MIDDLETOWN, R.I. — It was never close.
No. 1 Dexter Southfield went down to St. George’s on Wednesday afternoon and beat the Dragons by a staggering final score of 9-1.
Rian Chudzinski (Needham, Mass.) opened the scoring for Dexter and never looked back, finishing with a hat trick. A plethora of other Dexter players got on the scoresheet throughout the game, too: Sean Leetch (Boston, Mass.), Matt Hines (Hingham, Mass.), Nick D’Olympio (Rockland, Mass.), Seamus Condon (Arlington, Mass.), Jack Fitzpatrick (Canton, Mass.) and Ian Burke (Newton, Mass.).
St. George’s lone tally came late in the third period when Ryan Magaletta (Southboro, Mass.) one-timed a shot past Dexter goalie Colin Davis (Canton, Mass.).
Dexter improved to 15-2-0 on the season, while St. George’s fell to 11-6-1.
This was a weird one given St. George’s entered as a borderline top-10 team and lost by eight goals.
Let’s dive in.
Rian Chudzinski
Dexter Southfield, 12/31/2007, F, right shot, 6-0/172
Hometown: Needham, Mass.
NCAA: Boston University
Chudzinski dominated. The BU commit set an early tone, picking up the puck in the neutral zone, going in and sniping one over St. George’s goalie Tyler King (Hudson, N.H.). He essentially did what he wanted to with the puck. He used his speed and shiftiness to cut through St. George’s defense to get to high-danger areas. Late in the first period, he dangled through almost everyone on the ice and got in alone on King, but King robbed him with the glove. The BU commit hit the crossbar as the buzzer sounded on the first period but made up for it with two goals in the third. The St. George's student section spent much of the first period shouting things at Chudzinski. He shut them up rather quickly.
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Matt Hines
Dexter Southfield, 6/10/2008, D, left shot, 5-10/170
Hometown: Hingham, Mass.
Hines was impossible to miss on Wednesday night. He was consistently jumping up into the offense and activating off the rush. He was rewarded on the scoresheet. First, his shot was tipped by Burke for a goal in the second period. In the third, Hines tallied one of his own when he shimmied through two St. George’s forwards and put one top corner on Dragons goalie Dash George, who replaced King after the second period. Hines also locked things down in front of his own net. He routinely got inside positioning on Dragons forwards and prevented them from getting their sticks loose.
Noah Survilas
Dexter Southfield, 12/27/2008, F, right shot, 5-11/170
Hometown: Winthrop, Mass.
Survilas’ vision is elite, which was clear on Wednesday. The late ‘08 tallied three assists playing alongside Chudzinski and Leetch. In transition, he was able to draw defenders to him, cross through zones and dish out passes to his linemates. His best moment, however, came midway through the second period. With Dexter up 3-0, St. George’s got two point-blank chances from the high slot. Survilas blocked both and eventually drove play the other way.
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Joe Marchi
Dexter Southfield, 10/30/2007, F, right shot, 5-8/170
Hometown: Foxboro, Mass.
Marchi looked great. He almost sniped a goal early in the second period but just missed the top corner. The former Catholic Memorial standout showcased lots of poise with the puck and high-end edgework. He was able to use his shiftiness to get around opposing players. Midway through the third period, he used his speed to zip past a defenseman and get a breakaway.
Myles Brosnan
Dexter Southfield, 10/19/2007, D, right shot, 6-1/190
Hometown: Winchester, Mass.
It wasn’t the flashiest game for Brosnan, but he consistently got the job done. His passing was outstanding. On one play early in the second period, Brosnan got the puck at the point after a long offensive zone sequence for Dexter. He faked the shot and no-look passed it across the zone to an open Marchi at the bottom of the circle. Brosnan was calm with the puck in his own zone and never panicked. He used the net to his advantage on breakouts, too. When Everett Baldwin (East Providence, R.I.) activated and joined the offense, Brosnan was noticeably physical with him.
Danny Buckley
St. George’s, 6/30/2006, F, left shot, 6-1/195 Hometown: Warwick, R.I.
It wasn’t St. George’s night. But Buckley, who had previously missed some time due to injury, showed flashes. He drove play and had good puck skills in tight. He made good passing plays in transition. In the offensive zone, he used his body to shield pucks and facilitate play.
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Takeaways…
- Dexter dominated from start to finish. The Dragons never had any sequences of sustained momentum. I hadn't seen a game like this in a while.
- How did head coach Danny Donato’s team do it? For starters, Dexter has a deeper lineup with more offensive weapons. They played with pace, moving pucks up ice quickly and smothering any puck touches for St. George’s. They also did a great job of eliminating St. George’s two best assets: Providence commits Marco Senerchia (Greenville, R.I.) and Baldwin. Dexter was physical with those two and didn’t give them much space in the neutral zone to rush or do their usual passing plays.
- Dexter’s top line of Chudzinski, Leetch and Survilas was impossible to stop. They dictated the pace every time they touched the ice. The trio was able to generate chances both off the rush and deep in St. George’s end.
- Someone who kept catching my attention was Fitzpatrick. The former Xaverian standout played on a line with seniors Nate Porter (Hingham, Mass.) and Tyler Hamilton (Framingham, Mass.). He was able to get open for his linemates and had several strong opportunities. At 6-foot-5, his size helped him protect pucks and stifle St. George’s breakouts with physicality.
- Props to Dexter defenseman Tommy Broderick (Norwood, Mass.) who has been out since November with a broken ankle. He’s set to return soon, which will be a welcome addition to the Dexter defense. But in the meantime, he’s helped the team’s X (formerly Twitter) account come alive with funny, in-game tweets.
- Watching Baldwin and Chudzinski battle was a treat. Both were call-ups to the U.S. National Team Development Program at separate times this season and rightfully so. Both are in the top tier of prep players. While Chudzinski had the results from Wednesday night, Baldwin did a nice job of defending the BU commit in the few times they went against one another.
- There were several NHL scouts in attendance to see Baldwin. Did Wednesday move the needle for him? No, but the Providence College commit has done more than enough in the last month (NTDP time and the All-American Prospects game) to warrant being a definite draft pick. It just comes down to what round he’s picked in.
- As bad as things went for St. George’s on Wednesday, these games can occasionally happen, Dexter is the region’s No. 1 team for a reason and things can only go up from here. Head coach Allie Skelley’s team has games against Milton Academy, Middlesex and BB&N, which should allow them to return to form before facing Rivers on Feb. 12. That being said…I have a hard time seeing St. George’s getting into the Elite 8.
- Dexter has the best offense I’ve seen this season. There’s a reason Donato’s team ranks third in the region in goals with 90. They come in waves with multiple lines that can do damage. So long as they’re good defensively and get adequate goaltending, Dexter will be a pain to stop.
