DeMartino, female goalie, comes up big for Massapequa

Late in the second period of Massapequa's 4-1 win at Bellmore-Merrick Monday night, Chiefs goalie Dana DeMartino, the league's only female goalie, showed off her toughness.

Bellmore-Merrick's Steven Azzara was driving toward the net against defenseman Chris Kiernan when the two lost their balance and crashed into DeMartino, forcing the Chiefs' netminder to make a splitting pad save while sliding back into the far post, dislodging it from its peg.

After a few seconds, DeMartino stood up, waited for the referee to put the net back in place, and squared her body toward the right faceoff circle, ready for the puck to drop.

"That doesn't hurt at all because I've got all this equipment on," said DeMartino, pointing to her chest protector. "It's all part of being a goalie."

DeMartino, a junior, is the only female player on Massapequa's varsity hockey team. While there are other girls playing in the High School Hockey League of Nassau County, coach Tony DeMayo said he's never seen a female goalie or a female player with such an important role on a boys varsity team in his 30 years of coaching. On Monday, DeMartino stopped 24 of 25 shots, only allowing a goal when Massapequa was trying to kill off a five-on-three power play.

"This is one of the highest levels a [female] player has played at in the high school league," DeMayo said. "I don't think I've had a better angle-playing goalie in all the years I've been doing this, male or female. She's just so strong fundamentally."

DeMartino became a goalie when she was 4 years old, inspired by her father, John, who briefly played professional hockey and now is a private goaltending coach in Kings Park. Her ultimate goal is to play at the Division I level; schools such as UMass-Amherst and Boston University have reached out to her to begin the recruiting process.

For now, she faces the challenges of playing on an all-male varsity team. DeMartino said she gets frustrated when she's isolated in a separate locker room before games and is aware of the spotlight she is under because of her gender. Still, she sees herself more as the Chiefs' starting goalie rather than their only female player.

"[Being the only girl] doesn't affect the way I play or prepare for the game," she said. "I know [my teammates] all respect me because I'm the only girl on the team and I can play at their level. There's no one else on Long Island that can do it. Not just girls, no other goalies."

Said sophomore Bobby Oldmixon, an alternate captain: "She's definitely a big part of our team. We rely on her and she gives us a chance to win every time and that's what you expect . . . I think she's one of the best goalies in the league, and we know it's not something we have to worry about during the game."