Senior Cate Colucci looks to control the ball during a game against Tiverton. She's one of the state's best in field hockey and ice hockey.

The Providence Journal / Ruben W. Perez

EAST PROVIDENCE - The three Colucci sisters played with Barbie dolls when they were little, but not the way most girls do.

"We chopped off Barbie's head and played hockey," Meghan Colucci said, with an impish grin.

Barbie decapitated? That American icon wasn't safe in a family whose toys of choice included sticks, pucks, balls, skates, cleats and masks.

Meet the Coluccis of Glocester: Stephen, an ice hockey and lacrosse player at La Salle Academy in the early 1980s; his wife, Sue, a softball player at East Providence High School in the early '80s; their daughters Catherine, 17, a senior at St. Mary Academy - Bay View, Meghan, 15, a sophomore there, and Kiley, 13, a Bay View freshman; and their son Ryan, 14, a freshman at La Salle.

Athletes, all.

The Colucci sisters play field hockey, ice hockey and lacrosse. Catherine, better known as Cate, or C.C., is a starting midfielder, co-captain and the only field hockey player in Division II last year to earn All-State recognition. Meghan is a starting back and Kiley a starting forward. They are so versatile, however, that coach Ken Dias doesn't hesitate to move them around. Kiley has played defense, and Meghan, an ice hockey goalie, started the East Greenwich game in goal because co-captain Kaitlyn Hall was sick.

"They are so much fun to coach. They really are three good kids," Dias said last week, after Bay View shut out Tiverton, 4-0.

The Coluccis came to field hockey in a roundabout fashion. They grew up on skates -- figure skating at first, then moving on to hockey after their dad declared, "If you're going to do something, you're going to do something I can watch." Ice hockey became so entrenched that when Kiley was ready to take her turn, she got a pair of Ryan's old skates to wear.

They skated in Burrillville and in a development league in North Smithfield. When they were old enough, they moved up to the Providence Lady Reds. They have played for teams in Woonsocket and Bridgewater, Mass., in the latter case under 1980 Olympic hero Jim Craig. How much do they love ice hockey? Enough to skate all year, and sacrifice their Barbie dolls. That ritual began at their grandparents' house in Hyannis about 10 years ago.

As they tell the story, their cousin Derek, a junior at Catholic Memorial High School in West Roxbury, Mass., had already removed a Barbie head and was whacking it around with a hockey stick in the big, empty basement. When his cousins arrived, a game ensued. That was the beginning.

"It was always Derek and Ryan against Meghan, Kiley and me," Cate said.

The boys always won.

"They had hockey sense before we did," Meghan said.

Field hockey entered the Colucci household four years ago, when Kiley played for a club in Cumberland. Cate became interested a year later, and the sisters would hit in their backyard. Wanting something to do before ice hockey season, Kate tried out for the Bay View team.

"I didn't know what I was doing, but the seniors were really nice when I came here. Sara Ashton helped me out a lot. She gave me my nickname, C.C., because there were too many Kates on the team."

Meghan gave up soccer to concentrate on ice hockey, but in the eighth grade at Bay View, she tried out and made the soccer team. She expected to play soccer in high school, but when she saw her sisters playing field hockey, she thought it would be fun to play on the same team.

"I decided to try something new, so I tried out and really liked it," she said.

A fractured left kneecap ended her soccer career last spring. She wears a brace and said she feels fine.

Kiley arrived at Bay View last month, determined to play right away.

"I wanted to make the team and be a starter," she said.

Cate explained that "most of the girls freshman year have never played before. Kiley had and also did summer leagues, and was able to keep up with the varsity kids."

Kiley scored the first goal of Bay View's first game this season and said, "I was really excited."

The sisters relish playing on the same team.

"I think it's cool," Meghan said.

"So do I," Cate added. "If I tell them something, they'll listen. They know when I yell at them, I'm not reprimanding them; I'm trying to help them out."

Kiley said, "I feel if I can't talk to someone else on the team about the game, I can talk to my sisters."

"They talk from the heart and make me feel safe back there," Meghan said of her siblings. "When the North Kingstown game went into overtime, I was so nervous, but they both came over and said I'd be OK."

Sibling rivalry does exist, however.

"At practice, when they pick on each other, everybody stands back and watches. It's funny," Dias said.

The Bengals moved up to Division I this year and are holding their own, although they are still looking for a victory over the traditional powers North Kingstown, a 2-1 winner in that overtime game, East Greenwich, Lincoln and Barrington. Cate and Kiley are among the leading scorers, and Meghan is having a blast running the field on defense.

Dias said he realized he had a special athlete on his hands when he saw Cate play for the first time last fall, his first at Bay View after a long and successful run at Tiverton. As the season progressed, he found her to be one of the best athletes he had ever coached. He encouraged her parents to let her play with the Cape Ann Coalition in Massachusetts, an indoor league in Somerset and a summer league at Moses Brown. He helped her get to the USA Field Hockey Festival in Palm Springs, Calif., in November, has taken her to visit Boston College and is helping her prepare a video to send to BC, New Hampshire, Vermont and Providence College.

"She doesn't realize how good she can be," he said. "She has the ability to take over a game. She has good stick skills, vision, speed and size. Nothing fazes her, and she works so hard."

Sacred Heart University is interested in Cate for ice hockey; she is not ready to choose.

"It's complicated, because I love both sports so much," she said. "I thought I would just go to college and play [ice] hockey. And then coach Ken came my junior year and said, 'You're really good. You can do a lot with your athletic ability.' "

"I see her at BC. That's where she's wanted to go most of her life," Meghan said.

"We just want her close to home," Kiley added.

Meghan sees herself playing ice hockey or lacrosse in college. She started lacrosse with her brother when she was 7 or 8, and played with boys for two or three years. "We were going at it," she said, smiling.

Kiley has a couple of years to contemplate her sports future.

And Ryan, their brother? He had it rough as a young boy -- "Sometimes I'd feel bad because we'd sit there and pick on him," Cate said, laughing -- but survived his sisters' antics. He is playing football with the La Salle freshmen and intends to play hockey this winter and lacrosse next spring.

And Barbie dolls? If any survived that reign of terror, they're safe. The Colucci kids use pucks now.

"You should see my garage walls," said their mother Sue.