This is part a series of stories looking back at how the top New England prep school boys' hockey teams performed in the 2019-20 season and what lies ahead over the summer.
Dexter Southfield had another standout season in 2019-20.
What else can you say about a team that bangs out 25 wins in 30 games, holds down No. 1 in the New England Hockey Journal coaches poll for most of the season, and makes it all the way to the finals of the Stuart/Corkery Elite 8 tournament?
Let’s take a closer look back at the season of Dexter Southfield:
Record: 25-5
Highs
Coach Dan Donato had a good sense of what his team accomplished this season.
"I was really happy with the year," he said. "(A) 25-5 total is really good because if you’d said (we'd have) that before the season started, you'd take it for sure, knowing the schedule we play. Also, I look at it that one of my main jobs ... is developing our kids, teaching them good habits, but also where they're going off to college. So, I mean, you look back at our group, you've got Harvard, Colgate, UMass Amherst, Sacred Heart, Colby, Tufts and Boston College, that's a pretty good group. Overall, where we're really excited is for those kids that we've impacted the rest of their lives with colleges.
"As far as the season, it was great. My big concern this year was we brought in a freshman goalie, and I knew he was talented, obviously talented enough to make the national team, but he was 14 years old and that was young for playing (against) 19-year-olds."
Goalie Dylan Silverstein didn't disappoint: the star goalie rose to the occasion for Dexter Southfield, making the national Youth Olympics team that played in Switzerland during the season before returning to help his prep team roll on. But he's one-and-done as far as Dexter Southfield is concerned, proving so good that he made the U.S. NTDP squad.
"I went high and low looking for the right kid last year. We were going back and forth with different kids, and then finally he showed up and I just decided, 'Hey, we're going to go with him, let's see,'" Donato said. "And people thought I was a little crazy. They might be right. But in this case, you knew there was something there. Too many people liked him.
"So, yeah, we took the chance and you could see early on that the shot adjustment was another level for him. He competed. The reason I believed in bringing him in is he competes his ass off. I mean, every practice he fights every shot, you know what I mean? He wants to save everything. And he's one of those goalies ... that don't want a puck in their net, ever. Some goalies push them all in there, so they're in the back and they don't care.
"Silverstein and (former Dexter and future Harvard goalie Derek) Mullahy have that same trait, where they're super-competitive. They would not leave the ice until the last kid got his last breakaway, and then the net was always clear. And that's 20-something years I've had a handful of really good goalies, and the common theme with all of them is that competitive side. Silverstein has that, he really does. He’s as competitive as hell."
Looking at Dexter Southfield's season as a whole, you can't help but be impressed. Things looked good right from the opening faceoff, the club starting 13-0-1 before losing its first game of the season, 5-4, to rival Lawrence.
The first game of the season, against Cushing, seemed to set the tone.
"I thought we played really well at the beginning," Donato said. "We had a couple of surprising games. We went to Cushing, it was 2-2 in the second period with five minutes left, and we went on to win the game, 10-2. And I was like, 'What just happened?' I mean, I'm on the good side of it, thinking, 'Wow, if we can throw that firepower ...' I think we ended the year as the highest-scoring team in New England, which is awesome."
The play of top scorers Jack Demspey (Natick, Mass.) and Doug Grimes (Brookline, Mass.) were also bright spots among many for the team.
"Doug is a kid that went from just making our team as a freshman -- he had to play D just to make our team, we had a shortage -- to now he’s 6-3 and shoots the puck a ton," Donato said. "He's still got a lot of developing to do. He's a little raw, but when he plays heavy ... . There's a lot of NHL interest on the kid too, so watching his development has been incredible.
"Dempsey’s a very unique player. He doesn't get around the ice all that well, as far as he's not going to beat you off the rush. But he sees the ice well, he bodies and positions himself really well.
"They're both incredibly coachable, nice kids from great families that just kind of say, 'Coach, he’s all yours. Go get them. And if you need anything, let us know,' which is really fun."
