St. Mary’s girls hockey brings back plenty of experience

Last season, the St. Mary’s girls hockey team saw two remarkable runs come to an end, in the same game. The three-time defending state champions took a 100-game winning streak into their Division 1 quarterfinal matchup with Hingham, and fell in overtime, 3-2, to the eventual state champions.”It’s disappointing to lose in an overtime situation like that,” Spartans coach Frank Pagliuca said, “but the girls learned from it, and hopefully (the ones on this year’s team) will take that experience and turn it into something positive.”Nine players return from that game, and the seventh-year coach is looking to them to provide experience to the roster, including in pressure situations.”I think our players have a lot of experience in big games,” Pagliuca said. “They bring that to practice and I expect it to rub off.”Those nine veterans are led by a duo the coach describes as “two excellent captains”: seniors Rachel Donahoe (defenseman) and Genevieve Benoit (wing).Also on that list of returning players are four forwards: juniors Alison Butler and Gabby Crugnale and sophomores Gina Beth and Anne Marie Manganiello; two defensemen, junior Madison Molea and sophomore Hannah Quin; and sophomore goalie Lauren Skinnon.The team graduated its four captains from last season: Sabrina Iannetti, Angela Dandreo, and Bridget and Mikaela Donovan.”All made huge impacts,” Pagliuca said.Dandreo and Iannetti are playing college hockey at UMass-Boston and St. Anselm, respectively. Meanwhile, both Bridget and Mikaela Donovan are playing college lacrosse, at Rollins (Fla.) and Bentley, respectively.The team has also lost goalie Sarah Foss, who has transferred out of St. Mary’s to the National Sports Academy in Lake Placid, N.Y.Pagliuca said she wanted to “pursue other opportunities,” adding, “We wish her the best of luck. She’s a great kid.”This year’s Spartans are currently in tryouts, which began Monday. They will scrimmage Arlington today on the road.The Spartans open the season with Braintree in a home game on Dec. 10. Three more nonleague games will follow: Reading, Woburn, and then Hingham in a rematch that will undoubtedly attract the attention of local hockey fans.”They’re all big games,” Pagliuca said, “that would (each) bring us two points closer to qualifying for the tournament. I’m sure the girls are going to be up for all the games, especially the Hingham game.”The Spartans won’t play their first league game until 2012, when they meet Archbishop Williams in the first week of January.Rounding out the coaching staff are St. Mary’s alum Kevin McDonald; Michelle Roach, who was a part of the original St. Mary’s girls hockey team and then played at St. Michael’s; and newcomer Maggie Carmay, who will work with the goaltenders as well as assist in coaching in general.Rich Tenorio can be reached at [email protected].