BROOKLINE, Mass. — As the first period wore on between Dexter Southfield and St. George's on Wednesday, there was a noticeable lack of juice.
The seats were fairly empty. The student section took Wednesday's game off. The play on the ice was sloppy.
That was until Dexter Southfield forward JP Messuri (Arlington, Mass.) gave the game life, netting a hat trick to power the No. 1 Shields to a 5-1 win.
St. George's actually opened the scoring almost 7 minutes into the first period when sophomore defenseman Shaan Kessler's shot from the point was stopped by Dexter senior goalie Kyle Ready (Pembroke, Mass.), but the puck popped up and sophomore Cameron Daigle (East Greenwich, R.I.) knocked in the rebound.
From there, it was all Dexter. And it started late in the first period.
With just under two minutes to play, Dexter senior forward Nick D'Olympio (Rockland, Mass.) dished a perfect pass across the zone to Messuri, who one-timed it past St. George's junior goalie Tyler King (Hudson, N.H.).
Dexter took the lead in the second period when senior defenseman Myles Brosnan (Winchester, Mass.) slap-passed a perfect dish across the offensive zone to Messuri, who corralled the puck and fired it into the empty cage. Senior forward Joe Marchi (Foxboro, Mass.) extended the lead when he one-timed a behind-the-back pass from junior forward Noah Survilas (Winthrop, Mass.).
In the third period, Dexter senior Jack Fitzpatrick (Canton, Mass.) cashed in on the power play and, moments later, Messuri completed his hat trick.
Dexter improved to 16-2-2 with the win, while St. George's fell to 7-9-2.
Let's dive into some standouts and takeaways.
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JP Messuri
Dexter Southfield, 6/19/2008, F, left shot, 5-8/165
Hometown: Arlington, Mass.Â
Messuri was the best player on the ice. All three of his goals came from him finding soft spots in the offensive zone. The first two of his tallies were especially impressive, as he was ready to shoot and wasn't stunned when D'Olympio and Brosnan sifted it over to him. The Brosnan one was especially key, given it looked like the Harvard commit was shooting all the way. Outside of scoring, Messuri laid a huge hit in the neutral zone midway through the second period. He also supported his defenders well in the defensive zone.
Myles Brosnan
Dexter Southfield, 10/19/2007, D, right shot, 6-1/190
Hometown: Winchester, Mass.
NCAA: HarvardÂ
The pass to Messuri for his second goal was Brosnan's best, most flashy play, and it highlights his offensive ceiling. But Brosnan also got some other prime scoring chances, especially in the first period. He tallied two assists, with the first coming on Messuri's first goal when he got the puck to D'Olympio from the corner. Brosnan gets a lot of attention for his play in the offensive zone (he's tied for second in the region with 39 points), but his breakout passes were crisp, as he regularly got pucks to wings or the center, leaving the zone. A night like tonight helped his stock for the NHL Draft.
Jake Donatelli
St. George's, 1/4/2010, D, left shot, 5-9/160
Hometown: Barrington, R.I.Â
It wasn't a great day for St. George's, but I was encouraged by Donatelli. The sophomore showcased good speed when rushing the puck. On one play, he had hard forechecking pressure on him, and he used deception in his skating to get away from the forechecker. As he skated up ice, he cut middle, drawing another Dexter player on him, which created space to Donatelli's right that he utilized for a pass. His patience and edgework helped him be effective at making puck plays.
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Takeaways
- Dexter's power play is lethal. The Shields scored two of their goals on the power play and moved the puck with fluidity. There's quite a bit of movement, and they are so good at finding one-timers. Marchi's goal was a thing of beauty, as Messuri found Survilas open in the middle of the umbrella (the high slot). St. George's anticipated a shot, so Survilas dished it behind his back to Marchi for a one-timer. Dexter's first power play unit was Owen McHale (Charlestown, Mass.), Brosnan, Survilas, Messuri and Marchi, while the second unit was Matt Hines (Hingham, Mass.), Max Prudovsky (Newton, Mass.), Tyler Hamilton (Framingham, Mass.), D'Olympio and Fitzpatrick.
- It's telling that Prudovsky is on Dexter's second power play unit. The '11 has such a high ceiling as a do-it-all center who plays both sides of the puck so well — even against much bigger players. On one sequence, he got low on the breakout, received a pass from his defenseman and sifted through the neutral zone, creating a scoring chance. He mainly played on a line with D'Olympio and fellow '11 Carter Watson (Bridgewater, Mass.). Prudovsky has 14 points in 20 games.
- Dexter controlled possession for most of the game, meaning it was in the offensive zone quite a bit. King gave up five goals, but made some huge saves early. He robbed Marchi twice on the same sequence midway through the first period, and stoned Brosnan of a chance later in the frame, too. King finished with 32 saves.
- He doesn't have much to show for it, but I thought Max Donatelli (Barrington, R.I.) had a pretty good game. The uncommitted '07 was able to drive play down the wing and had one of the Dragons' best chances of the game when he picked up the puck in the slot, cut middle and got a high-danger chance that Ready stopped.
- It's been tough sledding for St. George's this season, and that continued on Wednesday despite being up a goal for most of the first period. At 7-9-2, they're not super far out of the Small School playoff race, but they're not super close either. The Dragons have all ISL Eberhart opponents the rest of the way, except for one date with Tabor.
- Dexter ranks No. 3 in the JSPR as of Wednesday night. I continue to believe the Shields, Avon Old Farms and Salisbury are a tier above everyone else. Dexter has a huge one coming up with No. 5 St. Mark's on Monday night.
