By Christopher Tremblay

Norwood’s Marissa Cataldo got involved with ice hockey largely because of her sister Emily, who is three years older. Unfortunately, she never got to play with her sister, but now as a senior captain for the Mustangs she will get to suit up and play along side her younger sister, Molly.

“I’ve been playing hockey since the second grade,” Cataldo said. “My older sister played the sport, and I was always at her games and got to enjoy it. Our dad always took us skating and I started to enjoy the sport of hockey as it was more of a contact sport with quickness. Although I never got to play with Emily, this year I am getting the opportunity to play with Molly on the same line.”

According to Coach Tim Coskren, the Cataldo sisters, although not twins, play very well together.

“Playing together in our first game we just seemed to click; our chemistry was strong, and I knew exactly where she was,” Cataldo said. “Having never played with her before it was strange as it usually takes time to jell with your teammates, but this was different.”

As a freshman, the Norwood native made the varsity team along with two other freshman, and despite being some of the younger girls on the team, the trio was accepted immediately. That first campaign she found herself beginning the year playing center on the second line but found herself moving up to the first line before the end of the year. During her first season, Norwood went 8-8-4 during the regular season and earned a spot in the Tournament but lost to Canton 3-0 in the first round.

Between her freshman and sophomore seasons, Cataldo knew that if she was to be successful, she needed to work on her shot and strength. Immediately she began shooting in her back yard and worked on her upper body strength.

“I definitely saw an improvement my second year and progressively got better as the year went on,” Cataldo said. ‘The team was better too (Norwood went 11-7-2 and once again earned a spot in the tournament) and we won our first-round tournament game.”

Norwood captured a 2-1-over-time victory over Wakefield/Tewksbury in one of the biggest goals in Norwood history (before once again falling to Canton 3-1 in the second round) with none other than Cataldo getting the victorious game winner. The now senior remembers it like it was yesterday.

“I remember it vividly,” Cataldo recalled. “Everyone was getting really exhausted and I just wanted this game to be over. I rushed the puck from end to end and scored with the whole rink erupting. It was definitely one of my top moments playing hockey.”

The four-year varsity player has been one of the top players for the Mustangs while on the ice during her tenure. Over the least two campaigns, she has been near the top of the team in scoring and has given Norwood the energy it needed to be successful.

“She may be on the smaller side, but she is a good little spitfire and doesn’t let her size hold her down,” the Norwood Coach said. “She is always giving 100%. She is quick, sees the ice well, and can move the puck while making very few mistakes while on the ice.

Having made it to the tournament during her first two seasons, Cataldo and the Mustangs were looking to once again enter the tournament last year, but Covid had different ideas. Playing in an abbreviated season with a lot of new rules and regulations as well as different scenarios, the MIAA decided against having a tournament with all that was going on.

“It was a tough season,” Cataldo said. “We had to wear masks under our helmets, and it was just a mess. The games were slower because of the trouble we had breathing while wearing the masks. Not only that, but we couldn’t use the locker rooms to get ready for the games. We either had to get ready at home and drive to the games in our equipment or change in our cars in the parking lot. It was definitely not fun.”

With Covid somewhat behind them, Cataldo and her Norwood teammates are glad to be back on the ice playing in a what they hope to be a normal season with a tournament following the regular season. As a captain this winter, the Mustang center is hoping that she can bring her team together while focusing on working and getting better so that they can once again return to the post-season. Individually during her final season, Cataldo wants to not only set a good example for her teammates, but she wants to have her best season in a Norwood uniform while playing with her younger sister. 

“I am hoping that as a team we can take out some of the teams that we’ve been close to over the last few years, while getting better, skill wise,” Cataldo said. “I strongly believe that this team can and should get back to the tournament and hopefully we can go far, something Norwood has not been able to do in some time.”

The Mustangs best season to date was when they captured the Bay State League during the 2010-11 season but lost to Fontbonne in overtime of the Semi-Finals. Coskren is hoping his senior captain can help erase that decade-old memory while creating a new one.

“As a senior captain, I am looking for her to mature and become a leader on this team and make things happen on the ice,” Coskren said. “The girls listen to her, and she has a great intensity and enthusiasm for the game, but she also knows when its time to be serious. She always seems to come up big when you need someone to take charge.”

After being denied the opportunity to participate in the tournament for the third straight year, Cataldo and the rest of the Mustangs definitely have their eyes set on returning to tournament play, where they are hoping to make some history of their own and exercise the demons of Canton in the process.