Togetherness fuels Spartans’ drive toward third straight state title

Perhaps William Shakespeare could have been talking about sports when he penned his memorable lines in Henry V ? “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers ? for he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.”Invariably, when successful teams get together and try to sort out what sets them apart from other units with similar – or, in some cases, even better – talent, it usually comes down to the fact that the players genuinely care for one another, and they see their passion for the game not only reflected in, but inspired by, each other.”We are,” says St. Mary’s girls hockey senior Erin McAndrews, “a band of sisters when we’re on the ice.”When we’re out there, we’re playing with our best friends,” she says. “And we play as hard as we do, and work as hard as we do, for each other. None of us wants to disappoint anyone else in that locker room.”The Spartans will attempt Sunday (8:15 at the TD Garden) to win their third straight Division 1 state title ? a run of successive championships not seen in these parts since Bishop Fenwick’s softball team won seven straight in the 1990s.And togetherness is a theme that keeps recurring when you talk to the principal players on the team. It fuels them, and keeps them focused on goals when other, less coherent, squads might be content to let things slide.”Absolutely no way,” says McAndrews. “No way anyone in this locker room could ever be complacent. (Coach Frank Pagliuca) has told us this is our legacy. This is our story.”And what a story it has been – and can still be. McAndrews, for example, has a shot at leaving St. Mary’s with five rings – three in hockey and two in softball. Sabrina Ianetti, a junior who scored two goals to help lift the Spartans to a win over Hingham in the semifinal Saturday night, is working on her fourth Sunday as well.Championship drivenThe girls are totally goal-driven, and they make no bones about that.”I think the secret to success, in our case, is the drive to want to be the best there can be,” says senior co-captain Courtney Winters. “We have the potential, but we have to want to do it.”So, we come out every day in practice ? and we want to be there,” she says. “You have to want it. And our chemistry is amazing ? which makes it even better.”If there’s been any introspection on their part about the enormity of what they’re trying to accomplish, it’s recent – and not universally shared.”One of my good friends was telling me just how crazy this all is, and that when we look back on it, we’ll be amazed we were able to do as much as we did,” Winters said. “It doesn’t happen all that often, that’s for sure. It really is a good feeling.”Yet on the other hand, she says Pagliuca would rather the girls not spend a lot of time contemplating such things.”He tries to make us not think about it, and to go out and play hard every game,” she said. “That’s a lot of pressure to have on your back. And you can get the nerves going. All we need to worry about is playing our best every game.McAndrews takes that one step further.”I think we’re too young to realize (it),” she says. “Right now, it’s a big rush. When we grow older, and we don’t see each other as much, that’s when I think it’ll hit us.”Even if it is a state championship game,” she says, “we’re still going to go out and play our game.”Cast of characters has changed”Our game,” as McAndrews calls it, has changed over the last three years as personnel graduated and new players have taken over. The 2008 team was a scoring juggernaut, with Abby Gauthier leading the way. Last year, it was goaltending and defense. This year, Pagliuca didn’t really know what to expect.”We knew we’d score,” he said. “But when it came to defense and goaltending, we really didn’t know what we had.”Enter Michelle Macchione and freshman goalie Sarah Foss.”You could see right away how the younger defensemen looked up to Michelle, and the type of leadership she provided,” he said. “And Sarah, as a freshman, really came in and stabilized t