South Windsor High School has never had its own Girls Ice Hockey Team. Instead, for the past 13 years, South Windsor has played in a Co-Op team, nicknamed The Storm, in affiliation with the towns of Glastonbury, East Catholic, Tolland and Rockville.
“We originally formed the team in 2010 for students from East Catholic and Glastonbury high schools,” said Head Coach Frank Usseglio in an interview with The Prowl. “In 2011, we added students from South Windsor High School. The co-op team officially became a varsity sport at the three schools for the 2012-13 season.”
This 2023-2024 season has been extraordinarily successful for the girls. With a perfect regular season they clinched first place at their CCC Conference on 2/23/24.
“We won our conference tournament, and went 10-0-0 in the conference in regular season play. Our 16-4-0 state record made us the #3 ranked team in the state this season,” continued Coach Usseglio.
Along with this accomplishment, for the past 12 seasons as an official varsity sport, the Storm have won multiple awards and recognitions for their exceptional performance.
In the 2013-14 season, they qualified for the state tournament for the first time.
In 2014-15, not only did they make the state tournament, but they went on to become co-state champions. 2015-16 saw them win their first conference title, which at the time was the SCC Division 1, and returned to the state championship game.
In 2016-17, they again won the SCC Division 1 Conference Championship, and advanced to the state tournament.
In both 2018-19 and 2019-20, The Storm advanced to the state quarterfinals. In both 2021-22 and 2022-23, they advanced to the state semifinals, building up to their recent CCC Conference title this year.
Along with the team’s impressive record, many of the players individually have earned recognitions and awards. East Catholic Junior Sarah Gionfriddo, Glastonbury Senior Lexi Pacheco, as well as South Windsor Junior Liliana Ficaro and senior team captain, from East Catholic, Mallory Pierz were all awarded All-Conference players. Ficaro was also awarded with the CCC Player of the Year title.
Usseglio has been coaching the Storm for 14 years, since it was formed, and has been coaching ice hockey overall for 24. He is proud of the team’s achievements this season. The team’s success is accredited to the amazing individual players as well as the cohesiveness of the entire team.
“We have a great group of student-athletes who are “team first” individuals. The team’s cohesiveness is a big reason for its success,” Usseglio said.
Even athletes on the team attribute a lot of the team’s success to the fact that they are all close friends on and off the ice. The team believes the co-op is a wonderful way for them to play alongside, and form friendships, with people they may have not known or met otherwise.
“Personally, I really enjoy playing on our co-op team,” senior captain Peirz said. “It gives us the opportunity to form friendships with girls we never would have met before. We are all extremely close, and you wouldn’t even be able to tell we go to different schools. Although I go to East Catholic, some of my best friends are from Glastonbury and South Windsor.”
The team’s spectacular performance this season is truly inspiring, and showcased the strength that both a co-op team can have.
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The Storm celebrated winning the CCC Conference Championship on Friday, February 23, 2024.
Mr. Brian Pierz'
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SWHS Sophomore Charlotte (“Charlie”) Laramee, skating through defense traffic on the ice.
Mr. Brian Pierz'
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Charlotte Laramee celebrates a goal, with her teammates, at the CCC Conference
Mr. Brian Pierz'
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Ficaro celebrates her team record 36th goal of the season with her teammates.
Mr. Brian Pierz'
