The juxtaposition was stunning when Rivers took the ice against St. Sebastian’s for opening night.
On one side of the ice: a St. Sebastian’s squad with 16 seniors and college commits galore. They weren’t lacking in size either. On the other, however, was a Rivers team so young it sported four eighth-graders.
After trailing 3-2 entering the third period, Rivers fell, 7-3, come the final horn. But then Rivers went to the Exeter Invitational and stunned Kimball Union — another big, veteran team — and beat the Wildcats, 4-2.
That started a stretch of the Red Wings winning seven of their next 10 games, asserting themselves as one of the better teams in prep hockey. They've taken some lumps of late but still sit at 9-6-1.
And at the heart of that success: the eighth-graders. Carter Meyer (Winchester, Mass.), Finn Sears (Medford, Mass.) and Sam Pandolfo (Winchester, Mass.), all 2009-born standouts, form one of Rivers’ top forward lines, while Eben Alden (Dover, Mass.), also an '09, plays impactful minutes on defense.
