Dexter Southfield has appeared in the final four of the NEPSAC Stuart/Corkery bracket each of the past four years it was held.
After three-straight semifinal showings, the team came just short of winning the coveted New England championship in March 2020, falling to the (still) reigning Elite 8 champion, Salisbury, in the final.
Coming off a makeshift season that did not include NEPSAC tournaments in 2021, Dan Donato and his club are eager to return to the postseason and hopefully, capture the elusive crown in 2022.
“I can’t wait,” said Donato, entering this 13th season as Dexter's head coach since arriving in 2009.
“We were lucky, we ended up getting 18 games in last year, so our kids were able to play and develop and have that camaraderie. It certainly was nothing like playing our usual rivals but at least I felt there was some sense of normalcy compared to what most programs and teams had to go through.”
From those games, the team was able to lay the groundwork of the foundation for the season to come.
“We return a lot of guys,” Donato said. “We only added a couple of pieces, which is nice. We didn’t need a ton. If we can just get a few guys acclimated to how we do things, we should be in good shape.”
The team will be strong from the net out, starting with senior goaltender Alex Mickanin, who hails from Hopkinton, Mass., and returns for his second season after spending the previous two seasons at Selects Academy.
Senior blueliner Matt Fusco (Westwood, Mass.), one of three Harvard commits on the roster, will lead the defensive group.
Uncommitted junior defensemen Sean Keohane (Milton, Mass.) and St. Paul’s transfer Mick Frechette (Weston, Mass.) look to bolster Fusco's efforts in the back end.
Up front, the other Harvard-committed seniors, Bobby Landry (Hingham, Mass.) and Will Hughes (Andover, Mass.), as well as Northeastern commit Grayson Badger (Hyde Park, Mass.), are poised to lead the offense.
In addition to the trio of D1 commits, uncommitted senior forward Culin Wilson is a player to keep an eye on.
“He’s uncommitted right now, but I think he’ll be one of the more sought-after forwards in New England this year,” Donato said of Wilson, a native of Hingham, Mass., who joined the team in 2018-19.
Connor Sutherland is another. The junior from West Roxbury, Mass., is the ‘dark horse’ of the group, Donato said.
“He led our team in goals last year. He’s just a kid that knows how to put the puck in the net.
"I think he's the best player that nobody talks about," the head coach added. "He might be one of the best goal scorers in New England. I really believe that. He just has a knack for going to the right areas and finishing."
Aside from its graduates, Dexter’s most notable loss is ’05 forward Will Vote (Arlington, Mass.), who played his sophomore year at DXSF (on a line with Badger and Sutherland) before joining the NTDP in the spring.
After getting a taste of the prep level last season, other ’05s, such as Boston Junior Eagles products Joe Hurton (Quincy, Mass.) and Jonathan Lanza (Winthrop, Mass.), will look to take a step forward and contribute more in year two.
The rising sophomore, on his third team in as many seasons since arriving in New England in 2018, will look to be a high-impact forward with his skill and speed out of the gate.
“We’ve really liked what we’ve seen so far,” Donato said of Emery. “He does everything well. He plays all ends of the ice and he’s always in the right spots defensively. He plays with an edge but he also knows how to make plays at a high pace. A lot of people are going to enjoy watching his game.”
With a plethora of returning weapons and a handful of exciting newcomers, Dexter once again looks to be among the teams to beat in the New England prep school hockey circuit.
The biggest question mark is how quickly the talented forwards can come together as a group, Donato said.
“We should be strong from the net out. Our goalies are going to be good, our ‘D’ core is going to be excellent. Up front, we just have to make it gel. If it does, then we’ll be in really good shape."
While the outcome of 2020-21 was largely positive considering the nature of the season, it wasn't the same.
Now, with scrimmages underway and official games set to begin on Wednesday, Donato and his club are eager to put the past behind them.
The mission for 2021-22 is clear.
“Every year we try to be the best that we can be and win an Elite 8 championship. We like to aim high with these guys because it gives them a real goal to shoot for and all those things,” Donato said.
“We’re the only team that’s made it to the final four the last four years, so we’d like nothing better than to put it over the top this season and win it.”
@_LiamFlaherty
liam.flaherty@hockeyjournal.com
(Previously in NEHJ’s prep school preview series: Brunswick, Gunnery, New Hampton, St. Mark’s, Tabor, Loomis Chaffee, Berkshire, St. George’s, Cushing, Belmont Hill, Middlesex, Pomfret, St. Sebastian’s, Nobles)
