As the calendar hits December, the prep school hockey season is in full swing.
New England Hockey Journal is pleased to debut its inaugural Prep School Coaches Poll. Head coaches from around the region were asked to select their top 10 teams from all leagues, producing the following results.
The poll will be released each Tuesday afternoon during the season here on hockeyjournal.com, where a team-by-team preview of the prep season was recently released in the December issue.
A pair of defending championship clubs lead this week’s rankings as Salisbury and Kimball Union received 72 points apiece. The Crimson Knights received four first-place votes to break the tie at the top. Tim Whitehead’s Kimball Union club received one No. 1 vote, while Dexter Southfield earned the remaining three.
1
. Salisbury (2-1)
72Â points - 4 first-place votes
Andrew Will’s Crimson Knights opened the season with wins over Taft, 5-2, and Williston Northampton, 4-1, but an 8-5 loss to Millbrook yesterday dropped their record to 2-1. Several players are off to strong starts despite the loss as Jake Quillan leads the club with six points, and Matt Coronato and defenseman Luke Krys have five apiece.
2. Kimball Union (3-1)
72 points - 1 first-place vote
The Wildcats played twice before Thanksgiving and returned to action with 7-3 and 5-3 wins over Vermont Academy and Brunswick, respectively. Junior Tomas Mazura has a team-leading seven points, but both of his goals and five total points came in this past weekend’s action. Veeti Kohvakka earned his first win of the season against Brunswick with a 27-save effort.
3. Dexter Southfield (1-0)
66 points - 3 first-place votes
Behind a 20-save effort from Derek Mullahy, Dexter Southfield earned a 2-0 win over Cushing in its first regular-season action last Tuesday. Culin Wilson and John Farinacci scored goals for Dan Donato’s team.
4. Cushing (2-1)
41 points
Cushing bounced back from its loss to Dexter with a 4-0 win over Winchendon. Four different players scored goals, while Brad Zona assisted on three of them. Joe Sharib pitched a 22-save shutout. The Penguins also have a season-opening, 8-2 win over Kents Hill on their resume in which junior Nick Cafarelli recorded two goals and two assists.
5. Lawrence (1-0)
40 points
The Spartans posted a 5-0 win over BB&N to open their season in emphatic fashion on Friday. Ian Graiff pitched the shutout, while Tyler Young and Drew Bavaro led an explosive offensive attack. Young scored a hat trick and added an assist, and Bavaro scored Lawrence’s other two goals.
6. St. Sebastian’s (2-1)
29 points
The Arrows recovered from last Wednesday’s opening loss to ISL rival Rivers by defeating Milton, 3-1, and St. Mark’s, 8-4. Nine different players have scored goals for Sean McCann’s club, including senior Liam Gorman with three. Juniors Liam Connors (1-2-3) and Jayden Struble (1-3-4) were key to the most recent win on Monday, combining for seven points.
7. Phillips Exeter (4-1)
28 points
Back-to-back victories over the weekend helped Dana Barbin’s Big Red to a 4-1 start. Exeter’s most recent wins came against Kent and Gunnery, both by 4-2 scores. Six players have recorded at least five points, but senior Michael Pitts leads the way with two goals — both over the weekend — and seven assists. Ryan Welch is off to a .935 start in net.
8. Gunnery (1-2)
18 points
Craig Badger’s squad is off to a slow start record-wise, but it broke out the offense for a 9-1 win over Hebron on Saturday. Senior Robert Cronin and junior Alex Jefferies each have 3-1-4 lines through the season’s first three games, while junior Jimmy Rayhill has dished out four assists from the blue line.
9. Loomis Chaffee (1-0-1)
14 points
The Pelicans are unbeaten on the season after a 3-3 tie with Brunswick and Saturday’s 3-1 win over Trinity-Pawling. Juniors have led the way for head coach John Zavisza’s offense as Adam Martin logged a goal and two assists and Cody Hoban scored twice over the first two games. Kyle Chauvette made 25 saves in each game.
10. Rivers (1-1)
11 points
A 4-2 win over St. Sebastian’s and 3-1 loss to Thayer have been the season-opening results for Shawn MacEachern’s Red Wings. Two of junior Matt Cormier’s team-leading three goals came in the victory. In addition, senior defenseman Cade Webber and junior Michael MacEachern have posted one goal and one assist each.
Others receiving votes: Noble & Greenough, Williston Northampton, Avon Old Farms, Kent, Tilton, Taft, Thayer, Westminster, Hotchkiss
