HPNA girls’ hockey coach Gary Kane said it best when describing his first line center and team captain, Mia Kmiec.
“There have been times when Mia looks like she’s a woman playing against girls,” he said after she started the season with eight points and leading the team to a 4-0-1 start.
Kmiec is the lone repeat member of The Eagle-Tribune girls’ hockey all-star team, and now follows last year’s teammate Julianna Taylor as our Player of the Year.
Last year, after helping HPNA reach the Division 1 Final-4 and being named an MVC/DCL All-Star with a 19-goal, 32-point season, Kmiec upped those achievements this year with an All-Conference selection after scoring 17 goals and adding 17 assists.
She closed out her career with 42 goals, 44 assists, and 86 points.
“Mia has been a pleasure to coach,” said Kane. “She has been a fixture on the first line as our top center for the last three years. She has always been a lead-by-example player. This year, as one of our captains, she helped a very young group get their own voices and instilled confidence to achieve more. She will be missed.”
Known for her speed, strength, and scoring touch, Kmiec’s athleticism is off the charts. She was previously a standout soccer player but stopped after a torn meniscus in her knee. This spring, she is a captain on the North Andover High girls’ outdoor track team. She already holds one of the program’s top-ten times in the 110-meter hurdles and is part of the school record shuttle hurdle relay team.
An elite student, part of both the National and Spanish Honor Societies, Kmiec aspires to be a nurse and hopes to play club hockey in college.