LYNN — When the St. Mary’s girls hockey team entered the Division 1 state tournament as a No. 5 seed, there were still some question marks for a team that hadn’t been playing its best hockey late in the year. But two games later, the Spartans couldn’t have asked for a better start to the tournament.
St. Mary’s has upped its intensity, been on the attack and has skated into the quarterfinal.
“If you sit back and react that’s not going to work,” St. Mary’s coach Frank Pagliuca said. “You can’t let the other team take control of the pace of the game, you have to attack. We hit a little lull going into the tournament and I’m kind of glad for it because we’ve picked it up these last two games.”
Things started in the preliminary round with a 6-1 rout of No. 28 Lexington. No. 12 Shrewsbury posed a much tougher challenge in the first round, but Maggie Pierce’s game-winner in the third period lifted St. Mary’s to a 2-1 win at John A. Ryan Skating Rink.
But as the herd gets thinner and thinner in the Division 1 bracket, the tasks continue to become more challenging. Now St. Mary’s shifts its focus to the quarterfinal round, where the Spartans will take on their first higher-ranked opponent in No. 4 Woburn Friday.
Pagliuca knows St. Mary’s will have to put forth its best game of the season against a well-coached Tanners squad.
“They’re going to be one of the better coached teams that we’ve played this season,” Pagliuca said. “They’re disciplined and structured. They do things that a lot of teams don’t do because they have great coaching. So we have to recognize their tendencies and have to be in the right position at all times to make the right plays.”
Woburn (17-2-2) will also bring forward one of the better offensive attacks St. Mary’s has seen this season.
“We understand the dangers they bring offensively,” Pagliuca said. “They really have three top, talented forwards to account for. We have to recognize when they’re out there and do our best stopping all their talent. On the other end they have a great defense and a veteran goalie who has played in big games and played well.”
The Spartans will combat that explosive Woburn offense with a defensive unit that has been one of their strengths this postseason. Senior Kelsey Sullivan leads the way on the back end with fellow defensemen Megan Parthum, Aria Kader and Haylie Grossman.
“Especially with their offensive weapons, our defense will have to continue playing well,” Pagliuca said. “We can’t sit back and just watch what Woburn is doing. They move the puck well and they’re explosive. Our team has to have their heads on a swivel. We have to know when to be aggressive and when not to be.”
The Tanners already pose a worthy challenge, but Woburn will also have an edge playing on its home ice as all four quarterfinal games are slated to be played at O’Brien Rink.
“It is what it is,” Pagliuca said. “We’re just happy to be where we are and we would play them on a pond somewhere if we had to. At the end of the day, the location isn’t as important as showing up and playing our best. The best team is going to win either way.”
And if the Spartans continue to up their play the way they have thus far in the tournament that could very well be them, especially with eighth grade goalie Rhyan Pitari allowing just one goal a game.
“Generally in the tournament that’s the way it is, things get tougher each game,” Pagliuca said. “The margin for error gets smaller and you can’t be turning the puck over. Everyone has to play their best game Friday and luckily we have Rhyan who has been solid in net.”
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday night.
