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From NEHJ: Division 2 prep school capsule previews
Berwick Academy
Coach: Andy Lathrop
2010-11 record: 9-11-2
Strengths: The Bulldogs lost only seven seniors from last
season’s team and return Luke Bennett (Rochester, N.H).
Weaknesses: The team often struggled to score last season, and it
also lost the services of goaltender Alex Devine.
Player to watch: Bennett (10-15-25, jr., F)
Brewster Academy
Coach: T.J. Palmer
2010-11 record: 6-18-0
Strengths: Brewster has a good group of older players on the team.
Senior forward Ryan Eardley should help the team earn a few more
wins this season.
Weaknesses: The team needs a few players to step up and score some
goals this season. Last season, the team got shut out on a few
occasions.
Player to watch: Eardley (sr., F)
Brooks School
Coach: Dave Ries
2010-11 record: 11-9-3
Strengths: The team returns its two top point scorers in Nick
Potter (Stoneham, Mass.) and Brendon McDonough (Burlington, Mass.),
who each had 36 points last season. Top defensemen Mitch Nylan also
returns.
Weaknesses: Losing top goaltender Tyler Stillings will hurt
defensively.
Players to watch: Potter (16-20-36, sr., F); McDonough (16-20-36,
sr., F); Nylan (2-11-13, jr., D)
Brunswick School
Coach: Ron Van Belle
2010-11 record: 18-7-1
Strengths: Luke Esposito (Greenwich, Conn.) returns to a strong
Brunswick squad, Esposito had a strong season last year (12-22-34),
and the senior should end up playing Division 1 next season. Junior
goaltender Gryphon Richardson (Stamford, Conn.) is one of the
league’s top goaltenders.
Weaknesses: Tommy Dwyer graduated and is now playing at Holy
Cross. Dwyer was a mainstay on the Brunswick team, which over the
past four years has transitioned to being a strong program.
Players to watch: Esposito (sr., F); Richardson (.904 save pct.,
jr., G)
Dexter School
Coach: Dan Donato (Dedham, Mass.)
2010-11 record: 22-4-3
Strengths: Trevor and Mark Fidler have to be the team’s
biggest assets. The team will need to rely on the pair.
Weaknesses: Donato will be hurt by the loss of Nick Bligh (Milton,
Mass.). The senior forward had quite an amazing season, amassing 60
points and leading his team to a small school championship. Dexter
lost a lot of seniors to graduation.
Players to watch: Trevor Fidler (jr., F, Watertown, Mass.); Mark
Fidler (sr., F, Watertown, Mass.)
Groton School
Coach: Bill Riley (Chelmsford, Mass.)
2010-11 record: 17-6-1
Strengths: The offense will be led by returning leading scorer
Mike Doherty (Reading, Mass.). Doherty is a Yale commit and had an
impressive season (28-26-43) last year. The team will look to
improve on a solid 2010-11 season, when it lost to The Gunnery in
the small school tournament.
Weaknesses: The team lost seven seniors from last season’s
squad and seems to be young with only four seniors on the team this
season.
Players to watch: Doherty (sr., F); Luke Turchetta (7-13-20, sr.,
D, Harvard, Mass.); Jordan Piccolino (.909 save pct., jr., G)
Hebron Academy
Coach: James LeBlanc
2010-11 record: 20-12-2
Strengths: Shane Hearn (Auburn, Maine) was third in scoring last
season with 41 points. Hearn will be captain for Hebron this season
and will be honing his skills before he plays at Army next
season.
Weaknesses: The team lost three of its four top scorers from last
season. The team will have to work hard to earn another small
school tournament berth.
Players to watch: Hearn (15-26-41, sr., F); Andrew Graham
(17-22-39, sr., F)
Hoosac School
Coach: Gary Rabinowitz
2010-11 record: 10-13-0
Strengths: The team’s top returning scorer is William Flynn,
who likely will feature on the top line this season and should
improve his numbers.
Weaknesses: Hoosac lost a lot of players to graduation, so it
hurts to lose some experience, especially on their offense.
Player to watch: Flynn (6-5-11, sr., F)
Kents Hill School
Coach: Larry Cockrell
2010-11 record: 9-12-3
Strengths: Defensemen Logan Day was the team’s leading
scorer last season with 19 points. The Huskies have a strong
defensive core and a trio of decent goaltenders to rotate through
this season.
Weaknesses: Kent’s Hill really did not have an offensive
identity last season, which contributed to the losing record.
Players to watch: Day (9-10-19, jr., D)
Kingswood-Oxford
Coach: Ben Adams
2010-11 record: 7-15-1
Strengths: The team has a new coach this season in Adams. He will
be lucky to have the services of last season’s leading scorer
Taylor Waybright (West Hartford, Conn.) and senior defenseman Jake
Pavlik (Granby, Conn.).
Weaknesses: The team likely will have to rely on newcomers Adams
has brought in, but it is going to be hard for the new coach to get
results in his first year with the team.
Players to watch: Waybright (8-9-17, sr., F); Pavlik (3-2-5, sr.,
D)
Middlesex School
Coach: Joe Mallen
2010-11 record: 12-12-1
Strengths: This is a young team with potential to improve this
season. The team’s top three scorers return as juniors this
season and much of the defense is intact.
Weaknesses: The team did lose goaltender Zach Arnold to
graduation, and that will hurt as he posted a .921 save percentage
last season.
Players to watch: Chris Jellison (11-18-29, jr, F, Fitchburg,
Mass.); Carl Heslter (12-16-28, jr., F, Boxboro, Mass.)
