EULESS, Texas — Shattuck-St. Mary’s, led offensively by Newburyport, Mass., native Cole Eiserman, won the USA Hockey 14-U National Championship at Children’s Health StarCenter on Monday morning.
The Sabres, a prep school from Faribault, Minn., defeated Bishop Kearney Selects (Rochester, N.Y.) by a score of 7-2 in Monday’s final. Shattuck lost just one game this season and was the undisputed top team in Bantam hockey from start to finish. Over the course of the six games at the national championship tournament, Shattuck outscored its opponents, 45-8.
Eiserman led the tournament in goals and overall scoring, finishing with 14 goals and nine assists for 23 points. The Eiserman name might be familiar to New England hockey fans, as three of his older brothers have played college hockey in the region. Left wing Shane Eiserman, a ’95, played for New Hampshire and was an Ottawa Senators draft pick. Defenseman William Eiserman played for UMass Lowell and Bentley, while goaltender Chris Eiserman played for SUNY-Fredonia.
Eiserman wasn’t the only player with New England connections on the roster. Defenseman Spencer Morrow (Darien, Conn.) is a mobile, puck-moving defenseman. Forwards Will Belle (Marlboro, Mass.) and Jack Galanek (Hopkinton, Mass.) played in only one game combined in the national championship tournament, but both got a medal.
Shattuck was coached by Christian Bragnalo, who played for New Hampshire from 1995 to 1999 during the beginning of the Wildcats’ decade-long run of great teams in Hockey East. This is Bragnalo’s second stint with the school. The Thunder Bay, Ontario, native was an assistant coach for the 18-U team from 2006 to 2012 before serving as an assistant coach for the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede for four seasons. He’s been the head coach of Shattuck’s 14-U team since the beginning of 2016-17.
The Boston Junior Eagles had the best run of any local team. Coached by Jarome Iginla and John Sadowski, the Eagles went 3-0 in pool play. The team defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite in the quarterfinals before falling in a shootout to Bishop Kearney in the semifinals. Jack Sadowski, a freshman at Arlington, led the way offensively with seven goals and four assists.
Mount Saint Charles won two of three games in pool play, losing the other in overtime. The Woonsocket, R.I.-based program bowed out in the quarterfinals to the Los Angeles Junior Kings. Tyler Wood had a goal and four assists to pace the Mounties in scoring. The team in its second year of existence is coached by Frank O’Connor (Arlington, Mass.) and John O’Connor (Hamden, Conn.).
The Minuteman Flames had a surprisingly tough go of it just outside of Dallas. Jerry Buckley’s (Needham, Mass.) team dropped its first two contests before ending the tournament on a positive note with a 4-0 win over Team Maryland. Leading the way was Drew Carr (Medway, Mass.). He had four goals and one assist, while Cameron Cooke (Pelham, N.H.) had a goal and two assists.
Stay tuned to New England Hockey Journal later this week as Jeff Cox will have his evaluations of the top players from each division of the USA Hockey Tier 1 Nationals.
