Reaching a milestone
Stang’s Brightman joins elite as a 100-point scorer
Mikayla Brightman has a goal for her senior season with the Bishop Stang girls’ hockey team.
“We want to win a states game,” Brightman said. “We want be the first girls’ team at Stang to win a state tournament game.”
With Brightman’s scoring prowess, it’s a wonder the 12th-ranked Spartans (6-2-1) have not already.
On New Year’s Eve, in a 4-1 nonleague win over the Quincy/North Quincy co-op, Brightman scored her 100th career point on a second-period wraparound goal. She wound up with two goals and an assist, a normal pace for one of the South Coast’s most prolific playmakers.
Brightman’s 100-point tally is historic for Stang. She is the first female player in school history to reach that milestone. Nine boys have hit the mark for Spartans in the past. But if one expects Brightman, who currently sits at 104 career points, allowed the accomplishment to give her an ego, they don’t know Brightman.
“The point total was a team effort,” said Brightman before a 5-5 tie against Catholic Central foe Bishop Fenwick last Saturday. “I wouldn’t have gotten it without my teammates, for sure. It was cool to celebrate it with them. We’ve grown up playing hockey together, so it was nice to be able to experience it with them.”
Two of those teammates are linemates Lexi Yost, a senior at Case, and sophomore Kacey Curran. Yost is 10 points shy of reaching 100 career points, while Curran has provided a spark to her two older linemates. Powered by the trio, Stang has scored 37 goals over nine games.
“That first line of Lexi Yost, Mikayla and Kacey Curran is one of the best in the state,” said Spartans head coach Bill Theodore. “They play together and click so well.”
Brightman pairs her top line leadership with her second year as captain of the team, which she takes as seriously as her role as a playmaker.
“I try to be a role model for them to look up to, and a comfort person for them to come talk to,” Brightman said. “If they have a rough day or need someone to pick ’em up. I try to always be a positive person to talk to.”
Theodore thinks Brightman’s work ethic and positive approach makes her an ideal role model for her team.
“I would say her work ethic is her best trait,” said Theodore. “Nobody really outworks her. Her determination to improve stands out. She puts in the work year-round.”
Working hard year-round could qualify as a family trait. It was Brightman’s cousins, Scott Allen, a Washington Capitals assistant coach, and Garrett Allen, a former Dartmouth High standout who is an assistant coach at Milton Academy and a scout for the US Hockey League, who piqued her interest in hockey.
“When I was 4, I was watching my cousin Scott when he coached with the Islanders, and I told my parents I wanted to play hockey,” said Brightman. “When we got home they signed me up.”
During the offseason, Brightman has worked at a camp run by her cousins — 101% Always — to improve her game. Eventually, Brightman realized if she put in the work, she could make her own way in hockey.
“The first couple of years, I was doing it for fun, and then I realized, like, I actually have a shot at something,” Brightman said. “Then I started getting more serious about it, but I’m definitely still having fun.”
The Spartans are also having fun as they make it through the tough Catholic Central League schedule. With the return of a core group from last year’s squad, Brightman believes the Spartans are in position to achieve their postseason goal.
“The team is just growing together, which is amazing to see on and off the ice,” Brightman said. “I think we have a solid chance in the state tournament this year, which would be cool.”
While her post-graduation plans remain uncertain, Brightman hopes it includes hockey. The hard work required won’t deter her. After all, her personal motto — taken from the name of her cousins’ company — has always involved giving a 101 percent effort.
“I have a certain drive in me that wants to do that extra step that’s going to make me better,” Brightman said.
Ice chips
■ Boston Latin girls’ hockey coach Tom McGrath is ready to get back to the ballpark.
McGrath, who is in his ninth year as the Wolfpack’s coach, coached two high school teams and an alumni game at Frozen Fenway, and although he has recognized the weight of the opportunity each time, this year felt different.
“I think especially what the City of Boston’s programs went through the last two years with COVID — seasons got shut down — I think this takes a little sting out of that,” McGrath said.
Established in 2010, Frozen Fenway welcomes a series of professional, college and high school hockey teams to play on an artificial ice sheet laid out on Fenway Park’s iconic green lawn. This year, after a five-year-long hiatus, the event returned to Boston and was highlighted by the NHL’s Winter Classic, which saw the Bruins defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 2-1.
On Tuesday night, McGrath’s Wolfpack scrimmaged Boston Latin Academy at Fenway Park. The teams met Dec. 17, and though the BLA/Fontbone co-op came away with a 1-0 win, McGrath said his goal was to treat his team to an experience of a lifetime at Fenway by dressing all 24 players.
“We’re going to practice . . . and just try to keep everybody loose and keep the moment fun,” he said. “I hope to build an everlasting memory for them.”
■ Despite Bishop Feehan’s bumpy start to the season, things seem to be on an upward trajectory for the Shamrocks. On Saturday, senior goaltender Avery Blanchard backstopped the Shamrocks (2-3) to their first win of the season, recording 30 saves in a 5-0 shutout versus Catholic Central rival Matignon. The next day, Blanchard earned another shutout, making 29 saves in the Shamrocks’ 6-0 blowout of Westwood.
■ Norwell sophomore Penny Saich potted a hat trick in a 5-3 victory over Hingham. It was Saich’s third hat trick through the first six games for the 11th-ranked Clippers (6-1). With three games remaining, including against No 20 Martha’s Vineyard on Wednesday and No. 3 Duxbury in the Jan. 21 regular-season finale, Norwell stands out as one of the most competitive programs in Eastern Massachusetts.