Hetland Arena in New Bedford may be one of the few places one can enter and feel colder than while standing outside, but that doesn't hold back the Bishop Stang Girls Varisty Ice Hockey team.

The team has been making its mark on Bishop Stang history, as the current group of girls are part of the first wave of girls varsity ice hockey at Stang. On its third year as a varsity sport, girls ice hockey first came to Stang as a club sport. However, it was popularized enough that it was adopted into Stang’s host of athletic programs and Bill Theodore was recruited to take the mantle as head coach.

“They play with a lot of heart, they don’t give up,” said Theodore, who coaches with his wife and son, assistant coaches Julie Devine-Theodore and Corey Theodore, and assistant coaches Brian Pepin and Melanie O'Connor.

“It’s awesome. Seeing what we were our first year and seeing what we’ve become, knowing what’s going to come next is the greatest,” said junior Sara Cruise, 16.

Bishop Stang is the only school in Dartmouth with a girls ice hockey team, a co-opt between Stang and Somerset Berkley. That was undoubtedly a deciding factor for Cruise when she was deciding which high school to attend.

Though most of the Spartans’ competition is scattered across the state, their season, running from Thanksgiving until the end of February, is anything but short at twenty games.

“They’re on the ice six days a week,” Theodore said. “It can be grueling.”

Such a long season interspersed with practices that run the gamut from before the sun rises to well after it sets can seem taxing, but ice hockey is a game that calls for not just physical fitness but mental toughness as well.

“Just getting to be with the girls, the bond that we have with coaches is just incredible,” Cruise said.

“It’s hard, physically and mentally, but it’s worth it,” said goalie Victoria Poland, 17.

This young team is led by captains Cruise, Poland and junior Maggie Lafrance, 16. Though Cruise took up ice hockey 11 years ago when a friend of hers pushed her to start, got a later Lafrance and Poland start, Lafrance pursuing it when she came to Bishop Stang as a freshman and Poland, in the seventh grade after seeing her sisters play.

“I thought I’d try something new,” Lafrance said. “I really like it, I think it’s a lot of fun.”

Not only is the girls ice hockey team at a landmark point in its history, but the girls get to stomp on preconceptions about girls in sports. When Poland mentions to people that she plays hockey, they tend to assume field hockey.

“But when I’m like ‘No, I play ice hockey,’ they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s so cool,’” Poland said. “Yeah, it is pretty cool,” she admitted.

Currently standing at 2-4-1, the team has already surpassed some of the goals it set for the season. Last year, lots of freshman were put on defense due to the tight numbers.

“We threw them into the fire but it’s paid off, they’re playing very well,” Theodore said. “They’ve matured and they’re only sophomores now so it’s great. Last year we only won two games, this year we won two and tied one so we’re ahead of the game. I tell the girls that if we each get just two percent better, the team will have own. They work hard.”

The Bishop Stang Girls Ice Hockey team's next match is on Saturday, Jan. 9 at home at 8:30 p.m.