BOSTON — Canterbury's been known for its high-flying offense all season. But in Sunday's Small School championship, it was all about the Saints' defense.
The No. 3 Saints used that defense to edge out No. 1 Rivers, 3-1, going from 12-16-1 last season to a 20-win champion this winter.
Canterbury started the scoring in the first period when sophomore Logan Martel got the puck in the slot and ripped it past Rivers senior goalie Jason Delehoy.
The Saints added to their lead early in the second period when Canterbury postgrad Duncan Stewart made a beautiful pass to fellow postgrad Jackson Powers (Woburn, Mass.) on a power play. Powers found senior Ryan Stratton on the backdoor for the tap-in goal.
Rivers responded before the period was over. Junior forward Will Hatten (Wayland, Mass.) went end-to-end with a nice finish past Canterbury goalie Max Pitts' blocker, cutting it to 2-1.
The Red Wings spent most of the third period pressing Canterbury, but Pitts and the Saints' defense held strong. It paid off when senior Sam Ciappa potted an empty-net goal with 31.9 seconds left in the game.
Here are some quick takeaways from Canterbury's win.
1. This is a program-shifting championship for Canterbury. Head coach Paddy McCarthy's team went 12-16-1 last season, which was a massive improvement from where the Saints had previously been. Here is the record by season for Canterbury:
- 2023-24: 20-10-2
- 2022-23: 12-16-1
- 2021-22: 7-14-4
- 2020-21: COVID-19
- 2019-20: 4-22-2
- 2018-19: 4-23-2
- 2017-18: 10-17-3
- 2016-17: 5-21-3
- 2015-16: 11-13-6
- 2014-15: 8-17-4
A lot of credit goes to McCarthy and assistant Peter Gintoli. Even though the Saints will lose a lot of this roster because a number of them are postgrads and seniors, there's no doubt that Canterbury has boosted its status.
2. This was a game between young and old...and the older players won. Canterbury's size and experience showed throughout the matchup. The Saints won puck battles and were able to shut down the young guns of Rivers, whose lineup includes several eighth-graders.
3. For both teams, goaltending was a question mark. But both Pitts and Delehoy brought it on Sunday. Pitts made a number of big saves, most notably robbing junior Darren Iversen (Framingham, Mass.) on a 2-on-1 in the third period. Pitts went post to post and robbed him with his glove. And even though Delehoy gave up one more goal than Pitts, the Brockton, Mass., native was sensational, keeping the Red Wings in the game with numerous strong saves as Rivers took chances and pressed.
4. There were 12 times in which the referees blew the play dead to call a penalty. While some were warranted, some were borderline for a championship game.
5. While Rivers couldn't get it done, there's no doubt this team is set up well for the future. Next season, Carter Meyer (Winchester, Mass.), Finn Sears (Medford, Mass.) and Sam Pandolfo (Winchester, Mass.) will be freshmen, while Justin Graf (Lincoln, Mass.) will be a junior and Hatten will become a senior. On defense, Freddy Meyer (Winchester, Mass.) will be a sophomore and Evan Handler (Walpole, Mass.) will be a junior. They're an early Elite 8 contender for next season.
