St. Sebastian's and Nobles both came out victorious over Williston and Berkshire, respectively, at the first day of the St. Sebastian’s/Nobles New Year’s Showcase at the Henry T. Lane Rink.
The first game was lopsided with St. Sebastian’s jumping out to a 6-0 lead en route to an 8-3 win over Williston Northampton. It was well attended as about a half dozen NHL scouts were in the building to watch St. Sebastian’s junior defenseman Jayden Struble. It was a quiet day on the score sheet for the Cumberland, R.I., native, but he played well for the majority of the game.
Northeastern commit Jack Hughes scored twice while Thomas Messineo, Liam Connors, Tommy Lyons, James Davenport, Brendan Dumas and Declan Maguire added tallies.
In the second tilt, Nobles fell behind, 1-0, but scored the last three goals of the game to defeat Berkshire, 3-1. Will Zink, John Murray and Jack Cronin scored for Nobles. The result snapped a three-game losing streak for Brian Day’s club.
The most interesting development of the late game came in the form of a new player for Berkshire. ‘02 Aidan Thompson, a University of Denver commit from the Colorado Thunderbirds 16-U, made his prep debut. He was involved in the goalmouth scrum that resulted in the Bears’ only goal of the game.
St. Sebastian's 8, Williston 3
The Arrows were clearly the superior team and not much can be deemed from this game. Most of St. Sebastian's committed players, Hughes, Connors, Lyons, Davenport, Struble, and Liam Gorman, found the score sheet one way or another.
Prospect Notes
Jack Hughes
#4 St. Sebastian’s, 11/2/03, LW, Left Shot, 5-10/151
NCAA Commit: Northeastern
This was Hughes’ best game of his young prep career. He had two goals and an assist. He showed a lot of skill, making a couple really nice toe-drags to keep the puck away from opposing defenders. Perhaps the most impressive play of the game came on a scoring chance that didn’t result in a goal. He stickhandled the puck some in the high slot and got the puck down to a wide open Liam Gorman on top of the goal, but he couldn’t get it past the Williston goaltender. Hughes appears destined for USA Hockey’s NTDP U-17 team in 2019-20.
Jayden Struble
#3 St. Sebastian’s, 9/8/01, D, Left Shot, 6-0/179
NCAA Commit: Northeastern
Struble continues to toy with the competition at this level. He exudes confidence and skill with the puck on his stick. Struble made a couple of great plays with the puck to start the transition. His skating and athleticism allows him to impact the possession and recover in time to make some plays at the defensive end, especially in a game against a team that is undermanned. His propensity to look disinterested at times is troublesome. It was clear his intensity level dropped when the team went up 6-0.
Tim Rego
#5 Williston, 10/31/00, D, Right Shot, 6-0/185
Rego is the top prospect on the Wildcats. It wasn’t his best day, but he showed a few glimpses of why he’ll probably find his way onto a Division I roster someday. He has decent size, skates well forward, and jumps into the rush. He has some skill with the puck on his stick, but he was pressured early and often by Seb’s speedy forwards on the forecheck. He’ll need to shore up his defensive game as he takes the next step in his development.
St. Sebastian’s Lines
4 Jack Hughes - 15 Liam Gorman - 12 Liam Connors
19 Liam Devlin - 20 Tommy Lyons - 18 Connor Joyce
17 Jacob Lavoie - 9 Cameron Collins - 8 Brendan Dumas
26 JP Milbury - 6 Tim Delay - 16 Brendan Gorman
3 Jayden Struble - 2 Ryan MacDermott
24 Thomas Messineo - 14 James Davenport
10 Liam Murphy - 5 Will Elias
7 Joey Harney
31 Luke Garrity
Williston Lines
10 David Novotny - 17 Brendan Nehmer - 9 Jacob Sacratini
14 James Belleavorie - 12 Cameron Mariani - 19 Hunter Sarro
10 David Novotny - 13 Shaul Mitton - 8 Thomas Harty
20 John Purcell - 21 Matthew Pimental - 3 Brandon Barrett
2 Mitchell Hansen - 5 Tim Rego
18 Zach Gmerk - 4 Alex Berg
7 Tyler Varin - 6 Hunter Wilson
31 Kyler Breland
1 Trevor Corsello
Nobles 3, Berkshire 1
After falling behind 1-0 after one period, Nobles scored one goal in the second and two more in the third period to skate past Berkshire, 3-1. The only goal of the first period was scored when a loose puck in a scrum in front of the net found its way in with Hayden Riva and Thompson poking at it.
Zink evened the score in the first period before Murray gave Nobles the lead with four minutes to go in the third period. Cronin added the insurance tally into the empty net.
Prospect Notes
Aiden Lyons
#10 Nobles, 2/26/03, D, Left Shot, 5-9/155
Lyons was on the ice for the only Berkshire goal, but his skating, vision, and puck-moving capabilities are an asset for Nobles. He shows poise and slows the game down so not rushing to make a play. His first touch is generally very good and he has a good stick to defend the rush.
Casey Severo
#19 Nobles, 2/1/01, C, Right Shot, 5-11/175
NCAA Commit: Merrimack
Severo had an assist on the empty net goal and played a solid 200 foot game from the center position. He engages and has good habits in all three zones. His skating allowed him to hunt pucks. He made some plays, but he has the ability to be more dominant in the offensive zone and more of a factor on the score sheet.
Jack Cronin
#9 Nobles, 1/4/01, RW, Right Shot, 5-11/175
Cronin has taken a big step in his game, now in his third season of prep hockey. He has a good shot and stick skills to protect the puck and fend off opposing defenders. He scored the empty net goal, but he had a few other close calls earlier in the game.
