SOUTHBORO, Mass. — St. Mark’s broke a 2-2 third period tie to secure a 3-2 home victory over Rivers School at the Gardner Rink and improve to 8-1-1.
Freshman Richard Gallant (Concord, Mass.) scored the winning goal and continued his productive freshman campaign by being at the right spot to grab the rebound of a Calvin Beard (Southboro, Mass.) point shot and sweep it into the net behind Rivers goaltender Conor Sullivan (Westboro, Mass.). The ’07-born left wing has been a revelation for Carl Corazzini’s squad this year, leading the club in scoring and pushing a dangerous, uptempo attack. ’05 center Jim Lyver (Grafton, Mass.) tallied the other goals for the Lions.
Rivers got production from the younger part of their roster, as well. They took a 1-0 lead early on ’06 forward Will Hatten’s (Wayland, Mass.) rebound, then got a second-period goal from senior center Ziv Deener-Chodirker (Newton, Mass.), a Boston Jr. Eagles standout and Williams College recruit, to make it 2-1. The lead did not hold, however, as Lyver was able to snap a shot to the back of the net in the second frame to even the score and set the stage for the final 18 minutes. Freddy Meyer’s Rivers team played hard and came close to tying up the score, but could not find the equalizer against St. Mark’s goaltender Charles Watson (Camden, Maine).
The game featured some solid performances on both sides and was the first time New England Hockey Journal was able to see Lions defenseman Michael Fisher (Westboro, Mass.) since he came out on the NHL Central Scouting Midterm Rankings at 44th overall, the highest-rated prep player on the list.
NHL draft watch
Michael Fisher
St. Mark’s, 2/5/04, D, right, 6-2/193
NCAA commit: Princeton
With his size and superb mobility, Fisher has enjoyed a very good fall season with the EC Wizards and logs a lot of effective minutes in all situations. His footwork is so smooth and refined, he can get back on pucks quickly but has superb command of his edges to make rapid, tight cuts and turns to open up space and get the play up ice quickly with his skating or passing skills. There are times when his decisions are questionable; he will pinch at the wrong time or try higher risk passes, but overall, he’s an intriguing physical package who is on an upward trajectory. Fisher made one memorable defensive play in the third period, when he lost his stick on a rush, beat feet to the bench to get another twig, then caught the opposing forward from behind and prevented even a shot from getting off with a timely stick lift. That kind of second effort, combined with his size/skating and growing confidence on the offensive side, validates the attention he's gotten. He’s still looking for his first goal of the season but has been an effective passer and distributor. The senior’s USHL rights are held by the Youngstown Phantoms.
Lyver and Gallant provide offensive spark
St. Mark’s has enjoyed a strong scoring impact from all areas of the roster, but the freshman Gallant and junior Lyver were the difference makers in this game.
Gallant is dynamic; he’s brought a hurricane-force level impact to prep hockey this winter. On the very first shift of the game, he beat the Rivers defense wide down the left side and wired a hard, accurate wrist shot on net that forced Sullivan to be sharp. He’s a commanding presence on the ice for one so young. His goal happened because he was at the net, stick on the ice, ready for any rebound that came his way.
Lyver erased 1-0 and 2-1 deficits by working to get himself into prime scoring areas. He notched the first goal right at the top of the paint, establishing body position out front and finding a loose puck in traffic. After an excellent fall with the Cape Cod Whalers, he’s taking his game to the next level after no goals as a freshman two years ago.
When you factor in right wing Drew Gibbons (South Kingstown, R.I.), the Lions have a dangerous trio of two ‘05s and an ’07 who can consistently generate offense. Austin Borrgaard (Charlton, Mass.) is another young ('05 sophomore) forward who played with noticeable pace and power in this one, giving the Lions the kind of quality depth that makes them a threat to break open games with balanced scoring.
Senior captain Dom Murphy (Worcester, Mass.) had a quiet game by normal standards but is a top play-driver for this team, and drives play as a mature, refined forward who is averaging about 2 points per game. The Holy Cross recruit is a valuable asset who does the little things, even if he didn’t find the scoresheet in this one.
Red Wings gave the home team a scare
Meyer’s team was ready to go and gave the favored Lions all they could handle. A key factor in that was the play of senior goaltender Sullivan. While he didn’t see the kind of volume shots that you would expect a team like St. Mark’s to generate, he was called upon to make some quality stops and earlier on, frustrated the Lions with some very good lateral movement to deny several quick side-to-side scoring chances. He wanted that last goal by Gallant back, as the puck from Beard’s shot came off his pads hot, but overall, it was a solid performance, giving his team a chance to come away with an upset.
Up front, Deener-Chodirker stood out for his pace and work ethic. He factored in both of his club’s goals, but brought energy and a disruptive presence. Hatten is one of two ’06 forwards along with Jacob Kulas (Stow, Mass.), with the former getting rewarded with the game’s first goal by going to the net on Luke Swaim’s (Concord, Mass.) initial shot.
Union recruit Ollie Chessler (Watertown, Mass.) looked good on breakouts and rushes, beating the forecheck to get up the ice with speed. He supports the rush well and can get back when the play transitions the other way. He has the look of a solid complementary/role player at the D-1 level.
3 stars
1. Richard Gallant
St. Mark’s, 4/6/07, LW, left shot, 5-7/140
He scored the winning goal and assisted on the others, coming away with three points and the key offensive play of the game. Like many young players, there are times when he tries some things that don’t work and will turn the puck over with against-the-grain passes, but he counters quickly and brings a relentless offensive mindset. He’s emerging with St. Sebastian’s Teddy Mutryn (Norwell, Mass.) as the area favorites for National Team selection in the spring of 2023. The two are an intriguing contrast in forward styles, and will continue to be priority viewing this season and next.
2. Jim Lyver
St. Mark’s, 2/12/05, C, right shot, 6-0/175
The offense is one thing, but he plays a hard, heavy-on-pucks style of game that will translate at the next level. He’s become more dangerous offensively over the course of the fall season, but he projects to be the kind of secondary contributor and Swiss Army knife-type of versatile forward that college programs value. Although uncommitted, he’s on the right path and should receive USHL draft consideration in May as a possible backfill pick to enhance a team’s affiliate list.
3. Conor Sullivan
Rivers, 10/1/03, G, catches left, 6-3/190
Some positives to build on in the loss. With his good size and economy of motion in the crease, he moved well and showed some good moxie. He tried to direct the rebound to the corner on Gallant’s winning goal, but the youngster was in the right spot to corral the puck and put it home- tough break.
