When it comes to the girls hockey tournament in Massachusetts, the most accurate way to describe it is “hop on board and join the parade.”
The girls tournament has only two divisions and both are statewide. In Division 1, 31 teams are in the mix to be the last one standing at the TD Garden March 18. And in Division 2, it’s down to a more manageable 24.
There are several Lynn-area teams competing in Division, including a couple who are so merged together they’ve developed convoluted nicknames. One is Bourne-Mashpee-Wareham-Old Rochester, which has adopted BMRORR as its name; and the other is HPNA (Haverhill, Pentucket and North Andover).
The top seed among the Division 1 girls is St. Mary, at No. 6. The Spartans finished their season at 15-3-2 — their best campaign since they won the last of their five state titles in 2013.
The Spartans are on courts to face top-seeded Shrewsbury in the state semifinal, but they’ll have to win three games before they get that far. The first is Wednesday (8) at Connery Rink in Lynn, where they’ll face No. 25 Peabody/Lynnfield.
It is bound to be a strange feeling for Peabody coach Michelle Roach. She played on the first-ever St. Mary’s girls hockey team, and after having played her first two years on the boys JV team.
Moreover, her father, Bob, was one of the coaches on that team and was instrumental in getting it started. She was the captain of the program’s first-ever tournament team.
The Tanners finished one of their most successful seasons ever at 11-7-2.
St. Mary’s has a solid one-two punch offensively between Aylah Cioffi (24 goals, 11 assists) and Codi Butt (16-9). Jenna Chaplain (913), Makayla McGrath (7 goals) and Marina DiBlasio (6-5) have also chipped in as well.
Junior Lauren Vaccaro has done most of the goaltending duties this season, with a 1.00 goals-against average in 13 games.
The Tanners boast one of the area’s most exciting players — sophomore Sammie Mirasolo, who finished with season north of 40 points. Mirasolo was also the most valuable player of the Northeast Hockey League.
Her sister Cassandra, a senior forward, is the captain of the team. Goalie Abby Buckley has been a stalwart between the pipes.
Also making solid contributions for the Tanners this season are Jen Flynn, Kaydee Purcell, Mae Norton, Sarah Buckley ad Kathryn DiGiulio.
Also in the preliminary round, No. 24 will travel to Valley Forum to play No. 9 Masconomet Wednesday (8). The Marblehead team also encompasses players from Swampscott.
Winthrop, which encompasses players from Lynn, is seeded 15th. The Vikings finished up at 12-5-1 under coach Butch Martucci, and will be home at Larsen Rink against No. 18 Westford Academy.
In the 24-team Division 2 bracket, Bishop Fenwick (9-9-2) is seeded 19th. The Crusaders, under coach Doug Anderson of Lynn, punched their ticket into the tournament last week with back-to-back wins over Auburn at home and then at Wilmington. They will trek out to the New England Sports Center in Marlborough Wednesday (5) to play King Phillip in the first round. Amanda Blanchette and Allie Giguere have led the way for the Crusaders this season, as well as goalie Cailyn Wesley.
