When St. Mary's Lynn blazed out of the gate at 8-0-1, it looked like one of last season's dominant teams was again going to make things tough for all challengers. After all, the team was 5-0 in its division, scoring 20 goals, allowing a mere three.
But then last Wednesday's game against Catholic Central Large rival Austin Prep popped up on the calendar, and everything changed. Not only did the Spartans stumble 2-1, they also lost leading scorer Kyle LoNigro (7-5-12) for four weeks to a separated shoulder.
"So that’s going to be tough," coach Mark Lee said about losing LoNigro, a JV player last year. "Last game we lost our first one. It was a great game, we just had a lapse in the second period for probably six minutes, they scored both goals and that was the end of the game. It was a great up-and-down game, we just couldn’t get the equalizer."
But there's a sense the Spartans will be able to deal with this adversity as well. Why? Well, they've dealt with injury adversity already this season and have emerged virtually unscathed from it, which they need in order to be one of the teams selected for a coveted Top Six Division 1A slot.
Senior Sal Caruso started the first five games in net for the Spartans, putting up a minuscule 0.80 goals-against average and a sparkling .965 save percentage, including three shutouts. He was the MVP of the Christie Serino Christmas Tourney in December, which the Spartans won. Big games need big players, and Caruso was stepping up every time his team needed him to. He looked solid and set to be the No. 1 for the rest of the season.
"But then he comes down with pneumonia and hasn’t played since," said Lee, now in his 35th season of coaching.
That necessitated sophomore Owen Giangrande to step in. And did he. Giangrande played five games and posted a 1.00 goals-against average and a .958 save percentage, adding a shutout of his own, more than admirably filling in under tough circumstances. You could say the team barely missed a beat, even without its No. 1 senior goalie in the nets.
"He’s done a tremendous job," Lee said of Giangrande. "And that kind of sums it up, too, it’s how we are, a lot of guys contributing. And that’s what you need.
"We’ve seen some nice surprises."
Lee said there was a good chance Caruso would return to start Monday night's game against Hingham.
As for the missing offense, Lee said he's got a number of guys who are capable of stepping up. Although his team is young, it has a lot of experience at the high school level: a total of 17 players, 10 of them coming from JV, returned from last year's team, which went 16-5-1.
Sometimes inexperience can be a benefit or sometimes it can be a challenge.
"I think all of the above," he said. "From last year we lost our two leading scorers, so we were seeing who was going to fill those roles, giving up some goals and some offense. Brady Carpenter has stepped up, freshman Brady Bullock has stepped up, (so has) Owen Maguire, senior captain.
"But it really is what we’re about. We had a game where we scored five and six goals from five or six different goal scorers. There’s nobody just running away with it. Everybody’s contributing, defense and forwards. We’re not a high-powered offensive juggernaut, so we’re going to have to work for our goals. And because of that, we’ve got a large number of people contributing in that area, but no one guy is the go-to guy, you know what I mean?"
One player who could be considered for that role is sophomore defenseman Davis Kinne, who has three goals and seven assists in 10 games. His 10 points are six more than the next defenseman, which shows you the burden he bears on the backline.
"Davis is an offensive-minded defenseman," Lee said. "He’s a young kid; he’s been with us since eighth grade though. He’s got a lot of experience now playing, played a regular shift as an eighth-grader. But he really does have some talent. He’s a strong kid, he’s got a heavy shot, he sees the ice well, he’s somebody that’s almost like a franchise player. He’s one of those guys that is going to help put you to the next level as a team. And he’s a good kid and he really works hard at it. He takes the game very seriously."
"Serious" is one way to describe how Lee and staff approach defense. He said his team has to commit to playing in its own end in order to have success.
"Our game plan always is, even with the forwards, it’s all about defense first," he said. "Defense-first hockey is usually going to get you in a position to win. And so we’ve been pretty good at that.
"That’s been our philosophy here at St. Mary’s since I’ve been here, it’s just part of the strategy: defense is really what’s going to help you. You can create great offense from good defense. It’s got to start in the D-zone and you’ve got to be really committed to systems. This group has really worked hard in the D-zone, blocking shots, taking lanes, and I think they really have bought into it and understand that if you play well in your own zone, your odds of being successful and maybe winning are really good."
The key to keeping the success train rolling in high school hockey is about motivation. Lee seems to have a good approach for that.
"You try to instill in them that you only have a short window of time to have that high school experience," he said. "And you don’t want to have regrets. You want to go out and you want to just give everything you have to the cause if you’re committed to it and you understand that that’s really what’s important."
Paul Grant is an editor and a writer for HockeyJournal.com and Seamans Media. He previously oversaw hockey content at ESPN.com and Sporting News. You can connect with him at pgrant@hockeyjournal.com.
