Keep Your Eye on the Stars

The Mid-Fairfield Connecticut Stars are a force to be reckoned with. This Tier 1 travel hockey team has already won December's Polar Bear Tournament and the Connecticut State Tournament, and the team is preparing to compete in the New England Regional tournament this weekend.

Coached by Moe Tarrant and Ryan Equale, the team includes players from Rowayton, Darien, and Fairfield. They enter the Regional tournament ranked 4th in the country, with a record of 36-5-0. 

“The maturity of these 13-14 year olds has blown us away," Tarrant told Patch.

The powerhouse team clinched a critical win at the Polar Bears Girls’ Tournament in December. The Stars went 5-1 in the tournament, which is considered the largest ice hockey event in the country.

They seized another important win when they took the state title at last month’s U14 Tier 1 State Championship. During the tournament’s four games, the Stars outshot their opponents 140-27 and outscored their opponents 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. For some players, the trek to Shelton is two hours each way.

Chris Lue, the team’s manager, and parent to 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 told Patch, "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 is often 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 this Friday through Sunday, Tarrant has to come up with new material to teach the girls. He told Patch 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 have earned a spot in the National Hockey Champtionships, scheduled to take place in Detroit in April. 

Tarrant said he wants the girls to know that “I don’t know where we’re going to end up” but either way, this has been “one of the most rewarding teaching years. 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.”

Team members include 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.

Editor's note: We've just added Moe Tarrant's Cutting Edge Hockey program to our