Dexter Southfield played to a record of 17-6-4 last season, cementing itself as one of the top teams in New England prep hockey. It scored a ticket to the Elite 8 but fell to Salisbury, the eventual champion, 3-1.
Coach Dan Donato’s (Dedham, Mass.) team is hungry for more this season.
“To win the Elite 8, that’s been our goal as a team,” senior Sean Keohane (Milton, Mass.) said. “That’s the whole motto of how Dexter has been — it’s a powerhouse of a prep school.”
Here’s how Dexter Southfield will take the ice this winter.
Strength on the back end
Opposing teams will not find it fun trying to score on Dexter Southfield.
Dexter’s back end boasts three Division 1 commits in Jonathan Lanza (Winthrop, Mass.), Liam O’Keeffe (Boston) and Keohane. Lanza intends to play college hockey for Yale, O’Keeffe recently committed to Holy Cross and Keohane is a top ‘04 headed to Harvard.
“We’re pretty strong on the back end, which is really how you want to build your team,” Donato said. “To have that ability to stop the puck, move the puck up — that usually is the recipe for more offense.”
Keohane, Lanza and O’Keeffe aren’t the only impactful defenders on this Dexter squad. Mick Frechette (Weston, Mass.), an ‘03, left-shot defender who lists at 6-foot-2 and 198 pounds, is one Donato picks to be committed to playing college hockey soon enough. There’s also Carson Nickulas (Barnstable, Mass.) who joins Dexter as a repeat junior from St. John Paul.
“He has a really good ability to skate,” Donato said of Nickulas. “Once he fits into the system, he’ll do a nice job for us.”
Keohane could be in the USHL right now if he wanted to. The two-way defender was taken 38th overall by the Tri-City Storm in the USHL Phase II Draft earlier this year.
He opted to stay at Dexter Southfield.
“I’m really glad he came back,” Donato said. “He’s going to be on the power play, he’s going to be on the penalty kill, he’s going to be playing a regular shift. He’s going to see all of that action. Sometimes if you rush a kid out to another league, they may do only one of those. Maybe he’s a regular shift, maybe he’s a power play guy but he’s not that small, crafty defenseman you look for sometimes like a [Torey] Krug and he’s more of a big guy who can shoot it and set up for one-timers.”
Keohane will also be a team captain.
“One of the most underrated attributes kids can learn before going to college is leadership,” Donato said. “When you’re a captain, you have to obviously run a team, but you also have to look out for the fourth-line guy that’s not playing a lot and making sure he’s doing a lot mentally.
“I think the ability for Sean to lead is going to help him in his college and pro career.”
In net, Donato is confident in his two goalies: ‘04 Max Gatti (Boston) and ‘05 Paul Dalessio (Burlington, Mass.). Gatti enters his third season at Dexter. The 6-foot netminder posted a 1.96 goals-against average in four games last season.
Dalessio comes to Dexter after two standout seasons with the BK Selects.
“I think we’re going to be in good shape with our goaltending,” Donato said.
Young up front
While there are clear impact players on defense, the forward group doesn’t have such established players.
“We don’t have that marquee, Ryan Donato-type of player or someone who before the puck even drops, they’re good for 50 points,” Donato said. “We just don’t have that guy. Could we have someone? Yes. It’s going to have to be more of a team effort.”
Nate Porter (Hingham, Mass.) is one candidate to pack a punch on the scoresheet this season. The second-year center has been making an impact in fall hockey, with many colleges interested.
“Give him a little space and he’s going to be dangerous,” Donato said of Porter.
While Porter is one forward getting lots of college looks, Cullen Emery, an ‘05 forward from Los Angeles, is getting his fair share of collegiate eyes on him too. The 5-foot-10 right wing has “a bunch” of Ivy League and Hockey East schools looking at him, according to Donato.
“He’s just a really good player,” Donato said. “He’s someone we’re going to expect a lot of production out of this year.”
Senior Connor Sutherland (Roxbury, Mass.) is another forward who Donato foresees carrying parts of the offense. Sutherland is an ‘04 who put up nine goals and 17 points in 25 games for Dexter last season. Through 17 games of fall hockey, he had nine goals and 15 points with the Cape Cod Whalers.
“He has the ability to put the puck in the back of the net,” Donato said of Sutherland. “He’s just a pure goal scorer.”
As for newcomers, Dexter Southfield added Ian Burke, Ben Morgan (Chelmsford, Mass.), Seamus Condon and Jake Assad (Franklin, Mass.).
PREP PREVIEW: How Milton Academy is looking to get back on track
“With this type of team, you’re going to have to be workman-like,” Donato said. “You’re going to have to outwork the other team, get on the power play and get your goals on power plays…I think as long as we work hard and earn every shift, the offense will come. We’re not someone that can just throw it on the ice and hope it happens.”
While the forwards work to put points on the board, some of that offensive production will fall on the veteran-laden defenders.
“It’s definitely a little more pressure, but it’s also fun,” Keohane said. “We have a little bit of younger guys up front, some new guys, so definitely a little bit of pressure to contribute to the offensive game, but the forwards will do great up there and we’ll chip in wherever we can.
“It’ll be awesome on the back end. I can’t wait.”
