Tabor girls’ hockey coach Eric Long hopes that Jen Birolini can write somewhat of a déjà vu story in the season ahead.
Birolini will take the ice for the Seawolves after previously establishing herself as one of the top players in the MIAA ranks. She won Patriot League Fisher MVP honors at Pembroke High, leaving that program as its all-time leading goal scorer with 113 after last season.
Long is no stranger to bringing top local talents into his program, pointing to the career path of former Duxbury standout and Tabor grad Ayla Abban as a recent example. Abban leveled up from the high school ranks and finished with All-ISL honors last season as a senior before starting her career with a high-ranked Division 3 team at Amherst College.
“There’s a lot of newness to what’s going to happen for her this winter, but I think she’s really excited about it — and we’re excited,” Long said of Birolini. “She has great experience [with the Mass Spitfires] at the U19 level and had a lot of winning success in high school [like Abban], so all of those things are a good recipe for success here.
“I’m hopeful Jen can kind of replicate that — hit the ground running, impactful, great kid, hard worker — and put up some good points for us and help us stay highly competitive in that elite group,” he added.
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Looking to make an impact on a Tabor team that won 16 games last winter, Birolini will likely slot into a top-six group that also includes seniors Juliana Goffredo and Grace Stirling, who are recent Division 1 commits to RPI and Saint Anselm, respectively. Another key member of the Seawolves is one of Birolini’s Spitfires teammates in junior Lilly Shaughnessy (Medfield, Mass.).
A 40-point scorer in her senior year at Pembroke, Birolini’s first impressions are that the Seawolves will be a fast, cohesive team. She has already noticed a difference in the level of play from high school to her initial practices at the prep level.
“I’ve definitely taken away that the girls are very strong and have great hockey IQ, knowing what play to make and having less time and how to react,” she said. “We have kind of a mix of an older and younger team (at Tabor). It’s been good to see the different skills that each person on our team has.”
Playing on a high-level club team like the Spitfires helped open Birolini’s eyes to the popular prep path and, eventually, find her new home at Tabor for this season.
Shaughnessy is one of her close friends within the club program and offered advice throughout the process, but she was certainly not the only influence within that team’s locker room.
“I’ve been looking to come here for a while,” Birolini said. “Obviously, my club team is at a very high level, so that really got me into coming to prep [after being] the only public school girl on my team. You could tell that it was such a different level. They were already used to it and it took me time to adjust. I know that this was the best move for me if I want to get to the next level.”
Even with the first game still weeks away, Birolini noted that Long has already taken steps to help her begin that process.
Her aspirations of playing at the college level stem from watching the annual Beanpot, where fellow Pembroke native Bridget McCarthy — a friend of one of her older brothers — suited up for Boston College from 2016-20. McCarthy is a former prep star herself, having won five straight ISL championships and two New England titles at Nobles.
“It feels good staying close to home so my parents will still be able to see me play,” Birolini said. “I always see myself being [in Massachusetts] if I make it to that level. It would be really special [to have an opportunity to play in college], especially having grown up watching a lot of those teams.”
For Birolini, turning dreams into reality begins with making an impact through her jump to the prep level at Tabor.
Long has given every indication that she will have the opportunity to do so. And that means a lot.
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“It feels really good knowing that he has that faith and hope in me. Obviously, I wouldn’t want to let him down,” Birolini said. “It gives me more of a drive to complete that for him and become the player that he wants me to be.”
From the coach’s perspective, there is plenty to be excited about.
“Even though we don’t have Kelly Browne, Skylar Irving or Abby Newhook, or those kinds of [high-level, elite] kids anymore, we’re still having success. That has to do with the new kids buying into what we’re doing,” Long said. “I think Jen is excited to be a part of that.
“With the Spitfires, she’s a great team player and contributes on the ice as a player and a leader. I’m hopeful she’ll do the same here.”
