Just call him the Renaissance man of high school coaching. Lynnfield resident Frank Pagliuca has been coaching high school sports for a little more than 20 years now.
You name it – hockey, softball, soccer – and Pagliuca has coached it. All told, his teams have won a pile of league and state championships (in two different sports), the most recent coming in 2024 with the St. Mary’s Spartans’ Division 1 girls hockey team. At one time, Pagliuca had a streak of five consecutive seasons winning a state championship, a streak spanning nearly two full seasons of winning all there was to win.
A member of the Massachusetts State Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame (Class of 2024) and the St. Mary’s Athletics Hall of Fame, Pagliuca became a teacher at Lexington High in 2001 after graduating from UMass Boston, where he played men’s hockey. His first coaching gig was in 2004-2005 at Wakefield High as head coach of the girls hockey team. That fall, he took on the Lexington High girls soccer team and remained head coach through 2011. In 2007, he assumed head coaching responsibilities for the Minuteman softball team, winning back-to-back Division 1 state championships in 2008-2009. He went on to coach St. Mary’s softball for a year, snagging a conference championship in 2011.
But it’s what happened 20 years ago in the fall of 2005, when he accepted the St. Mary’s girls hockey head coach position that – no doubt – put the building blocks in place for what has turned out to be one of the most successful programs in girls hockey.
Frank Pagliuca celebrates with the MIAA trophy after leading St. Mary’s to a 25-0 season in 2008.
St. Mary’s had just won the 2005 Division 2 state championship, its first in program history. It didn’t take long for Pagliuca to take the program to another level, one that had never before been seen in the rapidly-growing world of Massachusetts girls hockey.
Three years later in 2008, St. Mary’s was back in the winners’ circle, hoisting another championship trophy – this time, in Division 1.
But while Pagliuca said the 2008 team was the most dominant team he’s ever coached – especially during the Spartans’ tournament run when they outscored opponents by a whopping 29-5 margin in four games – that was only the beginning of a magical three-year ride under Pagliuca that ended with two more state titles.
The Spartans became the first team in Massachusetts girls hockey history to pull off a three-peat when they repeated in 2009 and 2010.
But it wasn’t so much what they did; it was how they did it.
From 2008 through early 2011, the Spartans compiled an eye-popping national record 100-game unbeaten streak in which the team posted a 96-0-4 record. The Spartans won 77 consecutive games, another national record.
Let’s just say that during those years, everyone was playing for second, lambs-to-the-slaughter style.
“That group was as dominant a team I’ve ever coached,” Pagliuca said. “Their team stats were insane. The goal-differential in particular. Those kids were driven and stayed together for two more years and didn’t lose a single game for three years. I was lucky to have coached kids who had so much talent and drive to win. As a coach, you are not going to get the kind of success we had without great athletes. It was great to be able to be with those kids. That team was a buzzsaw.
“That was a long time ago, back in the day. Again, I was fortunate to have great athletes on all of those teams.”
Pagliuca’s good “fortune” continued with another state title in 2013. Over the next 10 years, the hardware was scarce.
Then, things heated up again in 2022-2023.
Pagliuca said that year’s team might have been as talented as the three-peaters, but came up short in the championship game. He said the 2024 season was supposed to be all about rebuilding, having lost nine seniors to graduation and another four to transfers. Instead, the Spartans won it all in a triple-overtime thriller against Notre Dame of Hingham.
“We dominated the regular season in 2023, but we had that one game when we just didn’t have it,” he said. “It was a huge disappointment. We had an entirely different roster in 2024. So, winning the state in 2024 was just magical. That was about as special a team as it gets. They had tenacity. They had short memories when it came to mistakes. We had some puck luck. We didn’t get mentally rattled. That might have been one of the most mentally tough teams I’ve ever had. The moment never got too big for that team.
“The fact that we gave up the tying goal with seven seconds left and still came back to win says everything about how mentally tough they were.”
The fact was that the Spartans were perilously close to not winning it outright. MIAA officials told both coaches after the second OT that if after the third overtime period the teams were still tied, they would be declared co-champions.
“All of the kids were exhausted, but both coaches agreed someone had to win it. We said, ‘That’s just not going to happen,'” Pagliuca said. “Neither team wanted to be co-champions as that would not have been fair to these kids. We wanted it more I guess and these kids pulled it off.”
One might say, again.
Let’s just say, it’s all worked out nicely for Pagliuca since arriving at the downtown Lynn campus 20 years ago. He has now won five state titles with the Spartans, compiling a record to date of 371-87-43 (press time). Combined with the other four varsity teams he’s coached, his career record is an amazing 616-166-45.
Not too shabby.
Needless to say, Pagliuca has picked up tons of honors and awards along the ride. He’s a three-time Hockey Night in Boston Division 1 Coach of the Year. His teams have won four Catholic championships. All told, he’s been to the state finals a remarkable seven seasons.
But win, lose, or draw, count on Pagliuca to continue to deliver excellence.
“Frank epitomizes what you want in a coach,” said St. Mary’s Athletic Director Jeff Newhall. “He has the technical expertise and relates well to his players.”
Speaking of players, it’s clear Newhall is on to something.
St. Mary’s Coach Frank Pagliuca reacts to a play up-ice.
Pagliuca still stays in touch with many of his former players, many of whom have returned to serve as his assistant coaches.
One such player is Lynnfield resident and 2019 St. Mary’s graduate Lauren Vaccaro. She played two years for Pagliuca after transferring from Lynnfield High and currently serves as the Spartans’ goalies coach when not studying for a doctorate in optometry at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
“He really pushes you to be your best both on and off the ice. He wants us to have to work for everything we have,” she said. “For me, he told me that I had to play better or else I wouldn’t play and he pushed me to do just that.”
Vaccaro said she is applying what she learned from Pagliuca to her studies at MCPHS.
“As high schoolers, you don’t really think about how much you are going to work hard in the future, but being able to play for him, I learned that even if you think you are working hard, you can always work harder,” she said.
Pagliuca has lived in Lynnfield since 2010 with his wife, Kara, and daughters Kiley, Mikayla, and Emma. Pagliuca is quick to express his gratitude for their support.
“I’ve been very fortunate to have the support of my family, especially my wife, Kara,” he said. “They’ve provided me with the flexibility that allows me to coach so many great athletes over my career.”
Is there another 20 years of St. Mary’s hockey in Pagliuca’s future?
“I don’t have a definitive timetable on how long I’ll coach, but I will know when it’s the right time to step away,” he said. “Right now, I continue to enjoy coaching and connecting with student-athletes. At the end of the day, you’re only as successful as your players, so I’ve been very lucky to have had tremendously talented players. I really enjoy going to practice every day and providing teachable moments for the players.”
