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.
