After pegging St. John’s Prep and Xaverian as the teams to beat in Massachusetts high school hockey this winter, I came to the realization Wednesday that there could be a team I was overlooking.
Thanks to a 6-3 win over St. John’s Prep at Warrior Ice Arena, Catholic Memorial became kings of the Catholic Conference. Larry Rooney’s squad jumped out to a 4-0 lead, got a scare when it went to 4-3, before securing victory.
The top-32 teams will make the Division 1 state tournament this year. While not all the top teams in the MIAA reside in Division 1, it will certainly be an intriguing playoff with the Super 8 gone for now. Single elimination means anything can happen, but the cream certainly appears to have risen to the top.
Without further ado, here’s my latest update for the top teams in Massachusetts high school hockey, regardless of division:
1. Catholic Memorial
Record: 13-2-1 | Conference: Catholic Conference
The Knights, one of the perennial powerhouse programs in the MIAA, has had to endure a few down seasons of late. However, CM appears to be back. Rooney’s squad has a nice mixture of older players with a few younger up-and-coming prospects sprinkled into the lineup. A pair of youngsters had impressive performances in the team’s Catholic Conference clinching victory over SJP. Freshmen Morgan Lenehan and Tyler Hamilton scored three of the goals and were two of the better players on the ice. Hamilton is one of the more underrated players in the MIAA, due to his skill, skating and complete game as the team’s first-line center.
2. St. John’s Prep
Record: 13-3-0 | Conference: Catholic Conference
Despite being dethroned after Wednesday’s loss, I still consider SJP one of the three favorites to win the state championship. As I’ve written previously, the Eagles do an excellent job of getting pucks in deep, going to work, and cycling to create offense. That might be cliche, but SJP has three lines that do it really well. In two of the team’s losses, the defense and costly turnovers let them down. As long as SJP buckles down and plays its typical brand of hockey, it will have a chance to skate off the TD Garden ice victoriously.
3. Xaverian
Record: 13-3-1 | Conference: Catholic Conference
The Hawks are another team built to win a championship this March. Dave Spinale’s group is veteran-laden and has depth up front and on defense. Senior Braden O’Hara leads the offense with 12 goals and seven assists in 17 games. When watching Xaverian, defenseman Nolan Dion is a player you get drawn to, due to his skating. He’s had a fine senior season after stepping up to fill some significant holes lost to graduation.
4. Hingham
Record: 13-3-0 | Conference: Independent
I wrote extensively about the Harbormen following their 7-0 victory over Wellesley in the semifinals of the Ed Burns High School Hockey Classic. Tony Messina’s team has the talent, depth, veteran leadership, defense, and goaltending to make a run into March. Messina leads a great program year in and year out that continues to succeed, despite losing players to prep and other paths.
5. Belmont
Record: 14-1-2 | Conference: Middlesex Liberty
Junior right wing Cam Fici, an '04, now has 31 goals on the season after his hat trick in Wednesday night’s 6-2 win over Arlington. He might not be the best prospect in the state, but there has not been a better play in the MIAA this winter. Scoring 31 goals is impressive enough, but doing so against solid competition in the Middlesex League and a tough non-conference slate adds to the accomplishment.
6. Arlington
Record: 13-3-1 | Conference: Middlesex Liberty
The Spy Ponders have endured speed bumps in the race to playoff seeding. A few lopsided losses to Hingham and Belmont have shown there are chinks in the armor. At the end of the day, John Messuri’s team still has two solid lines. A lack of depth, youth, and question marks on the defensive side of the puck are what could doom the Spy Ponders come playoff time.
7. Austin Prep
Record: 11-2-2 | Conference: Catholic Central
I wouldn’t count the Cougars out, but they’re the start of the next tier for me. After the top six teams, there’s a little bit of a gap in terms of the likelihood of winning a state title. A win and a tie against Pope Francis is certainly resume-building material. A trio of '06s, Luke Pazzia, Jacob Duval and Evan Regan continue to lead the offense while Josh Williams and Connor Griffin, also '06s, are the top blueliners. While they’re all good prospects, my biggest concern with AP come playoff time is the team’s youth.
8. Pope Francis
Record: 7-5-1 | Conference: Independent
There have been times where the Cardinals have shown they can beat top teams and there have been others where it looked as if they weren’t in their usual element. Wins over Reading and Braintree are the biggest victories on the resume. Losses at the hands of Arlington, Hingham and Austin Prep show they’re a step behind the top group in 2021-22.
9. Braintree
Record: 12-3-1 | Conference: Bay State Herget
The Wamps have had three disappointing losses against good opponents and all were winnable games. Braintree has a lot of depth and has been scoring by committee this season. Outside of a win over Winchester, the Wamps haven’t beaten many top teams. They’ve certainly taken care of business against their foes in the Bay State Conference. Sunday’s consolation game against Arlington in the Ed Burns High School Hockey Classic could prove to be a resume builder.
10. Malden Catholic
Record: 7-7-0 | Conference: Catholic Conference
The Lancers are sitting at .500 on the season, but Chris Kuchar’s team is without a doubt better than their record. Recent wins over Xaverian and BC High and close losses against St. John’s Prep and Catholic Memorial show the Lancers are heading in the right direction. The offense, at least in the games I’ve seen, has been paced by the line of sophomore Joseph Gaffney and seniors Owen Delvalle and Nick Julian.
11. Marshfield
Record: 12-4-1 | Conference: Independent
The Rams have advanced to Sunday’s championship in the Ed Burns High School Hockey Classic by way of wins over Arlington and Tewksbury. This is a good team that is well-coached. Sophomores Will Doherty and Cam McGettrick are the unquestioned catalysts when it comes to scoring. Junior Brady Quackenbush has been strong in net. Can the Rams avenge an earlier loss to Hingham to capture the trophy on Sunday?
12. Reading
Record: 9-5-2 | Conference: Middlesex Liberty
The Rockets have gotten better as the season has moved along and will have a chance to win a championship in the Walter Brinn division of the Ed Burns High School Hockey Classic on Sunday. The game against Canton will be a good barometer, but the Rockets have more depth and firepower offensively. In recent viewings, the top line, centered by Evan Pennucci, has starred for Mark Doherty’s team.
13. Tewksbury
Record: 13-1-0 | Conference: Dual County/Merrimack Valley 2
The Redmen finally lost a game, albeit a nail-biter against Marshfield on Sunday. Derek Doherty’s team has the firepower, puck-moving defensemen, and goaltending to win it all in Division 2. Obviously, the games are played on the ice and not on paper, but it’s hard to believe Tewksbury isn’t the overwhelming favorite to win in D2. They’ve proven they can beat and compete against top Division 1 programs.
14. Winchester
Record: 5-2-0 | Conference: Middlesex Liberty
The wheels are starting to fall off a little bit as the Sachems are 0-3-1 in their last four. Tough competition or not, Geno Khachadourian’s team needs to rediscover their rhythm before state tournament time. With Danny Collins and Max Tong leading the offense and Liam Doherty guarding the blue line, there is talent. There just isn’t enough secondary scoring for this team to compete with the top programs in the state.
15. BC High
Record: 5-8-1 | Conference: Catholic Conference
The Eagles face archrival Catholic Memorial on Saturday to close out their league play before four games out of conference to end the season. John Flaherty’s team put one of its first complete games of the season together by beating St. John’s Shrewsbury 4-0 on Wednesday. There is talent and the team is better than their record. A lack of depth will ultimately doom the Eagles when it comes to getting to the TD Garden.
On the radar: Waltham, Wellesley, Franklin, St. Mary’s, Central Catholic, Duxbury
