Athletes from several high schools — eight to be exact, including Newtown — have joined forces for a co-op girls’ hockey team that will compete out of the Rinks at Shelton this winter. Junior forwards Mia Paltauf and Rory Coon from Newtown will skate alongside players from schools including Masuk of Monroe, the hockey program’s lead school; the co-op is named the Panthers after Masuk’s mascot

Other schools represented are Joel Barlow of Redding, Notre Dame-Fairfield, New Milford, Weston, Lauralton Hall of Milford, and Shelton.

Ally D’Aurio takes the reins as new head coach of the Masuk-led co-op and joined by assistant coaches Emily Rowland and Nick Carloto.

“It is a wonderful opportunity to be able to coach this team and to have been able to add some new players. Having eight schools on a co-op can be a bit overwhelming, but we have some great girls and a lot of talent. I brought on two assistant coaches who are very knowledgeable and bring a different perspective to the game, one being a former forward and the other being a former defenseman,”

D’Aurio played for a Notre Dame-Fairfield co-op team that was not part of this newly-formed co-op, and graduated from Notre Dame in 2016 and Salve Regina University in 2020. She began coaching a team last winter when Milford’s Foran and Jonathan Law high schools hosted a program that included Notre Dame. “There were not enough girls to sustain that team this year so the Milford girls went to Hamden, and I picked up the Notre Dame and Weston girls (for the Masuk co-op).

As the coaches get to know all of the players, and team members begin to bond, captains have not yet been named but upperclassmen have been stepping up and taking leadership roles, D’Aurio said.

The Panthers are striving for success this winter.

“Of course, we told the girls winning a state championship would be nice, and some of them laughed — although we really mean it — but taking the smaller steps to get there will be key. Building a strong team chemistry and using that to perform on the ice will help us to reach these goals,” D’Aurio said.

“Having eight schools as a part of the co-op is a new concept for the whole team. It has been fun to watch the girls get to know one another and really start to connect on and off the ice. After our jamboree this weekend, the girls walked out of the locker room discussing how excited they were for the season,” the coach added.

D’Aurio anticipates good competition throughout the season, and matchups she has circled on the schedule are December 18 and January 11 contests with the West Haven-Sacred Heart Academy team.

“Growing up and teaching in West Haven I feel as though that game is always one that excites me,” said D’Aurio, who teaches fifth grade math and science at Carrigan Intermediate School in West Haven.

Team members include Masuk representatives Caroline Raymond, Aynsley Lane, Wednesday Smetak, Meg Velky, Alexis D’Angelo, Lauren Heenie, and Elizabeth Ingram; Notre Dame’s Victoria Ceneri, Adriana Holland, Maria Davison, and Jules Damon; New Milford’s Amanda Quinn, Grace King, and Avery Dayton; Lauralton’s Anika Thite, Rinei Hawke, and Izzy Thomas; Barlow’s Eva Smith and Kayla Araujo; Shelton’s Maya Komorowski; and Weston’s Caroline Saussy.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.