CANTON, Mass. — Hard-nosed and stingy defense was the recipe for success for Xaverian as the Hawks took down Marshfield, 2-0, to win the Pat Serio Cup.
Xaverian advanced to Wednesday night’s final by defeating St. John’s Shrewsbury, 7-1, in the semifinal a day earlier. The two wins at the post-Christmas tournament helped Xaverian improve to 5-0 on the season. The Hawks have outscored their opponents by a score of 21-4 on the young season.
It was my first time seeing Dave Spinale’s team since I watched them win the Catholic Conference at the end of last season. Xaverian doesn’t have the high-end talent that Arlington does, but the Hawks will be very hard to beat in the new single-elimination tournament. The team’s experience, depth, size, and physicality will be tough to match up against for many opponents across the state.
Seniors Kevin Parish and Brock Casey each scored somewhat flukey goals en route to Wednesday night’s victory. Classmate Kevin Richardi was solid in net, posting the shutout. The game was preceded by the consolation game between St. John’s Shrewsbury and Framingham. In that contest, the Pioneers outlasted the Flyers by a score of 2-1. Trevor Potenti and Luke Gerardi scored the goals for St. John’s Shrewsbury while Noah Albright had the lone tally for Framingham.
Below is a synopsis of the four teams plus notable prospects from the two games watched on Wednesday:
Xaverian
While Xaverian lost quite a few seniors from last year’s team, Spinale’s group has plenty of seniors in 2021-22. The team’s top players, right wing Jack Silva, defenseman Aiden Rodriguez and center Max Lockwood, are all seniors. Outside of sophomore defenseman Cole Leblanc and sophomore left wing Jesse Peck, the team’s top four blueliners, top nine forwards, and starting goaltender are all juniors or seniors. That bodes well for the team’s eventual playoff run.
Silva was good in tonight’s game. He made a couple of nice plays and is one of those north-south wingers who will shoot it from anywhere and find the back of the net.
Rodriguez leads the blue line while wearing the ‘C.’ He plays with an edge and also can step into the offense. Leblanc and Owen Gunning made a couple of nice physical plays. Nolan Dion showed off his feet on a few occasions.
I had previously pegged Arlington as my favorite to win the state championship, but Xaverian now has the edge. Hopefully, the two teams will meet at some point later in the season.
Lines
O’Hara - Lockwood - DiMartino
Moynihan - Curley - Silva
Peck - Parish - Casey
Dunn - Steck - O’Neil
Heron - Rodriguez
N. Dion - Leblanc
Richardson - Gunning
Jewett
Richardi
Marshfield
Dan Connolly’s team was undefeated prior to Wednesday’s setback. While the Rams couldn’t find the back of the net against Xaverian, the team’s top line will provide plenty of offensive spark this season. A pair of sophomores on the wing, Cam McGettrick on the left and Will Doherty on the right, bring talent. McGettrick, an '06, was the team’s best player Wednesday night. He needs to continue to keep his feet moving, be more assertive and accept his identity as a power forward, but he has the puck on his stick a lot. He can shoot it hard and has been the team’s leading scorer through the first five games.
Lines
McGettrick - Souretis - Doherty
McGlame - Carroll - Kane
Doyle - Croft - Coggeshall
Faria - Arnone - Holte
Hemingway - Reisman
Finneran - Merrick
Willner - O’Brien
Quackenbush
St. John’s Shrewsbury
St. John’s Shrewsbury will win its share of games this year, but Michael Mead’s team certainly doesn’t have the horses it has had in the past. The top two centers are both intriguing: Gerardi, a sophomore, and freshman Daniel Menyalkin.
Menyalkin skates well and has some skill. He needs to learn to use his teammates and become a more complete player, but there’s upside with the forward who stood out during the fall with the Assabet Patriots. A few other sophomore forwards, Potenti, Brody Hoar and Luke May, played key roles.
Lines
Beauregard - Gerardi - Parente
Reidy - Menyalkin - McKenna
D’Angelo - May - Potenti
Ferguson - Brown
Hoban - Arthur
MacLeod - Castagnetti
Gaudette
Framingham
Framingham is guided by first-year head coach Dan Riva after Will Ortiz left his alma mater to become an assistant coach at Dexter Southfield. The Flyers have been one of the better public school teams in the state over the last five or so years. There’s some talent on this roster that could keep Framingham in quite a few games.
First line center Davin Nichols was around the puck a lot. He’s a power forward who uses his strength as leverage and can throw his weight around. His linemates, PJ Farese and Albright, both bring attributes to the ice. Farese has speed and Albright, a sophomore, made some plays in addition to finishing on the team’s only goal. Sophomore Brendan Peck works hard and brings some grit as the third line center. Sophomore Troy Huber was solid in net.
Lines
Farese - D. Nichols - Albright
Ferrante - Halpin - McKinney
Auren - Peck - Boulas
St. Cyr - xx - Pearlman
Kurzman - White
J. Nichols - Connerney
Blanchard - Hudson
Huber
