high 24 goals to go along with 13 assists for a total of 37 points last season, which earned her 2020-21 Item Player of the Year honors. Fellow junior Maggie Pierce — who on Wednesday was named the 2021 Item Player of the Year for field hockey — is also back after a 27-point season as a sophomore. Amanda Forzati is excited to return to the ice after breaking her ankle two games into last season, while Kasey Litwin, Regan Sullivan and Haylie Grossman are returning with a host of experience.
And let’s not forget the goaltending position, where junior captain Ang Catino is back alongside junior Rylee Smith and sophomore Gianna Tringale.
“We have a really solid core of forwards this year, and that’s primarily going to be our strength,” said Pagliuca. “But at the same time, we experienced goalies and some strong defensemen returning, so we really have a lot to lean on.”
The Spartans have taken advantage of their practice time to this point in the preseason, running scrimmages against Arlington, Canton and Malden Catholic.
“I’ve been really impressed with everyone’s work ethic so far, and we’ve really gotten in a lot of good work in practice,” said Pagliuca. “Our scrimmages have been good to get us a taste of real game action, and I think it’s just made everyone really excited for the season opener.”
It all leads up to Saturday (6:20) at Connery Rink, when St. Mary’s opens up the regular season with a CCL matchup against Archbishop Williams.
“We have another grind of a schedule this year in the CCL with teams like Austin Prep, Arlington Catholic, Matignon and others,” said Pagliuca. “So to open up with a league game and then play back-to-back tough non-league games to start the year, we’re going to have to be ready to go from the first puck drop.”