Barrington commits to Mercyhurst
Anna Barrington has checked one huge box off her list heading into her final year at Ridley College.
The 17-year-old defenceman recently committed to Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pa., for the 2022/23 season on a full scholarship to play hockey for the Lakers.
“It’s amazing,” the native of St. John’s said. “With COVID and everything, it was a waiting game. It was very stressful because we didn’t know what was going to happen. It was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and I can go into next year now and focus on the game and improving.”
Barrington admitted she was worried after the COVID pandemic wiped out sports in Ontario last year.
“It was really tough because all the teams in America were playing,” she said. “They were all getting looked at down there and we weren’t getting looked at in Canada.”
Barrington did have one ace in the hole — she had previously been seen by Mercyhurst at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Alberta when she suited up for her home province.
“I was really lucky to have gone to the Canada Games and also having my first year at Ridley being a great year, I think that’s what really pushed me along there,” she said. “I was only in Grade 9 so I talked to a couple of other schools after that but Mercyhurst, they kind of stuck with me. They’re a small school in a great area and I really connected with their coach and I talked to a couple of players and they really liked the experience and the head coach.”
Barrington wasn’t able to visit the school’s campus this year but did go on an unofficial visit in Grade 9.
“It’s a lot like Ridley,” she said. “There is a community feeling with a smaller school and seeing how everyone interacted and was so welcoming, I think that is definitely something that knocked Mercyhurst up in the rankings.
“It felt like the right place to go.”
Barrington isn’t sure what she will major in yet — she mentioned medicine or psychology — and is looking forward to the hockey component at Mercyhurst.
“When I talked to my agent, he told me they wouldn’t be offering you a full scholarship if they didn’t want you to play,” she said. “I was told I was going to play and definitely be in their top six defencemen, which is great. I talked to them before committing and was told the head coach likes to play freshmen and he’s all about developing players.”
Ridley coach Amanda Benoit-Wark is happy to have Barrington back for one more year.
“Anna is a player you want on your team and to not have to play against,” she said. “She is competitive, plays hard in both practice and games and because of that she makes the others around her better. She makes good decisions with the puck, shoots it extremely well and can contribute positively in both ends of the ice.
“She is a focused student athlete that doesn’t except anything less than performing at her best both on and off the ice.”
Barrington has high expectations for her Grade 12 year at Ridley.
“I’m super excited. I think it’s going to be a great year. I got to experience the full Ridley experience in my first year so I’m hoping the girls this year, I really want them to have that experience I had my first year.”
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