New Hampton School
Coach: Matt Wright (Belmont, Mass.)
2010-11 record: 24-11-2
Strengths: The Huskies are coming off a good season in which they
made the final of the small school tournament, losing to Dexter,
8-1. Griffin Vololato (Smithfield, R.I.) should lead the New
Hampton offense, while defenseman Malcom Hayes returns from a
promising freshman season.
Weaknesses: There is not a lot of experience in net for the
Huskies this season, as the team lost two senior goaltenders.
Sophomore Cole Franklin will take the helm in goal, but the young
player does not have a lot of game experience at this level.
Players to watch: Vololato (14-33-47, sr., F); Hayes (1-3-4,
soph., D)
North Yarmouth Academy
Coach: Brett Barrett
2010-11 record: 6-15-3
Strengths: Barrett is now the new coach at North Yarmouth. He
takes over a team full of young players so there is a lot of room
for growth in the future. Forward Jake Landry (Lewiston, Maine) led
the team in scoring last season with 11 points.
Weaknesses: It is pretty clear that North Yarmouth needs to figure
out how to score this season — that should be priority No. 1
for Barrett.
Player to watch: Landry (7-4-11, sr., F)
Pingree School
Coach: Buddy Taft
2010-11 record: 8-18-2
Strengths: Nate Soter (Danvers, Mass.) returns to led the offense,
while the top defensive player is Johnathan Ahern (Melrose,
Mass.).
Weaknesses: Defense and goaltending on the team were fairly weak
last season. If Taft wants to have a winning season, that will need
to change.
Players to watch: Soter (9-9-18, sr., F); Ahern (4-9-13, sr.,
D)
Portsmouth Abbey
Coach: Kevin Morrissey (Cumberland, R.I.)
2010-11 record: 8-12-3
Strengths: Morrissey has three experienced goaltenders spearheaded
by Peter Tolles, who should improve on his .890 save percentage
last season.
Weaknesses: Very small amount of returning forwards and
defensemen. Morrissey should have a lot of newcomers this
season.
Player to watch: Tolles (sr., G)
Proctor Academy
Coach: Mike Walsh
2010-11 record: 8-16-2
Strengths: Ryan Kangas (Williamstown, Mass.) enters his final
season under Walsh. The forward led his team in scoring with 37
points last season.
Weaknesses: The team has a young defensive core, so it will need
to earn game experience early this season.
Player to watch: Kangas (17-20-37, sr., F)
Rivers School
Coach: Shawn McEachern (Waltham, Mass.)
2010-11 record: 12-15-1
Strengths: Sophomore goalie Ryan Colena (Natick, Mass.) is a real
bright spot on this team. Look for him to get most of the starts in
net this season.
Weaknesses: Rivers will miss Connor Dempsey, who was a step above
the rest of his team last season.
Players to watch: Ryan Colena (.906 save pct., soph., G)
Roxbury Latin School
Coach: Mo Randall
2010-11 record: 2-19-0
Strengths: Michael Shepard is the best returning player on
Roxbury. This team does have a lot of returners so chemistry will
help, but only so much.
Weaknesses: There are a lot of weaknesses on this team, but the
biggest would have to be scoring.
Player to watch: Shepard (5-7-12)
St. George’s School
Coach: Ryan Mulhern
2010-11 record: 3-17-1
Strengths: Jimmy Ferretii returns as St. George’s leading
scorer. Last season, he recorded 17 points, including 14 goals.
Nick Pezza (Greenville, R.I.) also will add some points for the
Dragons.
Weaknesses: St. George’s had a hard time staying in games
early last season. It is key for a team with a little less talent
to keep it close against tough opposition.
Players to watch: Ferretii (14-3-17, sr., F); Pezza (6-9-15, jr.,
F)
St. Mark’s School
Coach: Scott Young (Clinton, Mass.)
2010-11 record: 14-13-0
Strengths: Mike Pontarelli had an amazing sophomore season last
season, scoring 38 goals and recording 51 points. He will be key
for St. Mark’s success, which will depend on its offense.
Weaknesses: The team lost two senior goaltenders and has a small
returning defensive core.
Players to watch: Hassani Johnson (38-13-51, sr., F); Pontarelli
(9-17-26, jr., F)
South Kent School
Coach: Eric Soltys
2010-11 record: 21-9-1
Strengths: South Kent returns junior defenseman Anthony Florentino
(West Roxbury, Mass.), who stepped up and played well last season
as a sophomore for the Cardinals.
Weaknesses: South Kent played very well at the beginning and end
of last season, but there was a lapse in the middle that hurt the
team in the long run.
Player to watch: Florentino (5-10-15, jr., D)
Vermont Academy
Coach: Joe Gaudet (Hanover, N.H.)
2010-11 record: 6-20-2
Strengths: Brendon Leeming (Hanover, N.H.) earned a lot of
experience in net last season for the Wildcats.
Weaknesses: Vermont Academy lost a large piece of its team from
last season; given its record last season, that could make things
even worse.
Player to watch: Leeming (.894 save pct., sr., G)
Worcester Academy
Coach: Kevin Magnani
Record: 5-18-2
Strengths: Defenseman Jimmy Atchue (Grafton, Mass.) is one of
Worcester’s top returning players.
Weaknesses: The team had some pretty dismal goaltending last
season and returns just one goalie this season.
Player to watch: Atchue (1-5-6, sr., D)
Capsules originally appeared in the December 2011 issue of New England Hockey Journal. Justin Churchill can be reached at feedback@hockeyjournal.com.
