St. Mary’s girls hockey looks to improve

After years at the top of the Massachusetts high school hockey mountain — including four Division 1 state titles in the previous six years, and five overall since the programs? inception in 2002 — coach Frank Pagliuca and the St. Mary?s girls? team came up short of expectations last year.
The defending champions lost to Hingham in the preliminary round.
?Obviously, we were very disappointed with how things ended last season but we ran into a strong team that executed better than we did,” Pagliuca said.
?I?ve gotten the sense that the girls returning to the team carried that defeat into the offseason and will continue using it as motivation going forward.”
The Spartans lost several standouts to graduation, including goalie Lauren Skinnion and the top defensive pairing of Amanda Donahoe and Tatiana Doucette.
?Those will be some very big shoes to fill,” Pagliuca said. “All three were exceptional talents that played in a lot of big games in their high school careers.”
Pagliuca is very happy with the makeup of this year?s squad.
?I was very pleased to see a great turnout at tryouts,” he said.
But, an ongoing battle between the pipes has yet to produce a starting goaltender.
?We?ve been very fortunate with so much depth at such an important position,” said Pagliuca, who is monitoring a “healthy competition” between sophomores Brittany McPherson and Emily Stephenson as well as freshman Marina Maribella.
?They?re all capable and are really pushing each other in a positive manner.”
Junior captain, Vanessa VanBuskirk, will be called upon to lead the blue line corps, which will feature a promising sophomore in Ashley Wojewodzic, as well as freshmen Rose Callahan and Natalie Mellen. Versatile senior, Katarina Roy, will see time on defense as well as up front.
?Vanessa has been a regular for the past two years now and is looking very strong in the early going. So we?ve remained confident,” Pagliuca said. “Our (coaching) staff is still evaluating the rest of the group. So we?ll have to see where things go.”
The Spartans will bring back a familiar and deep crop of forwards while welcoming in a contingent of transfers.
Assistant captain, Maggie Flaherty, along with fellow juniors Samantha Callahan and Katie Terban figure to provide much of the scoring output once again. Newcomers Adara Nazarian, a transfer from Masconomet, and Sophia Post (Peabody) bring potential.
Other forwards to keep an eye on include sophomore Sarah Ryan and eighth-grade returnee, Lexi McNeil.
The Spartans will see a plethora of powerhouses early. They open their season Saturday at Arlington Catholic and stay on the road, traveling to Archbishop Williams on Dec. 17, before their first home game, Dec. 20 against Arlington Catholic. After that they face Reading, defending state champion Duxbury and Archbishop Williams. Traditional matchups with Beverly/Danvers, Lynn/Winthrop/Saugus and Woburn will be sprinkled into the mix along with a spot in the Hingham Showcase.
?I think the talent pool has really leveled out over the past few years, which I personally see as a good thing,” said Pagliuca of the parity throughout the state.?There?s been a noticeable improvement in the quality of play and I?d expect the trend to continue. Our team is really looking forward to getting the season started.”