Winters closing in on another milestone

When Courtney Winters gets the puck, there’s a very good chance it’s going to be in the back of the net when the whistle blows.The senior forward on the St. Mary’s girls hockey team scored her 100th career goal last week, and this week, she’s closing in on another milestone. She needs four points to hit the 200 career-point mark.”If she’s in front of net and the puck is on her stick, it’s going in the net,” Spartan coach Frank Pagliuca said, adding that she’s equally adept at setting up her teammates.Winters has been a critical part of the team’s success since she first laced up her skates for the Spartans as a freshman. That was also the last year St. Mary’s, which is riding a 61-game winning streak and back-to-back Division 1 state titles, lost a game.Winters, who lives in Swampscott, has been playing since she was eight years old. She started out playing street hockey on roller blades in the driveway and eventually found her way onto the ice.”When I was little, I pretty much just tried every sport possible,” Winters said.Winters played on boys teams until the eighth grade, when she joined the Middlesex Islanders traveling team.”When I was little, I think there were maybe three girls from Mites to Bantams (in the Swampscott-Salem Youth Hockey program),” she said. “Now, when I go to a tournament in Connecticut over Christmas, there are over 200 (girls) teams. It’s great.”Winters said playing on boys teams helped her, particularly when the checking started.”It (the checking) teaches you to keep your feet moving and keep your head up,” she said. “It teaches you techniques (that help down the road).”Although Winters also plays soccer and lacrosse, she plans to play hockey in college. She will be playing Division 2 at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire. Although deciding on a college can be a challenge even without a sport involved, Winters said she knew early on she wanted to go to St. Anselm.”I honestly liked everything about it. It’s close to home. I hear it’s really a tough school academically. It’s really a small school, which I like. It kind of reflects a bigger St. Mary’s,” Winters said.Winters said she looked at different schools when she was deciding on high school, but St. Mary’s turned out to be a perfect fit.”She’s an excellent hockey player and an excellent person,” Pagliuca said. “She represents the school very well. She has an infectious personality. People are drawn to her and that makes her the leader she is.”Winters is one of four seniors on the team, all of whom Pagliuca said have the potential to play at the college level. The other three are Erin McAndrews, Michelle Macchione and Liz Giacchino. Pagliuca said there are seven former St. Mary’s players who are playing or did play at the college level in recent years, including Abby Gauthier (Providence College); Christen Hart, Alex Smith and Bridget Mini (University of Southern Maine); Caitlin Gottwald (Sacred Heart University); Kelsey Magrane (UMass-Amherst club hockey) and Allison Garnett (UMass-Boston).The Spartans are heading into what could be one of their toughest challenges of the season on Thursday when they play Fontbonne Academy, the Division 2 state champion, at Milton.”They were one of the best teams last year in either division. This should be a great test,” Pagliuca said.