Top five scorers
Lows
Injuries and, of course, losing in the final would be the main negatives for Dexter Southfield. Peaking a little too early cost the club in the final. But, really, when you consider they made the final and lost to a very talented and deep Salisbury team, it's all relative.
"We had lost two of our best players for a good portion of the season in John Fusco and Aidan Connolly, and they were very good players and really glue kids for the locker and all those things," Donato said.
Missing defenseman Fusco (Westwood, Mass.) and forward Connolly (Marshfield, Mass.) was part of the reason Dexter Southfield dropped its second game to Lawrence, 6-2, one of the other few blemishes on the team's record. Fusco was hit from behind during a game with Thayer on Jan. 4 and was sidelined with a shoulder injury for more than a month.
"John Fusco, to us, honestly ... I always say to people it's like the Bruins not having Ray Bourque," Donato said. "He has just that much of an impact at this level. ... (After) we lost those guys, I was actually really proud that we found a lot of ways to win games against some quality opponents, and it made us clamp down on D a little bit without John Fusco."
As bad as it was, Donato didn't necessarily think of the Fusco injury as being the low point of the season.
"No, I wouldn't," he said. "I guess I've been Belichecked into believing in the next-guy-up (approach). You kind of have to be that way a little bit as a head coach because if I go, 'Woe is me,' the team goes, 'Woe is us.' And so I just look at it as I've got to take the position, 'Hey, that's all right, we’ve got good guys. Let's keep going and let's get these guys a little better and you guys want more prominent roles, well here they are.' It's not that it's a positive, but you’ve got try to spin it into, 'This is OK, guys, we're going to be OK.' That's all you can do, really, because there’s nothing you can do the other way."
Losing in the final to a talented Andrew Will-coached Salisbury team wasn't a highlight, of course, but Donato didn't think of it as a low point, either.
"The one thing I would say is we didn't really lose games because we didn’t play well," Donato said. "Even the Salisbury game, it was 1-0 after one, we outshoot them 12-4 in the second period and controlled a lot of it, and yet they scored two goals. So, outshot 12-4, and they score twice. And then you can shut the lights off because they're so well-coached and they're so big and strong that Andrew's not going to give you the middle of the ice for the rest of the game, which they did. He’s just an excellent coach, there’s nothing more I can say."
And, for those who saw the game and knew the teams, a 4-0 score was unexpected, especially with Dexter Southfield coming off a 3-0 semifinal win over a spirited and tough Berkshire team, which had upset No. 1 seed Lawrence in the quarterfinals.
"Yeah, me too," Donato said. "To be honest, I was shocked. I thought coming out of the Berkshire game that we had a real chance of winning this game. In fact, the Berkshire coach said to me after the game that, 'You guys are by far the best team we’ve faced all year.' And they had beaten Salisbury 2-1 once. But anything can happen in one game."
Looking ahead
Silverstein is gone, as mentioned, as are Dempsey, Connolly, Fusco and the rest of the seniors. However, returning will be Grimes and Matt Copponi (Mansfield, Mass.), the team's third-leading scorer. Also being counted on will be Derek Mullahy's younger brother, Jake, who will man the blueline as a junior.
And, as is often the case, Dexter Southfield is not lacking in Fuscos, with younger brother Matt waiting in the wings after spending time learning the ropes as a sophomore defenseman.
"It's nice to have your own group and your own team, so to speak, and that'll be really nice for Matt," Donato said. "Matt’s really developed incredibly well, but I think he's about to take another step forward."
Either way, it will be another interesting year for the team out of Brookline, Mass.
"We're going to have some growing pains," Donato said. "We’re going to have to win a couple of games 5-4 early. But that's OK, we'll get those down by the end of the season and hopefully have a chance to contend for it again and give it another run."
Paul Grant is an editor and a writer for HockeyJournal.com and Seamans Media. He previously oversaw hockey content at ESPN.com and Sporting News. You can connect with him at pgrant@hockeyjournal.com.
