M/T: gritty and goal-oriented

Before she donned a uniform for the Methuen/Tewksbury girls’ hockey co-op and took the ice, Kat Schille was the program’s biggest fan.

Her older sister, Victoria, skated for the Red Rangers, and Kat quickly found herself attending every game and going to the team-hosted youth skating events.

As a seventh-grader, Kat watched as her sister helped Methuen/Tewksbury capture the program’s first state title. She decided then that she had a job to do.

“I knew I had to finish the legacy,” said Schille, a senior captain from Tewksbury High. “Wearing the logo, knowing the history behind it — I got to high school and felt like I had to prove myself to even be on the team.”

Schille is one of seven seniors for the Red Rangers (5-1), ranked eighth in this week’s Globe Top 20.

Under the direction of first-year head coach Dave O’Hearn, Methuen/Tewksbury has found success in its defense-first mentality.

Through six games, senior Rhyan Pitari and sophomore Lydia Barnes have allowed three goals combined, and the defenders in front have worked hard to take the pressure the goalies.

But to win a state title, the Red Rangers will need more than the defensive prowess they’re known for; they’ll need a reliable offense as well.

Three of the team’s five regular-season losses last season were decided by one goal. In the second round of the Division 1 tournament, the Red Rangers struggled to find the back of the net in a 3-0 loss to Peabody.

O’Hearn is determined to find the balance between maintaining consistent pressure in all three zones.

“In the game we got eliminated — our lack of offense reared its ugly head once again, and we couldn’t get into the game,” O’Hearn said. “So far this year, we’ve been . . . pushing it [offensively] while still maintaining that defensive strength that we have.”

O’Hearn, a former longtime assistant, took the helm after seven-year coach Sarah Oteri Doucette stepped down in September after a storied 106-26-20 run.

“It’s very clear that he’s all in . . . and I think that energy is super contagious,” said senior captain Emma Giordano, a right wing who attends Tewksbury High. “All the girls are just ready to win this year.”

Though it’s still early, M/T has seen an uptick in offense.

O’Hearn attributes the success to the teamwide effort the Red Rangers have exhibited. Each skater has bought into the push to improve the team’s offense, and contributions have come from up and down the lineup.

Schille, along with junior center Bree Lawrence and junior defender MJ Petisce, have scored three goals apiece. Giordano and freshman defender Lyla Chapman each have six assists.

“We’ve had so much offense spread all throughout our lineup. We’re such a short bench that everyone plays such a key role on our team,” O’Hearn said. “We’ve had some high-powered, producing forwards [in the past], but this year, we just don’t. We just grind [the goals] out.”

Through the next month, M/T will face a slew of demanding matchups, including two against state quarterfinalist Billerica/Chelmsford, one each against Merrimack Valley/Dual County League rivals Andover and HPNA, and two against reigning Division 1 champion Shrewsbury.

Those games will likely be determined by the Red Rangers’ ability to sustain their offensive groove.

“We’re one of the toughest defensive teams in the state, but it comes down to whether we can score and get those goals to win those games,” Giordano said. “We all know that this is it for most of us, and we have to give everything we have.”

Ice chips

Boston Latin is in the midst of quite a gauntlet.

“We have five big games in a row, going back to the Braintree game,” said Latin coach Tom McGrath.

The Wolfpack opened the season with a 2-0 loss to Canton Dec. 9, then rebounded by reeling off five consecutive wins. They had hoped to carry that momentum into a tough stretch of games against ranked opponents that concludes with two important home games this week: No. 4 Notre Dame-Hingham (Wednesday) and undefeated No. 18 Waltham (Saturday).

The stretch began with a tough nonleague test on Dec. 23 against Braintree, which broke into the Globe Top 20 this week at No. 12. The Wolfpack (5-2-1) scored a comeback 3-2 victory that proved they might have a good thing going. Senior tri-captain Maeve Murray scored the winner 14 seconds into overtime to earn that key win over the Wamps.

“[In the game against] Braintree we were down 2-0, and then came back to send it into overtime,” said McGrath. “That is when they started to believe in themselves.”

The Wolfpack followed with a 1-1 tie with No. 14 Shrewsbury, prevailing in a shootout to win the Michael Giordano Christmas Classic for the first time in the tourney’s six-year history.

“Our defense and our penalty kill are pretty good,” said McGrath. “We are working on the power play. But our D has been the key to our success this year.”