The MIAA released the girls hockey state tournament pairings Friday afternoon and several local teams will be looking to make a run at a state championship.
No. 5 St. Mary’s heads into the postseason as one of the top seeds in the Division 1 bracket and will hope to make a deep run after an early exit last season. The Spartans finished the year with a 14-2-4, earning them a home game to start off the tournament.
“We’re excited to host,” St. Mary’s coach Frank Pagliuca said. “It’s always great to get another home game. I think the girls are just excited to get back into a playoff game after the sour ending last year.
The Spartans host a familiar opponent in No. 28 Lexington Wednesday (8). Earlier this season St. Mary’s beat Lexington 4-0, but Pagliuca and the Spartans aren’t planning on looking past anyone this year.
“Lexington plays in a tough Middlesex League,” Pagliuca said. “They have talented players and they do a good job moving the puck and limiting opportunities. The bottom line is we have to be ready to go and more importantly have confidence in ourselves. We have to finish our chances because that’s the difference in these games.”
The Spartans will look to correct some recent offensive struggles with just two goals in their last three games.
“We’re onto a new chapter right now,” Pagliuca said. “Lately we’ve really been struggling to get the puck in the net. We’ve missed some nets and are holding our sticks kind of tight right now. It’s something we have to work on. I don’t really feel like we’re getting to the net like we have been. We need to do better.”
On the back end St. Mary’s has two capable goaltenders and Pagliuca will decide who gets the nod against Lexington in the coming days.
“We’ll figure it out by Tuesday,” Pagliuca said. “Rhyan Pitari and Ang Catino have both been great after coming in with no experience this year. We’re going to be confident with whoever is out there.”
Peabody/Lynnfield is also looking to make some noise in the Division 1 bracket with the No. 9 seed after finishing the year 14-5-1 and winning a Northeastern Hockey League title this season. The Tanners are slated to host No. 24 Plymouth Wednesday (5:15).
The No. 26 Winthrop girls hockey team is also in the mix after finishing the year at 8-7-3. The Vikings will start the tournament with a tough test at No. 7 Belmont Wednesday (5). Winthrop coach Butch Martucci knows his team is in for a tough test but they’re looking forward to the challenge.
“I know (Belmont) coach Ken Murphy very well,” Martucci said. “He’s a great coach, he’ll have his team ready. It’ll be a battle and we have the challenge of going into a hostile environment. (Viglirolo Rink) is a cold rink. But we’re always looking for a challenge and there’s no better way to start.”
A young Winthrop team will hope to build some momentum at practice after coming off a 2-2 tie with Wakefield to end the regular season Wednesday.
“Right now I think we had a great practice Thursday coming off the tie to end the season,” Martucci said. “The girls realized they have to work a little harder if they want to win in the tournament and that showed on the ice. We’ll get back to work Saturday and push them to see if we can get some fire going for Wednesday.”
In Division 2 North, the Bishop Fenwick girls hockey team earned the No. 11 seed after finishing the year at 12-5-3. The Crusaders will start the postseason with a home game against No. 22 Winchester Tuesday (5:15).
