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Six North Andover athletes boost Masconomet co-op team

Thursday, February, 21 By David Willis
Staff writer

Masconomet girls hockey coach Bill Haines' first impression of North Andover's Alison McCarthy was more than a bit comical.

"She showed up the first night of tryouts," remembered the coach. "And my goalie coach (Ed Dooley) kind of rolled his eyes, skated over to her, and said, 'You have your pads on backwards.' We were a bit skeptical of what we were getting."

Little did they know they were watching the goalie who would start 17 of the 19 games for the Chieftains co-op team. There was good reason for the 18-year-old McCarthy's confusion.

"I had never played hockey before this season," said the senior. "I had only skated four or five times in my life."

After two years as a reserve guard on the varsity basketball team, McCarthy knew she wanted to try something new. But her decision to try hockey came as a surprise to friends and family.

"Everybody thought I was joking," said the senior. "They all laughed because I had never skated before. When I told them I was serious, they were very surprised."

McCarthy initially had no intention of playing at the varsity level. She signed up to play for the North Andover club team, which plays local JV teams. But the club coach encouraged all the players to attend the Masconomet tryouts for the free ice time.

So, donning her cousin's (Methuen High goaltender Jonathan Borden) pads and helmet, McCarthy made her first appearance as a hockey player.

"Her skating was pretty rough," remembered Haines. "We had to make sure she had the proper skates and that they were edged properly."

But Haines and his staff saw the potential in McCarthy, and selected her to the team.

"I just had to laugh because I thought it was pretty funny," she said. "I wasn't even intending to try out. But they just assumed that I was. I was shocked."

Goaltending was no mystery to McCarthy. In the fall, she earned Eagle-Tribune All-Star honors as the goaltender for the North Andover field hockey team. She recorded 17 shutouts and allowed only three goals in the regular season for the 22-1 sectional finalists.

"The basics are the same," she said. "You have to stop the puck or the ball however you can. Just in field hockey you kick the ball away and in hockey you go down and stop it with your stick and leg pads. I struggled to stay on my skates."

The first few weeks of practice were a crash course in the basics.

"Ed worked with her on the simpler concepts of skating at first," said Haines. "Then he started on the skills, and gradually we added a puck into the mix for a trial by fire."

McCarthy responded in a big way. Called into action in the second period of the season opener, she led the Chieftains to a tie with Chelmsford and wins over Peabody and Lynn English to win the Pingree tournament.

While the Chieftains closed out a 5-10-3 season last night, McCarthy was the rock. She never let up more than four goals in a game, and held opponents to two or fewer goals seven times. She held Everett, the No. 13 team in Eastern Mass., to three goals.

"She's never gotten the deer-in-the-headlights look," said Haines. "She doesn't let anything get her frazzled. She stays very cool under pressure and shows no emotion on the outside. She is further along that (two-time All-CAL) Fran DeLuca was after one year."

With the season having come to an end yesterday, McCarthy now turns her attention to her third sport, softball. Last year, McCarthy hit a team-leading .458 and played an outstanding center field for the Scarlet Knights squad that came within two innings of winning the Division 2 state championship.

She also excels in the classroom, earning National Honor Society status. She has already been accepted to Merrimack College and Springfield College, and is waiting to hear from a number of other schools. Wherever she attends, she plans to play field hockey.

"You could tell she was a smart girl from how quickly she picked up the game," said Haines. "And she has a great glove, which comes from softball."

Going on the offensive The local impact at Masco hardly stops at the goal.

"What a pleasant surprise Jenn Pino has been," said Haines. "Here walks in this tiny girl that is quiet as anything and her skating wasn't that good."

In only her third year of playing organized hockey, and first at the varsity level, Pino led the Chieftains in goals (11) and tied for the lead in overall points (14). She was chosen to play in the Eastern Mass. Independent League All-Star Game.

"This one game," Haines said, "she came in, went through a few defenders, did a toe drag, left the defenders in her wake and put the puck over the goalie's shoulders. Everyone said, 'Where the heck did that come from.'"

The junior brought the scoring touch she displayed while earning Eagle-Tribune All-Star honors in soccer for the Scarlet Knights this season with 15 goals and five assists. She also used her skills from years as a figure skater.

"Figure skating was too time-consuming," Pino said. "But it made me strong on my feet, and that is the toughest part of hockey."

Sitting right behind her on the stat sheet was Georgetown's Danielle Hall. The four-year varsity player had 10 goals and four assists.

"Last year I had a little bit of a scoring drought," she said. "I did a lot of summer camps and I was told I would have more opportunities to shoot this year. I listened to what the coaches told me and I decided to shoot."

Unlike some of her teammates, Hall knows hockey. She began playing at age 5 and plays year round with the Lady Freeze out of Exeter, N.H.

Co-operating "I think this co-op team works out great," said Lauren Cerretani, also of North Andover. "It's funny playing for our archrival. But it gives us a great chance to play at the varsity level. It would be nice if our high school had hockey, but the girls are great and coach Haines is great."

During the offseason, a rumor circulated that North Andover might form a co-op team with Andover. But the players were happy where they were.

"We really didn't like the idea of changing and we mentioned it," said Cerretani. "I don't know if it really had any part in the outcome. But I couldn't be happier than where I am."