Lili Ficaro, a senior at SWHS has a lot to be proud of with her talent for hockey. She plays for the Storm, a girls highschool co-op team along with Glastonbury, East Catholic, Tolland and Rockville High Schools.
“I am not giving away any secrets when I say that Lili is the most talented offensive hockey player who has ever played for our team, and that is saying something,” Storm Coach Frank Usseglio said.
The list of talented hockey players who have played for the Storm over the past 12 seasons, since the inception of the team, is a long one, and includes several players who went on to play NCAA Division 1 ice hockey, including in Hockey East, and one who went on to play women’s professional hockey.
Ficaro is a 4-year varsity athlete with the Storm and a promising goal scorer. After a modest freshman season, in which she scored just 4 goals, Ficaro’s high school career took off about halfway through her sophomore year. She ended that season with 19 goals and scored the Storm’s only goal during the state semifinal 2-1 loss that season.
As a result, expectations for her last season, her junior year, were high. However, Ficaro’s performance in her junior year surpassed all expectations.
“Being on so many different teams has made me friends for life that I wouldn’t trade for anything,” Ficaro commented.
She set a team record finishing the year with a +46 rating. Ficaro was selected to the All-Conference Team, the First Team All-State and was voted the CT High School Female Player of the Year by the Connecticut High School Coaches Association.
“[Ficaro’s] accomplishments are even more impressive when you realize that night in and night out, she wore our opponents’ target on her back,” Usseglio said.
Nevertheless, Ficaro amassed 38 goals (a team single season record) and 53 points in her junior season, leading the Storm back to the state semifinals, where her late goal took them to the brink of advancing to the championship game.
As of today, Ficaro has 64 career high school goals, and 82 points, for a career +67 rating.
“To put that in perspective, one game into her senior season, she is just 3 goals short of becoming the teams’ all-time career goal scoring leader, and just 26 points short of becoming the teams’ all-time leader in total points,” Usseglio explained.
Being the all-time leader scoring points is not something that has been easy for Ficaro.
“I had to work very hard every day on and off the ice to be the best player I could possibly be. It was a long process, but getting consistency within my linemates made our team have success which made me be successful to be able to be awarded with these incredible awards,” Ficaro explained.
Coach Usseglio shared some more of Ficaro’s values as a player and teammate.
“Putting the statistics aside, I think because she exudes the desire to win every time she takes the ice. Lili was a natural choice by her teammates to be one of our team captains for her senior season,” Usseglio said. “What I appreciate most about Lili, besides her personality and intelligence, is that she always performs her best on the biggest stage, when everything is on the line.”
For that reason, Ficaro has been an immense part of the team’s three straight appearances in the state semifinals. Hopefully, she and her teammates can get The Storm back to the top of the mountain one more time before she heads off to Oswego State University in the fall, where she will play NCAA ice hockey.
With a lot on the line and one last high school season ahead, look out for Ficaro #25 on the ice. We wish her the best of luck this season as well as in her collegiate career to come.
