Gauthier’s star is clearly on rise

SALEM – Without shoving the rest of the St. Mary’s girls hockey team aside, there are heady times for forward Abby Gauthier.First, and foremost, she’s on the doorstep of a second state championship in hockey – which would be just one closing feat for one of the most illustrious girls sports careers in history. A win Tuesday in the state title game (at Harvard’s Bright Hockey Center) will accomplish that.But this week, in particular, Gauthier has hit the bull’s-eye. It all started in January, when RISE Magazine – a periodical that bills itself as the nation’s leading sports and active lifestyle magazine for teens – came down to Connery Rink and shot a number of pictures. Now, she’s on the cover of the latest issue, with the headline “The Franchise.”Before the state tournament even began, Gauthier had scored 36 goals, with 35 assists, for 71 points. During the season, she became the state’s all-time leading scorer.She and the other two skaters on her line (Christen Hart and Courtney Winters) have literally turned the Division 1 girls tournament into their own personal statements.Actually, it’s been that way throughout the season. The line combined for 150 points during the regular season, and has tacked on 28 points in wins over Framingham, Boston Latin and Arlington in the tournament.Gauthier herself has been an assist machine, with Winters being the beneficiary. She’s had a hat trick in two of the three games, while Gauthier has a total of 11 assists (to go along with two goals).Gauthier really doesn’t know what to make of it all.”I don’t know what to say,” she said after Thursday’s 7-1 win over Arlington in the state semifinals, in which she assisted on four of the goals. “It’s good exposure for the school, though.”The Providence College-bound Gauthier will be on Mike Lynch’s High Five program on Channel 5 ? and she is due to be mentioned in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” section in the coming weeks.