Keep Your Eye on the Stars

The Mid-Fairfield Connecticut Stars are a force with which to be reckoned.

The tier 1 girls travel hockey team, which already has won the Polar Bear tournament and the Connecticut state title, is preparing for this weekend's New England Regional championship.

Coached by Moe Tarrant and Ryan Equale, the team includes players from Rowayton, Darien, and Fairfield. It enters the regional tournament ranked fourth in the country with a record of 36-5-0. 

Team members are: Taegan Blackwell, Tiana Cass, Ashley Carbone, Catherine Crawley, Annie DeFrino, Leyna Di Marco, Lauren Ferraiuolo, Emma Farrel, Sasha Fritts, Grace Jennings, Madison Jerolman, Nicole Lue, Ginamarie Mangiafridda, Sara McNamara, Katelyn Pantera, Katherine Savage and Megan Wilmot.

“The maturity of these 13-14 year olds has blown us away," said Tarrant, also the girls coach at Greenwich Academy.

In December, the powerhouse club went 5-1 in winning the Polar Bears tournament, which is considered the largest youth ice hockey event in the country.

They seized another important victory when they took the state crown at last month’s U-14 Connecticut championship. In four games, the Stars outshot their opponents 140-27 and outscored them 25-1.

Playing at the tier 1 level, which is the highest level for travel hockey, requires a huge commitment from the girls. They practice two nights a week in Shelton and attend games on the weekends.

Chris Lue, the team’s manager and parent of one of the players, said the girls make "social sacrifices."

It's not unusual for the teens to turn down an invitation to a sleepover because, as Lue said, "they know if they go to a sleepover, sleep is the last thing that happens, and they don’t want to let the team down.”

Homework often is completed in the car on the way to and from practice.

As the team prepares for the regional tournament, which will take place in Shelton Friday through Sunday, Tarrant has to come up with new material to teach the girls.

He said that “usually if you have one to six chapters that you go through when you’re coaching, this team is on chapter nine. They are one of the strongest teams I have ever coached in 20 years.”

If the Stars win the regional tournament, they will advance to the national championship in Detroit in early April. 

 “I don’t know where we’re going to end up but either way, this has been one of the most rewarding teaching years," Tarrant said. "Even though we lost four or five games, we weren’t disappointed because they have never quit on each other or us, at any practice or any game.”