Published in the March 28, 2018 edition
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield-Saugus Youth Hockey Mite 4 team had a season the town will never forget.
The Board of Selectmen honored the Mite 4 team, known as the North Shore Stars, for winning the Valley League championship last week. Earlier this month, the Stars defeated the Winthrop Mite 2 team 10-6 during the championship game after rallying from an early 2-0 deficit. The Stars concluded the season with a 19-2 record.
The Stars consist of Max Gromko, Massimo Ferullo, Domenic Magliozzi, Cole Alexander, Emmerson Keefe, Sophia Morgese and Michael Barrett. Head coach Scott Gromko and assistant coaches Mark Magliozzi and Sean Alexander led the Stars this season.
Selectmen Chairman Chris Barrett was beaming with pride while honoring his son and the rest of the Stars.
“Our favorite part of the job is acknowledging the great work the kids do in the community,” said Barrett. “I am happy to report we have champions once again in the towns of Lynnfield and Saugus. It’s pretty impressive and I find it appropriate that we honor these young champions on Bobby Orr’s 70th birthday.”
Barrett noted Orr was a strong supporter of youth hockey.
“(Orr) said ‘the biggest thing we get out of youth hockey every time is seeing the kids smile,’” said Barrett. “I think the coaches would agree with me that these kids have not stopped smiling since late August or early September when we started to plan for the season.”
Barrett also read a citation to the Stars on behalf of the board.
“This North Shore Stars team started the season at the Mite 4 level and ended the season playing at the Mite 2 level due to their dominant performance throughout the regular season,” said Barrett while reading the citation. “This North Shore Stars team’s regular season run culminated with a season record of 19-2, while securing their hard-earned spot at the top of every scoring category of the Valley Hockey League.
“This North Shore Stars team, of the 153 Valley Hockey League Mite teams, had the third highest winning percentage; the second highest goals scored with 286 goals; the third best scoring percentage with 13.6 goals scored a game; and was the 13th best for least goals allowed,” Barrett continued. “This North Shore Stars Mite team defeated the Winthrop Mite 2 team 10-6 to capture the Valley Hockey League Mite championship, scoring the most goals of any Mite team throughout the playoffs.”
Barrett commended the Stars for their “athletic achievements and display of sportsmanship and teamwork.”
“(The Stars) have made the towns of Lynnfield and Saugus proud,” said Barrett.
While Barrett noted the Stars were prolific at putting the puck in the net, he said the team worked very hard on defense. He said each member of the Stars took turns playing goalie.
“You guys did well,” said Barrett.
Stars head coach Scott Gromko attributed the team’s success to a number of people, particularly the players’ parents.
“I want to thank you for signing up with the Lynnfield-Saugus Youth Hockey program,” said Gromko. “Thank you for being so committed to a sport that can be hard to love for a lot of reasons. It’s a long season and it touches three seasons of soccer in the fall, winter and spring. It’s not easy to leave a warm bed when it’s -20 degrees out and be at a rink for either practice or a game an hour before the sun rises. The parents were very eager to help us make sure these kids got the most out of the ice time we had. You are special bunch of people and our program is just not possible without you.”
Gromko thanked the Lynnfield-Saugus Youth Hockey Board of Directors for “taking immediate action and responsibility to address the maintenance issues that closed Kasabuski Rink at the very start of our season.” According to the Saugus Advertiser, the rink was closed due to a failing rink bed.
“(The board) had a meeting and spoke honestly to dispel any rumors, and let the parents and the stakeholders in the program know the direction they were going to head in order to salvage our season,” said Gromko. “It was hard to move on, but our board made sure we got ice time. For this team to get to where they got when it looked like we weren’t going to be able to practice was pretty amazing.”
Gromko also thanked assistant coaches Mark Magliozzi and Sean Alexander for helping the Stars succeed.
“Our metric for success was not wins or losses,” said Gromko. “It was how many kids we could get to return and play. We agreed that a 4-3 loss would be better than a 10-0 win. I find it amazing that not worrying about wins and losses ends up translating into a championship.”
Gromko thanked the selectmen and local officials for honoring the Stars.
“(Local officials) understand these programs tighten communities and our youngsters need fields, tennis courts and basketball courts as safe places to train, play and develop,” said Gromko.
Gromko said the Stars are comprised of “an amazing bunch of kids.”
“You all agreed to play goalie,” said Gromko. “I think a lot of the kids were a little nervous, but you all did outstanding. I think it helped you understand how hard that position is. There were many games were you got tripped, elbowed and hit. But you never pointed fingers at each other and you never pointed fingers at the goalie when we were down by a number of goals. You all dug deep to come from behind. Your support for each other was impressive and these qualities will serve you well in life. Your spirit is the reason why the adults in this room and beyond do this. We love to see the excitement during practices and games, and we love to see those sweating, smiling faces. You make the parents and community proud.”
After Gromko concluded his remarks and gave the players and coaches their citations, the Stars were given a round of applause.