NEEDHAM, Mass. — St. Sebastian's and Portsmouth Abbey entered Wednesday night two very different teams.
Portsmouth Abbey has 12 seniors. It's an older team with '06s and the occasional '05 leading the charge. St. Sebastian's, however, has one senior and a team full of players in their first season on the varsity.
St. Sebastian's emerged the winner, getting a 3-1 victory over the Ravens.
The Arrows got the scoring started less than one minute into the game when junior forward Charlie Delay (Hingham, Mass.) knocked a rebound past Portsmouth Abbey goalie Easton Theberge (Rehoboth, Mass.).
Portsmouth Abbey responded midway through the first period when junior forward Joey Levreault (Portsmouth, R.I.) finished a chance past St. Sebastian's netminder Tommy Saulnier (Medfield, Mass.), making it 1-1.
The eventual game-winner was scored late in the second period. It started when St. Sebastian's junior defenseman Oliver Manning (Franklin, Mass.) toe-dragged around a Portsmouth Abbey forward at the point and sent a saucer pass toward the slot. Freshman forward Austin Wu (Dedham, Mass.) got the puck from junior Brendan Matthews (Westwood, Mass.) and slipped it past Theberge, giving the Arrows a 2-1 lead.
Despite a hard, final push from the Ravens, Arrows senior forward Brendan Keaveney (Westwood, Mass.) iced the game when he potted an empty-net goal with 50.8 seconds left.
The Arrows improved to 2-1-0, while Portsmouth Abbey fell to 2-2-0.
Let's dive into the standouts and a couple of takeaways.
Tommy Saulnier
St. Sebastian's, 2/15/2008, G, catches left, 6-0/165
Hometown: Medfield, Mass.Â
Saulnier was by far St. Sebastian's most important player. The Arrows won the game due to Saulnier coming up big on a five-minute power play. Portsmouth Abbey had two shorthanded chances that could've easily been goals. The first was a 2-on-1 that resulted in Saulnier turning away a Matthew Burgner shot with his blocker. The second was a breakaway by Logan McManus. Saulnier closed the five-hole and kept his team in the lead. His lateral movement was outstanding as he was able to move his feet quick enough to see past screens in front. His rebound control was great, too.
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Austin Wu
St. Sebastian's, 1/28/2010, RW, left shot
Hometown: Dedham, Mass.Â
Wu has had a nice start to his prep career with a goal and three points entering Wednesday. He added to that total immediately when he forechecked a Portsmouth Abbey breakout well, stole the puck and got it to the net front, where he eventually scored. Wu scored again late in the second period by finding space in the slot to get his shot off. Away from his two points, I was impressed with Wu's poise with the puck and his overall skills. Even with older, stronger players on him, he was still able to push the pace and be a factor in the cycle game.
Brendan Keaveney
St. Sebastian's, 3/22/2006, RW, right shot, 6-0/180
Hometown: Westwood, Mass.Â
Keaveney was a source of stability for the Arrows. When the power play was stagnant, it was Keaveney who often took it himself and got offensive zone entries. He was a nice outlet for sophomore defenseman Gavin Wainwright (West Roxbury, Mass.), who quarterbacked the first unit. Keaveney was a dogged penalty killer, putting his high compete to good use. He also used his speed to start multiple good rushes both at even strength and on the power play. It was fitting that he was the one to pot the empty-netter after forcing a turnover at his own blue line.
Jack Queally
St. Sebastian's, 7/27/2010, C, left shot, 5-10/174
Hometown: Milton, Mass.Â
I'm not sure how many '10s there are centering top lines for New England prep schools, but Queally certainly doesn't look out of place. He worked well between Keaveney and freshman Cade Noonan (Needham, Mass.), an '09. Queally showcased an ability to drive play and use his good hands to get around oncoming defenders. He made smart reads when forechecking and used his good stick to force turnovers and steal pucks. The points will come.
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Easton Theberge
Portsmouth Abbey, 1/4/2008, G, catches left, 5-11/155
Hometown: Rehoboth, Mass.Â
Theberge was just named the top goalie in the Holt Conference last week in Top Performers, so it was only fitting he followed it up with a strong showing on Wednesday. He tracked pucks well, such as when he made a stop on a deflection by Keaveney in the first period. In the second, Theberge had a sequence without his stick where he jumped across the crease to rob Wu of a goal and then made a stop on Delay right after.
Tomas Aubut-Lavin
Portsmouth Abbey, 9/14/2006, C, left shot, 5-11/168
Hometown: Montreal, QuebecÂ
Aubut-Lavin is Portsmouth Abbey's No. 1 center and it showed. He showcased good hands. At one point, on a power play in the second period, he used a head-fake to dupe a defender and get space himself to fire a shot. He had nice patience with the puck and made good plays in the offensive zone because of that patience. He's still tied with Luca Mestrandrea for the team lead in points with four.
Logan McManus
Portsmouth Abbey, 7/14/2006, LW, left shot, 5-11/180
Hometown: Chateauguay, QuebecÂ
McManus is on here for his efforts during Portsmouth Abbey's 5-minute penalty kill in the third period. He was on the ice for what felt like all of it and did an outstanding job being aggressive and forcing St. Sebastian's to make mistakes. He got the breakaway that Saulnier stopped, but it still swung momentum in the Ravens' favor. Ultimately, his great penalty-killing helped his team get some offensive zone time once the five-minute major to Aubut-Lavin was over.
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Leftover thoughts...
- There was a widespread belief that St. Sebastian's was going to have a real rough go of it this season. Head coach Sean McCann's team lost all those seniors, players to junior and players to other prep schools. It was a perfect storm of departures. But the Arrows played like a team full of players hungry to prove themselves. Did they have the high-end skill they had last season? No. Did they have the size? Certainly not. But they had a high compete and generally played a pretty smart game. There will probably be some lopsided losses — a team this young and inexperienced at the prep level will have some no-show nights. But they're also going to have some wins that raise some eyebrows. They already beat Milton Academy, 5-2, on Sunday and there will likely be more of those. At the very least, this team will be a tough out and surprise some folks. I'm interested to see what this team looks like come February.
- The good news for McCann is there are foundational pieces to build around. Queally and Wu are '10s and freshmen. They should be around for a while. Noonan is an '09 freshman. On defense, Brian Burke (Westwood, Mass.), Jack Kelleher (Natick, Mass.) and Manning are juniors, while Gavin Wainwright (West Roxbury, Mass.) and Noah Meyers (Wellesley, Mass.) are sophomores. Saulnier, an '08, is a sophomore. If McCann can get three years out of him, the Arrows will be in good shape.
- Portsmouth Abbey is not to be overlooked. The Ravens had their chances and were able to generate some strong offensive zone sequences. The top nine is solid and with all of those seniors, head coach Zach Cappelli's team should be a legitimate threat to win the Holt.
