Lady Mustangs Make a Run at MIAA Tournament

Lady Mustangs hockey drew a No. 1 seed in the MIAA tournament, with the opening game this Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in Canton against either Winchester or Belmont.

“A great regular season, we compete in a tough league, but now everyone is 0-0 in my book,” Head Coach Bill O’Donnell Sunday night after he found out his girls received the No. 1 seed in the Division 2 Eastern Mass. girls hockey tournament.

Despite the No. 1 seed in the tournament, the Mustangs are ranked below both Duxbury and Fontbonne in both the Boston Globe Top 20 poll and the ESPN Boston poll.

The Mustangs and their coach wouldn't comment on either the Duxbury or Fontbonne team.

“Our approach is the game in front of you, right now its Belmont or Winchester, and the players have that same approach,” O'Donnell said.

Sunday the girls scrimmaged against Braintree; they worked on power play killing, situations like pulling the goalie, special teams and defending against a pulled goalie.

“All year we tried to work on the little things,” said O’Donnell.

The Mustangs have returning captains Lisa Coskren, who had 10 goals and 10 assists this year, and Taylor Donners with 7 goals, 15 assists, back in the lineup to give O’Donnell a balanced attack on multiple lines, also complementing leading scorer Ali Maloof (20 goals, 10 assists) and the other forwards.

"We balance the lines, hopefully we flourish. It’s a hallmark of a good team when the players put the team first,” said O’Donnell.

Between the pipes is stellar goaltender Christina Frasca (17-1-2), who finished the season giving up a mere 19 goals for a .95 GAA. 

If the Mustangs face Winchester on Thursday, they will have an opportunity to avenge last year's loss to the same team that knocked them out in the first round last year.

“All the girls enjoy playing hockey, building on the fun and success last year, no one can take away first place in our conference, but now the focus is on the game in front of you,” added O’Donnell.

There are no guarantees for these girls to win a title, but they do have the intangibles as well as their two captains back in the lineup and with the right focus, this team certainly understands the recipe for a deep tournament run.

“Skate hard, team passing, keep offensive pressure with quality shots, that will be our game,” said O’Donnell.