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All-Star skaters: McAleer, Tracy named to Shriners team

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Hanson’s Mel McAleer and Hannah Tracy have been selected to skate in the Shriners All-Star Classic on Sunday, April 2 at 2 p.m.

Two members of the Whitman-Hanson/Silver Lake high school girls’ hockey team have been tabbed to skate in the Shriners All-Star Classic.

Hanson residents and WHSL captains Mel McAleer and Hannah Tracy will be representing the co-op as members of the South roster in this year’s event on Sunday, April 2 at 2 p.m. at the Canton Ice House.

The Shriners All-Star Classic features the best players in the state and squares off the North against the South. After the rosters are finalized, each player is tasked with raising money for Shriners Hospitals for Children, a health care system of 22 hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing pediatric specialty care, innovative research and outstanding teaching programs for medical professionals.

WHSL head coach Kevin Marani said he couldn’t be more proud to have two of his players in this prestigious contest.

“It means a lot to our program because of the game and what the game represents,” Marani said. “I’m very happy.”

MCALEER

For McAleer, this will mark her second straight trip to the event. “I would say being nominated for the Shriners [All-Star Classic] twice was absolutely my biggest achievement on the ice,” McAleer said.

McAleer, who has scored a lot of goals — 110 to be exact — in almost four seasons competing for Whitman-Hanson/Pembroke and then WHSL said it’s a great honor to be known as one of the best hockey players in Massachusetts but that says little about her as a person.

“Being able to be use my ability to create [an] opportunity to give back to those who really need it as much as I do is a greater accomplishment that any number of times I can put a puck in a net,” McAleer said.

With the Division 2 state title game slated to take place in mid to late March, this will be the final time McAleer skates as a member of the Panthers.

“I am most excited for the game because it will be a great completion and it will ultimately be the last time I represent WHSL on the ice,” McAleer said.

TRACY

For Tracy, who was on the bubble of cracking the roster last season, this will be her first time in the Shriners All-Star Classic. The Whitman-Hanson senior said she received word of her nomination while skimming through her email and almost accidently deleted it.

“I was excited that I’m going to be playing up against the best in the state in a game that has such a strong meaning behind it,” Tracy said. “Playing next to some of the best and some of the girls I’ve played with over the years is exciting, so it will be a fun time.”

Tracy has racked up 21 goals and dished out 22 assists thus far this season and has been an integral part of WHSL’s success since its inaugural campaign in 2014— helping the co-op reach the postseason for its third straight year. In this contest, she said she isn’t worried about the fi- nal score.

“The most exciting part about playing in this game is even if my team wins or loses we still win by helping out the Shriners Hospital,” Tracy said.

The 1-2 duo of McAleer and Tracy is split up most of the year due to their instant impact on whoever they play with, and Tracy said she is hopeful the two can skate on the same line in this event.

“It’s a good feeling knowing you can play with a teammate,” Tracy said. “We don’t play together much during the season, but when we do we areunstoppable.”

FUNDRAISING

In preperation for the game, the two participants have set up GoFundMe campaigns to raise money for the Aleppo Shriners Children’s Transportation Fund.

McAleer’s page can be found at: https://www.gofundme. com/shriners-all-starclassic- hockey

Tracy’s page can be found at: https://www.gofundme. com/3c9qoa8?lang=en-US

WHSL hockey nets second consecutive league title

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Players shake hands after the game. / Photo by: Sue Moss

The Panthers have locked up the SEMGHL Northeast Crown for a second straight season.

PEMBROKE – The Whitman-Hanson/Silver Lake high school girls’ hockey team continues to show unprecedented success in just its third season.

On Saturday, Feb. 11, WHSL notched a convincing 9-2 victory over Scituate at Hobomock Arenas. The win gave the Panthers their second straight SEMGHL Northeast crown.

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WHSL players celebrate a goal. / Photo by: Sue Moss

“It’s a big deal,” WHSL head coach Kevin Marani said. “Anytime you win your league it’s a big deal and to do it two years in a row with such a young program is pretty good.”

Mel McAleer (Hanson) and Hannah Tracy (Hanson) combined for five goals and two assists as starting defenseman Katie Johnson (Kingston) and Delaney Grace (Halifax) rose to the occasion on the backline to power the Panthers to their third straight victory.

It took WHSL (13-3-2, 9-0-1) all of 30 seconds to get on the board as McAleer was there to clean up a rebound and snipped a shot on Scituate (3-10-2, 3-7-0) goaltender Annabel Christenson that beat her stick side, pushing the Panthers in front 1-0.

Just 59 seconds later, Tracy lit the lamp with a goal that beat Christenson top shelf, glove side off an assist from captain Mary Kate Webb (Kingston) to make it 2-0.

Alyssa Murphy’s (Kingston) 16th tally of the season extended WHSL’s cushion to 3-0 3:41 into the contest.

Tracy and Webb added two more goals in less than a minute as the Panthers held a 5-0 advantage at the end of the first period.

At two minutes into the second frame, sophomore Zoe Lydon (Hanson) joined in on the offensive outburst with her second goal of the season, off assists from Emily Knight (Whitman) and Sarah Govoni (Hanson), making it a 6-0 game.

GAME PLAN

“We wanted to go out and have a good solid first period and [we wanted to] get all the girls that come to practices at 5 a.m. and deserve [it] to get in the game and we did,” Marani said.

Two quick WHSL penalties put the Sailors on a 5-on-3 power play, and Alaina Roman was finally able to break through Panthers netminder Mellissa Crone (Kingston) for a goal to pull Scituate within five, 6-1, with 6:35 remaining in the second period. 

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Hannah Tracy skates into position during her three-goal/one-assist game. / Photo by: Sue Moss

“It was at that point and they had 5-on-3 and we were just having fun at that point, so it was lack of breakdown probably,” Marani said.

Unfortunately for the Sailors, who were still on the power play, WHSL was far from done and Tracy’s short-handed goal less than a minute later, giving her a hat trick – made it 7-1.

“She’s been key all year,” Marani said. “Obviously, she and Mel are a class of their own.”

Both teams would poke home one more tally apiece as McAleer and Liv Haley found the back of the net to make it an 8-2 game at the end of the second period.

Sophomore Maddie Soule (Hanson) capped the scoring with 5:09 remaining in the game with her first goal of the season to push WHSL’s lead to 9-2 and that’s where it would stand.

YOUNG TALENT

“We have a good group of young talent and they’re learning from very good players,” Marani said. 

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Co-captain Mel McAleer scored two goals and an assist. / Photo by: Sue Moss

WHSL’s one tie in the league came in a 2-2 decision against Cohasset/Hanover Wednesday, Dec. 21.

The Panthers have pumped in 27 goals over their past three outings and are outscoring opponents 97-36 through their 18 games.

“They’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do all year,” Marani said. “By no means is this the finish, like we just talked about, we want to compete for the state championship and I’m very proud of every single girl in there.”