Chapter three goes to the Spartans

LYNN – The short history between the girls hockey teams at St. Mary’s and the Winthrop/Lynn co-op has been an interesting one.View photo galleryAnthony Martucci felt his successful but fledgling program at Winthrop received an important level of respect when Spartans head coach Frank Pagliuca, a friend of Martucci’s, asked to add the team to its schedule two years ago.”Frank’s a great guy,” Martucci said. “We practice right after them and we talk a lot. He’s helpful. I can bounce things off him and talk over different things.”The teams split their first two meetings, helping generate a friendly rivalry, but things got even more interesting. Two years ago, forward Madison Molea matriculated from the Lynn school system to St. Mary’s, and this season a pair of players made the switch: goalie Brittany McPherson of Lynn (who split time in net with Gretchen Howard last year as a seventh grader) and freshman defenseman Vanessa VanBuskirk.”There’s a lot of ties between these teams,” Martucci said.In fact, McPherson and Howard faced each other Saturday, battling through a tight first period before St. Mary’s intense neutral zone play swung the tide and led to a commanding 6-0 victory.Despite trailing 1-0 after one, Winthrop/Lynn (now 6-4-3) hung tough behind strong offensive energy from Caroline McKinnon and Kara Donati.”Caroline and Kara are good aggressive players,” said St. Mary’s head coach Frank Pagliuca. “We were a little sluggish in the first period and felt we had to go out with a great sense of urgency in the second.”When the athletic but newly-formed top line of Alison Butler (four goals and an assist), Kaleigh Finigan (goal and three assists) and freshman Samantha Callahan (two assists) took over center ice, the Spartans (10-2-1) turned the tide.”I played with Kaleigh last year but this was the third game with Sam,” said Butler, who will be playing for St. Anselm with an academic scholarship this fall. “We’re getting to know each other better and coming together.”Finigan agreed, saying, “I think it has a lot to do with us being friends outside of hockey. We practice and work hard together plus we hang out together off the ice.”The togetherness enhances the smart way the 15-member Spartan squad brings to the game.”It helps to have intelligence,” said Butler. “You can have all the speed in the world but you can’t play without the IQ for the game.”McPherson lowered her 1.48 goals against average with her shutout, turning aside 29 shots from her former teammates.”Brittany really seized her opportunity,” said St. Mary’s head coach Frank Pagliuca.”We play probably the toughest schedule in the state to get ready for this time of the year,” concluded Pagliuca. “We have three goals: to qualify for the tourney, win our league and play our best hockey in March.”And St. Mary’s needs just one point to nail down goal No. 1, with a tough Hingham team that knocked off the Spartans in late December next on the slate.