Jenna Chaplain has accomplished a lot over her six-year hockey career with St. Mary’s Lynn, tallying more than 100 career goals and over 200 career points.
As great as those milestones are, the Peabody, Mass., native would like nothing more than to close her out high school career as a Massachusetts girls hockey Division 1 state champion, something the program has not accomplished since 2013. Last year’s team lost to Acton-Boxboro, 5-4, in overtime in the quarterfinals. St. Mary's has only lost one game all year.
“The team having success is really important to me because we want to win a state championship,” she said. “We have 10 seniors on this team, so it’s all or nothing for us. But by getting there, hitting those goals are actually pretty cool.”
“I think this group is really hungry,” coach Frank Pagliuca said. “Last year, we underachieved where we wanted to finish up. I think from more of a maturity level we are more focused in our game and our mental prep has been better. There is a sense of urgency that you can see in the kids. We are far from a finished product this year, but Jenna’s senior class is really hungry to try and go as far as we can go.”
Chaplain scored her 100th career goal in the team’s season-opening 7-1 win over Bishop Fenwick on Dec. 10, becoming only the third player in program history to accomplish the feat. Chaplain said she completely forgot that she was at 99 career goals when a teammate screamed at her that she scored her 100th.
“It was pretty cool because it was a pretty nice goal,” she said.
As of late December, Chaplain has tallied 121 career goals and 104 assists for 225 total points, which ranks third all-time at St. Mary's. There are only three other players in program history to reach the 200-point milestone: 2008 graduate Abby Gauthier (358), 2010 grad Courtney Winters (234) and 2008 grad Christen Hart (200).
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Chaplain has loved hockey since she can remember, due to her father and brother, both named Scott, playing the sport. When she finally stepped on the ice at age 8, she loved it, although initially, it was on Peabody youth hockey boys teams for five years until she attended St. Mary’s. She said playing on boys teams helped her grow into the player that she is today.
“It helped get me bigger and stronger,” she said. “Overall, I feel like the way the boys played was faster and taught me how to mature with the game faster than if I grew up playing with girls.”
She also has played for the North Suburban Wings girls team since eighth grade when the inaugural team was formed. Her father is an assistant coach with the Wings and St. Mary’s. Chaplain said her father treats her like any other player on the ice.
Chaplain has been a staple in the St. Mary’s lineup since she was in seventh grade. When she first joined the team, she remembers not being the fastest or strongest player and had to pass the puck a lot because she would get bumped off the play. Now she is the one using her strength and size to bump opposing players off the puck.
Pagliuca said he has enjoyed seeing Chaplain’s maturation over the past six years.
“I remember her out there as a 12-, 13-year-old and her jersey was too big for her, but her skill level was always relevant,” he said. “She did things that were tough to teach as a coach. To watch her physically mature and let her personal physical growth catch up with her talent has been, from a hockey standpoint, great to watch.
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“She’s stronger on the puck and her skating has improved. Her hockey IQ is tremendous. One thing I stress is you can have all of the talent in the world but if your hockey IQ doesn’t match it, sometimes you don’t see the full potential. I think she understands the game well, anticipates well, and understands her hockey responsibilities on the ice and what other people are supposed to do around her. It’s been truly a great experience as a coach to watch her grow over these six years.
“Besides her talent, I would love 20 of her just as a person,” Pagliuca said. “She loves hockey and being around her teammates. Her personality is very infectious and she is opening and welcoming to all. It says a lot about her character. She’s just a real pleasure to coach. To have her be a part of our program for six years is pretty special.”
Pagliuca called the two-year captain “a very humble and great teammate” who leads by example and is a good representative of the program on and off the ice.
Chaplain said it is a little bit easier from a leadership standpoint this year as there are three captains and three assistant captains, whereas last year they only had two captains, including herself.
“Everyone has stepped into their roles and helps out,” she said. “We have a lot of different types of captains, like captains who like to talk a lot and tell people what they need to do and what they are doing good. I feel like with me as a captain, I don’t talk that much but show people with my actions and how I do stuff.”
Chaplain will be taking her talents next year to playing Division 1 hockey at Assumption College. Assumption is a first-year program, joining the New England Women’s Hockey Alliance in June 2022.
“It’s so exciting,” she said. “To be part of something brand new and see the program grow from nothing is going to be very cool. I liked the campus in general and how it was close to home.”
“It’s a new program and a lot of opportunities for her to contribute and develop her game,” Pagliuca said. “It’s going to be a big transition for her, but I think she is excited for it. She has really worked on her defensive zone responsibilities, faceoffs and neutral zone play. She is also keeping an edge so her ebbs and flows are less frequent and that is a positive, especially going to the Division 1 level. She’s going to continue to work on playing at that high level and doing it consistently. It’s a good overall fit for her.”
