As Jay Holmes stood next to the glass at Lawrence Larsen Rink in his hometown of Winthrop, Mass., he couldn’t help but gush about Julia, his daughter, who recently hit 100 points in her high school hockey career.
He explained the game in which she got it — the Winthrop High girls team was in Gloucester to play the local high school on Jan. 14 and she was two points away from the milestone. She got the game's first goal, bringing her to 99 points. Then she assisted on teammate Adrianna Rizzotto’s goal, earning her the century mark. And there’s no need to worry because Jay has the play on video.
But then Jay reached into his pocket mid-sentence and emerged with a puck. He pulled it out like a miner finding elusive gold in hard rock.
“I carry it with me for good luck,” Jay said.
The funny part is that Julia isn’t his only daughter on the team. She wasn’t even his first daughter on the team to hit 100 points this year. He carries Emma’s 100-point puck, too.
Along with Julia, Emma and Abby play on the team as well. And they’re not just sisters — they’re triplets.
“The doctor originally told me I was having one boy and two girls,” Jay said. “Then the doctor didn’t have the heart to tell me. She had to have the assistant tell me that you’re having all girls.”
Jay, who played for the Dom Savio hockey team that reached the Division 2 North final against Matignon in 1988, got his triplets, as well as oldest daughter Olivia, on the ice as soon as he could.
The triplets took to it quickly. Julia didn’t even want to use the typical crate when learning to skate.
As the years went by, the triplets’ love for hockey grew. They played for a variety of club teams while also staying loyal to their hometown youth program, which was coached by current Winthrop High School coach Anthony “Butch” Martucci. They even won state championships in 2013, 2014 and 2019 with their Winthrop youth teams.
Those years of multiplying the amount of hockey played by two set them up exceptionally well for where they’re at now.
“Everyone was still kind of young at that time,” Martucci said. “[The triplets] were doing double the hockey of most of the kids. It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of work on the parents, a lot of time, but they loved it.”
The triplets were good enough to consider prep school as they entered their high school years, and they did. But, once again, the trio stayed loyal to Winthrop. They liked the school, the local rink and being with their friends.
They also really enjoyed the idea of continuing to play for Martucci.
“We’ve been with each other for a really long time winning state championships,” Emma said of Martucci. “He’s always been very supportive of me and always there for me.”
The triplets are now seniors. They make up three of the team’s four captains (the other is senior Mia Norris). They thrive on the soccer and lacrosse fields as well.
Julia patrols the middle of the ice as a center with Emma on her wing, along with Samantha DiMento. In past years, the sisters played with a rotating cast of talent on their other wing.
“It’s a testament to them as being so good because it doesn’t matter who you put with them,” Martucci said. “They seem to find a niche with that player and so far, Sammy’s fit in well.”
While Julia and Emma fill the back of the opposing net with pucks, Abby works, and succeeds, at protecting her own net. Her two-way abilities on defense stand out as she holds down the top-pairing.
“I know [Abby’s] sisters are getting all these points, but she’s stopping 100 points for us,” Martucci said. “It’s a very important position for us and she’s been a great leader.”
Emma entered this season with 93 points; Julia had 86.
Five games into the season, Emma hit 100 points against Medford/Malden when she scored the game’s first goal.
“I loved seeing her accomplish that,” Julia said. “It was great that we got that in the same year.”
Emma and Julia had been trying to set each other up for their 100th points. With Emma at the mark, it was time to get sister Julia over the hump. She reached the peak 10 days later.
“It was a really great accomplishment,” she said. “I’ve been waiting for it for a while, so I’m just glad I got it in my senior year to end it off.”
Emma became the fourth Winthrop High School player to hit 100 points, joining current assistant coach Taylor Brown (109 points), Caroline McKinnon (107) and Mia Price (100). Julia became the fifth. As of Jan. 30, Emma sat at 120 points and Julia was at 108, according to Martucci. They now rank No. 1 and 2 all-time, according to assistant coach and statistician Sean Carleton.
Since the triplets are seniors, decisions on life after Winthrop must be made soon. Emma and Julia plan on doing a postgrad year playing hockey with dreams of playing in college. Abby doesn’t want to play college hockey. Instead, she will go straight to college and potentially play on a club team.
That’s long-term. Short term, the focus shifts to gunning for a Division 1 state championship. Winthrop owns a sparkling 10-0 record and sits at No. 4. in the latest edition of MIAA power rankings. Many of the girls on those Winthrop youth teams that won state championships are still teammates with the triplets in high school.
“It’s honestly really special,” Abby said. “It just feels like nothing really changed. Winning when we were younger and winning now just feels like it’s really special.”
If they could win all of those state championships growing up, why not one more?
