Area squads seek to advance in state girls, boys hockey tournaments

Last season, the St. Mary’s girls hockey team was the No. 1 seed in the Division 1 state tournament and looked like the team to beat. That was, until it ran squarely into Austin Prep’s Meghan Grant.The Cougar netminder denied the Spartans a trip to the state final when she beat them in a shootout at St. Mary’s in the semifinals. And that was the last time the Spartans tasted defeat.This season, St. Mary’s has played 21 times and has won all 21 games in taking the No. 1 seed, and will play either Barnstable or Framingham on Thursday (TBA) at Connery Rink.”We wanted to play well at the end of the year going in and I think we’re doing that,” St. Mary’s coach Frank Pagliuca said. “The team chemistry is strong for us this year ? It’s going to be a very competitive tournament.”Leading the way for the Spartans is a senior class that has been down this road before, heading by record-setting forward Abby Gauthier.The Lynn native has broken just about every record that a high school hockey player in Massachusetts can set, having smashed Michelle Cox’s record for girls career scoring before breaking the boys record in the Spartans’ conference finale against Archbishop Williams.St. Mary’s forwards Courtney Winters and Christen Hart also rank in the top 10 in state scoring while a defense core anchored by Alex Smith and Michelle Golden have been brilliant in front of netminder Kelsey Magrane.”We have a good, strong senior class that has been here before,” Pagliuca said. “And hopefully they can take last year and use it as a learning experience.”St. Mary’s road won’t be easy, however, as several quality teams lurk on the Spartans’ side of the bracket, including the likes of Boston Latin and Reading, which fell in the final two games of the regular season to St. Mary’s.In Division 2, Marblehead, seeded 13th, will open at No. 4 Franklin on Tuesday.Division 1 North BoysSt. Mary’s played one of the toughest schedules in the division during the regular season, resulting in a final record of 10-8-2 and the No. 9 seed in the sectional. The Spartans open the tournament on Wednesday (7:30, at Salem State) against a familiar foe – Matignon.The Spartans beat the resurgent Warriors twice during the regular season, but coach Mark Lee knows that getting win No. 3 will be no easy task.”It’s not like their teams of recent years,” Lee said. “Matignon is vastly improved and they played the top teams in our league tough.”It marks the 14th straight year that the Spartans have been in the postseason and their second straight in Division 1 North. Last year, St. Mary’s pushed Winchester to the limit in a 4-3 loss in the quarterfinals.But this year’s Spartan team has a lot of new faces that haven’t been down this road before, and that’s something Lee is glad to see them get a chance to experience.”I’m excited for the new kids that haven’t experienced this,” Lee said. “We want to try and be competitive and last as long as we can. But we know that we’re good enough to beat anyone.”Leading the St. Mary’s charge this year have been junior John Baldwin (21-13-34) and senior Zak Borowski (14-21-35,) who both have plenty of tournament experience.Baldwin has been to this point of the year three times while Borowski sports a state championship ring from 2006, when his Gloucester team beat St. Mary’s in a double overtime Division 2 North final.Senior Corey Lee (9-11-20) and defenseman Anthony Struppa (1-16-17) also have been outstanding for St. Mary’s all season.Division 3 NorthMuch like the Spartans, No. 5 Swampscott (12-4-4) will have to beat a team for a third time to advance to the next round. But that team isn’t just any other squad; it happens to be arch-rival Marblehead.”Playing our rival puts a whole new twist on it,” Swampscott coach Gino Faia said. “We bring out the best in each other so it should be exciting.”Adding to the fun is the fact that the game will be played on Tuesday (7:30) at Rockett Arena in Salem, ensuring that a packed house will probably be on han