Over the past week, the prep school hockey season returned in earnest throughout New England. Nine of the 10 teams ranked in New England Hockey Journal’s latest Prep School Coaches Poll have seen action at least once since the holiday break, leading to a few changes.
The top three teams remain the same as last week, minus a switch in rank order, but Loomis Chaffee has made another move up and finds itself back in the top half of the rankings for the second time this season. The latter tier includes a team that has not been ranked at any previous point during the winter.
New England’s upper echelon began to separate a bit this week as just eight other teams received consideration for the top-10 ranks as voted upon by a panel of the region’s coaches. (Teams receive 10 points for a first-place vote, nine for a second-place vote, eight for a third-place vote, etc.)
The NEHJ Prep School Coaches Poll will be released every Tuesday during the season on hockeyjournal.com. Please send an email to jkummins@hockeyjournal.com if you are interested in participating in our polls throughout the winter.
1. Dexter Southfield (13-1)
125 points - 9 first-place votes
Last week: 1st
Lawrence handed Dexter its first loss of the season on Jan. 5, but Dan Donato’s squad bounced back with a pair of lopsided victories this past week. Dexter added to its New England-leading win total, defeating both Rivers, 6-1, and St. Mark’s, 8-2, in road games. Matt Copponi (Mansfield, Mass.; 1-2-3) and John Fusco (Westwood, Mass.; 0-3-3) led the offense in the first game against Rivers. Doug Grimes (Brookline, Mass.) scored a pair of goals before adding a third for the week in the latter game. Ben Raymond (Newton, Mass.) scored twice against St. Mark’s, while Jack Dempsey (Natick, Mass.; 0-3-3) and Connor Blanchard (Waltham, Mass.; 1-1-2) also had multiple points. Dylan Silverstein (Woburn, Mass.) earned both wins in net.
2. Salisbury (10-1-1)
110 points - 1 first-place vote
Last week: 3rd
The Crimson Knights opened their post-holiday schedule with close victories over Brunswick, 4-2, and Deerfield, 3-2, extending their winning streak to five games and unbeaten streak to 11 (10-0-1). Against the in-state foe Bruins, Matthew DeBoer logged a goal and an assist, Jake Quillan assisted on three goals, Lucas Mercuri netted the winner and Max Donoso made 28 saves. James Cerepak’s two goals the following day included the deciding tally, while Michael Fairfax assisted twice and Nicholas Haas stopped 24 shots.
3. Lawrence (9-1)
95 points - 3 first-place votes
Last week: 2nd
The Spartans have not seen action since winning the Watkins Invitational, concluding the tournament with a Jan. 5 triumph against Dexter Southfield. They return to the ice Wednesday against Nobles.
4. Avon Old Farms (9-1)
84 points
Last week: 5th
On Saturday, the Winged Beavers hit the ice for the first time since Dec. 21 and earned a 4-1 win at Taft. Four Avon players scored, but Paul Davey (1-1-2), Brendan Williams (1-1-2) and John Turner (East Falmouth, Mass.; 0-2-2) all had multiple points. Tyler Gordon and Nick Young also scored. Connor Callaghan made 22 saves in goal.
5. Loomis Chaffee (8-1-2)
71 points
Last week: 8th
The Pelicans pitched their second consecutive shutout in their first game of 2020 as Kyle Chauvette (New Boston, N.H.) stopped all 31 shots he faced to lift Loomis past Housatonic League rival Kent, 2-0. Alex Krause factored into both tallies with a goal and an assist, while Anthony Cipollone was the other scorer.
6. Kimball Union (11-3-1)
56 points
Last week: 7th
The Wildcats hit the road to Massachusetts twice within the last week, earning one-goal victories over Governor’s, 4-3 in overtime, and Cushing, 3-2. Sullivan Mack capped off a hat trick and four-point effort with the overtime winner against Governor’s, lifting Zak Brice to a 37-save win. Zach Whitehead (Meriden, N.H.) and Tomas Mazura both registered two assists in that game. Against Cushing, Mack scored the deciding goal and added a helper as future Michigan defenseman Luca Fantilli assisted twice and Veeti Kohvakka made 30 saves.
7. Kent (9-3)
50 points
Last week: 4th
The Lions opened 2020 with a 2-0 loss to Loomis Chaffee, but they returned to the winning side with Monday’s 4-2 triumph over Millbrook. Jeremy Siegel made 16 saves in the setback against Loomis before Joey Purtell (Beverly, Mass.) took the net and stopped 31 shots in the following game. Cade McLaughlin scored a goal and an assist against Millbrook, leading Kent’s four goal scorers.
8. St. Sebastian’s (9-3)
30 points
Last week: 6th
The Arrows slipped in this week’s rankings after losing to ISL foes Nobles, 2-1, and Belmont Hill, 5-3. Jake Lavoie (Taunton, Mass.) scored the lone goal against Nobles, while Brendan Gorman (Arlington, Mass.; 1-1-2) and Connor Joyce (Dedham, Mass.; 0-2-2) were multiple-point scorers in the loss to rival Belmont Hill. Luke Garrity (Duxbury, Mass.) made 19 and 22 saves in the games, respectively.
9. Brunswick (9-4-1)
28 points
Last week: 9th
The Bruins started 2020 with a 6-2 win over Taft before their overall five-game winning streak was snapped with a 4-2 setback to regional power Salisbury. Against Taft, Matthew McGroarty scored a goal and added two assists. Jude Brower and Michael Salandra posted two points each. Alexander Rohif stopped 24 shots. Andon Cerbone assisted on goals by Henry Foster and Beanie Richter against Salisbury.
10. Nobles (8-3-1)
19 points
Last week: Not ranked
Four straight wins have jumped the Bulldogs into the NEHJ rankings for the first time this season. The last two victories for Brian Day’s team came over the past week against ISL rivals St. Sebastian’s, 2-1, and Thayer, 5-1.
Casey Severo scored twice and Aidan Lyons (Brookline, Mass.) assisted on a pair of goals against Sebs, while Marc Smith (Hanover, Mass.) clinched the win with 38 saves. In the next game, David Jacobs (Needham, Mass.) had a goal and four assists, Severo found the net twice and assisted twice more, Jack Cronin (Hamilton, Mass.) had a goal and an assist, and Smith finished with 24 stops.
Others receiving votes: Hotchkiss, Gunnery, St. Mark’s, Cushing, Millbrook, Thayer, New Hampton, Groton
