The St. Mary's of Lynn girls' hockey team was whistled for apenalty with a minute left to play in Saturday night's season openeragainst Braintree. Trailing 2-1, the Wamps pulled their goalie tocreate a 6-on-4 power play.
However, a focused and experienced Spartan defense held offBraintree for the first win. And, more importantly, a fresh start.
'They are a good team, well coached, and physical,' said St.Mary's coach Frank Pagliuca. 'It was a good sign at the end of thegame to kill the penalty.'
'It's about being in that moment and not getting caught up in thecrowd. It's about trusting each other and communication and wantingto be in that moment.'
It was the Spartans' first 'moment' since their 3-2 overtime lossin the quarterfinals to eventual Division 1 state champion HinghamHigh last March. 'Losing last year was hard because that was thefirst loss that I had at St. Mary's,' said senior cocaptain RachelDonahue.
The pain of that defeat - which broke a 100-game unbeaten streak- still stings, but the players learned more from one loss thanthey had from their 96 wins (and four ties).
'I never truly had a sense of losing or known how much of animpact it would make on me,' said cocaptain Genevieve Benoit. 'Ilearned that [a win is] never going to be handed to you, you have towork for it.'
St. Mary's has nine returning players that will all bringtournament experience to the ice this year.
'A good core of the team coming back, the majority of whom haveplayed in a lot of big games,' said Pagliuca. 'They know what toexpect.'
A number of the returning players 'have experienced the gloryand, as far as last year, the downfall,' Benoit said.
'Collectively we all want to be back there. We all want thatstate championship.'
The Spartans graduated Sabrina Iannetti a two-time Globe All-Scholastic who now plays at Saint Anselm.
Pagliuca has high expectations for junior left wing AlisonButler.
'Alison has been a huge contributor for us since freshman year,'said Pagliuca. 'She sees the ice very well; you'll notice that shealways has her head up. Her peripheral vision allows her to seewhat's coming at her.'
Donahue said Butler 'knows how to score goals. She knows what todo with the puck and she back checks and helps out on defense.'
A great finisher and passer, Butler netted 22 goals and added 27assists for 49 points last year.
'We lost some players who scored a lot but Alison and the twotransfers playing on her line this year are just getting started,'said Benoit.
'Once you get Alison Butler started you can't stop her.'
The transfers are junior Brittani Lanzilli, who led the GreaterBoston League in scoring at Medford High last season with 41 goalsand 23 assists, and Kaleigh Finigan, a forward from Austin Prep.
'It's a clean slate this year, we have different players and weare a different team,' said Pagliuca, who had to make some changesin the team's defensive strategy to compensate for losing one of thearea's top goaltenders, Sarah Foss, to the National Sports Academyin Lake Placid, N.Y.
'We simplified our play throughout the D-zone,' said Benoit.
'It's a whole new style of play, a whole new system to ease thepressure.'
Sophomore Lauren Skinnon, who started four games (1.33 goalsagainst average) last season, has taken over between the pipes.
'We have to focus on who's in the locker room,' said Pagliuca.'Lauren Skinnon played a great game and didn't look out of place.'
Her teammates say that her poise and confidence is growing withevery game and every save.
'She has done an awesome job, she has totally stepped up hergame,' said Benoit. 'What we tell her is `make the first save andwe'll try to do the rest.' '
A handful of the players also skate for the Middlesex Islanders,a club team that runs from late summer to mid-November. 'It helps usto get used to each other and know what our strengths and weaknessesare,' said Donahue.
St. Mary's has high expectations; that hasn't changed. ButHingham is now the hunted and the Spartans have joined the chase. 'Ithink it's going to be an exciting year in girls' hockey,' saidPagliuca.
'Everybody is chasing Hingham now. We have nothing to defend.'
St. Mary's faces Hingham twice at home on its loaded 22-gameschedule.
Pagliuca says that the key to his team's success is going to betheir focus and teamwork. 'It's about us playing consistent hockeyand focusing on getting back into the state tournament and then itbecomes a one game season.
'We want to be playing our best hockey towards the end of theyear.'
Donahue and Benoit are the only seniors who have played allfour years on varsity. They know exactly what it will take toreclaim their title.
'We need to work together as a team to move forward and recreateour success that we have had in the past,' said Benoit.
Cat Calsolaro can be reached at catcalso@bu.edu.
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