Mt. Hope High School winter sports athletes continued their pursuits of local and regional titles this past week, including  hockey co-ops with skaters representing the Huskies.

The Hurricanes boys' squad — composed of players from Mt. Hope, Rogers, Middletown, Tiverton and East Providence — saw its 2024-25 season come to a close with a 3-0 loss to North Kingstown Monday night, Feb. 24, in the preliminary round of the Division III championship tourney.

The ninth-seeded 'Canes traveled the Boss Arena on the campus of the University of Rhode Island in Kingstown to take on the eighth-seeded Skippers for the right to advance into the main draw of the event and a quarterfinal round contest against top-seeded East Greenwich Thursday, Feb. 27.

Unfortunately for the locals, it was N.K. that prevailed, the hosts holding a 1-0 lead after two periods, then potting a second goal at the start of the third to gain a bit of breathing room. According to 'Canes' assistant and Mt. Hope representative on the coaching staff Cam Rancourt, the Skippers "had a very good game plan against us. We had our chances (to score) in the second, but we just didn't convert. Then they scored early in the third and kind of sucked the life out of us."

The Hurricanes ended the first year for the regional co-op with a 5-10-2 overall record in league games

Girls' hockey
On the girls' side, three Mt. Hope players (starting goalie Nadia Albritton along with forwards Rachael Thurston and Elia Bahan) and their mates from Barrington, Portsmouth and E.P. on the East Bay Eagles co-op entered the state championship playoffs as the fifth seed and will face fourth-seeded Northern Rhode Island Yeti co-op in a best-of-three quarterfinal round series.

The Yeti won the opener, 1-0, Friday night, Feb. 28, at Burrillville's Levy Rink, then finished off the sweep with a 2-0 victory in the second contest Sunday, March 2, at the Portsmouth Abbey Rink.

The Eagles finished their season with a 5-11-0 overall record. 

Indoor track
One of the Mt. Hope athletes who earned the right to compete in the 2025 New England High School Indoor Track and Field Championships Saturday, March 1, at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Boston headed to the meet where senior Lola Silva placed 14th out of 34 competitors in the girls' long jump.

Silva's best attempt came in at 17 feet, 5.75 inches. She was tops among the five Rhode Islanders who took part in the event, which was won by Vanessa Agyemang, a junior from Bloomfield, Conn., with a distance of 19'7." Emmanuella Edozien, of Natick, Mass, was second at 19'4" while Tayla Pelletier, of Windham, Maine, was third at 19'1."

"Lola did well today. She didn’t jump what she wanted, but she jumped a good two feet farther than she did last year at this meet," said Mt. Hope indoor track head coach Renae Cicchinelli.

Gymnastics
Two Huskies will vie in the 29th annual New England Gymnastics Championships set for Saturday, March 8, at Jonathan Law High School in Milford, Conn.

Sophomore Kara Pisasale, coming off her third-place finish all-around at states three weeks ago, competes in all four exercises: floor, beam, bars and vault. Freshman Charlotte Piper earned the opportunity to participate on vault.