MALDEN, Mass. — The 2021 Christie Serino Christmas Classic brought four of the better teams in the Massachusetts high school hockey circuit to the Malden Valley Forum on Monday night.
Austin Prep shut out St. Mary’s, 3-0, in the first semifinal before Malden Catholic, the host school, edged Franklin, 3-2, in the nightcap. The Cougars and Lancers will square off in Tuesday night’s championship game at 7 p.m.
There’s no denying that Massachusetts high school hockey continues to take a step back with the continued pillaging it faces from prep schools and full-season teams. However, the crowd inside the rink, especially for the first semifinal between the top two Catholic Central League teams, was impressive.
Below is a look at the four teams and notable players from Monday’s action at the Christie Serino Christmas Classic:
Austin Prep
Bill Pappas’ team was playing its season opener. While there was some rust to start the game, the Cougars showed why they’ll likely be a top 10 team in the MIAA this winter. The first line only scored the last of the three goals, but '06s Evan Regan, Jacob Duval and Derek Daley will be fun to watch this season. Daley, another '06, Luke Pazzia, and John Toohey were the goal scorers for Austin Prep. Senior Anthony Bealieu, the second-best goaltending prospect on the team, picked up the shutout.
Austin has a very young team with its top five players all being '06 freshmen or sophomores. However, there’s enough depth and talent for this team to be dangerous in a one-and-done state tournament.
Regan, a right-shot center from Acton, Mass., is the top center. His speed and playmaking ability are notable on a fairly consistent basis. Duval, a righty playing his strong side wing, has size and a heavy shot. His skating is an area that will need to get better, but he can fire a puck as evidenced by the initial shot he took before Daley banged home the team’s third goal. The other prospect of note was '06 Josh Williams from Boxford, Mass. A right-shot defender, he is athletic, jumps into the offense and has some intriguing tools.
Lines
Daley - Regan - Duval
Pazzia - Thibodeau - Pineo
Ackerly - Toohey - Saunders
Ardito - Fone - Hayes
McDonald - Griffin
Fabbo - Williams
Niehaus - DiVito
Beaulieu
St. Mary’s
I’ve long respected how hard Mark Lee’s teams have played over the years. This edition of the Spartans appears to have some problems when it comes to scoring goals, but physical play and tenacity will still be prevalent.
There’s not a lot of positives to take from Monday night’s loss, the first in four outings this winter. St. Mary’s came into the tournament with a 2-0-1 record. The defense misses a couple of key breakout machines who have departed. Brighter days will be ahead for St. Mary’s as I still expect Lee’s group to get to double-digit wins.
He didn’t do a lot Monday night, but the team’s best prospect is '05 junior left wing Brady Bullock of Lynn, Mass. Even when not on top of his game, he hunted pucks and won a few notable battles.
Lines
Bullock - Domeniconi - McGonagle
Carpenter - Iacoviello - Foley
Calder - Hall - Ayles
Fry
Desmarais - Bott
Giardina - Toto
O’Heir - Chaisson
Giangrande
Malden Catholic
This game wasn’t pretty, but Chris Kuchar’s team prevailed with a late strike by Anthony Ghergurovich. The other two goals came off the stick of Owen Keefe and Evan Foskett. In addition to his goal, Keefe added two assists.
Keefe, an '06 from Saugus, Mass., logs a ton of ice time. If it were tracked, I’d venture he was on the ice for 30-35 minutes during the 45-minute game. His skating continues to get better and he can make a solid first touch. There’s really no sugar coating this. He’s too good for this level. Keefe can make mistakes and recover. This game didn’t do much to change my opinion one way or the other, but Keefe is certainly in the mix to make USA Hockey’s NTDP U-17 team in 2022-23.
I went into the season thinking another goaltender would be between the pipes, but junior Brendan Zinck was solid throughout in this one. He made a couple of nice saves, had quick reflexes and tracked pucks well.
Lines
Jenkins - Zizza - Gaffney
Condon - Julian - Foskett
Delvalle - A. Ghergurovich - Fosdick
Matthews - Hackett - Ferragamo
Keefe - Evans
Hilton - Strauss
R. Ghergurovich
Zinck
Franklin
The Panthers, always one of the better public school teams in the state, hung in there with one of the top Catholic Conference teams. The team has played a challenging schedule to date and Monday’s loss dropped Franklin to 3-3. The other losses came against Catholic Memorial and Weymouth while wins came over Needham, Canton and St. John’s Shrewsbury.
First-line right wing Ben Jarosz, an '05, had an assist and is the team’s top forward. There’s some speed and depth up front. The goals came from Dylan Marchand and Ryan Sicchio. One young defenseman who I liked in this game was Logan Marchand. Sophomore Cole Pouliot-Porter is a competitor who is one of the best goaltenders in the MIAA circuit. He was very good tonight, showing off his catlike reflexes and tenacity.
Lines
Quinn - Sicchio - Jarosz
A. Lampasona - Patterson - D. Marchand
Shabbick - D. Lampasona - Magazu
D. McEvoy - T. Balducci - Daley
Linehan - L. Marchand
O’Rielly - O’Neil
Hunt - Sheehan
Pouliot-Porter
