The 2023 True Hockey Prep Cup begins Friday. Games will occur between Lawler Rink and Gallant Arena at Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass.
Eight schools — Dexter Southfield, Northwood, St. Andrew's College, Nichols, Culver Academy, Kimball Union, Mount Saint Charles and Frederick Gunn — will compete in the tournament.
There will undoubtedly be lots of NHL scouts and college coaches in attendance looking to get a glimpse at some of the top players on all eight teams.
Here's the full schedule:
Friday, Jan. 6
- 10 a.m. — Dexter Southfield 6, Northwood 0 (Gallant Arena) — Game 1
- 12:00 p.m. — St. Andrew's College 6, Nichols 1 (Lawler Rink) — Game 2
- 12:30 p.m. — Culver 5, Kimball Union 4 (Gallant Arena) — Game 3
- 2:30 p.m. — Frederick Gunn 5, Mount Saint Charles 3 (Lawler Rink) — Game 4
Saturday, Jan. 7
- 12 p.m. — St. Andrew's College 5, Dexter Southfield 1 (Lawler Rink) — Game 5
- 2:30 p.m. — Culver 3, Frederick Gunn 0 (Lawler Rink) — Game 6
- 10:45 a.m. — Northwood 2, Nichols 0 (Gallant Arena) — Game 7
- 1:15 p.m. — Mount Saint Charles 3, Kimball Union 1 (Gallant Arena) — Game 8
Sunday, Jan. 8
- 9 a.m. — Kimball Union 7, Nichols 2 (Gallant Arena)
- 9:45 a.m. — Northwood 7, Mount Saint Charles 3 (Lawler Rink)
- 11:30 a.m. — Dexter Southfield 2, Frederick Gunn 2 — TIE — (Gallant Arena)
- 12:30 p.m. — Culver 4, St. Andrew's College 3 - SHOOTOUT — (Lawler Rink) — Championship
Here's a team-by-team breakdown heading into the showcase.
Culver Academy
Culver enters this weekend at 14-6-1 and fresh off a 1-1 tie against Dexter to open its second half of play. Culver went into the Christmas break by splitting a weekend series with Shattuck-St. Mary's and St. Andrew's College prior to that.
Senior forward Jacob Padgett leads the team in goals with 10, while senior forward Phil Lalonde and senior defenseman Larry Keenan are tied for the team lead in points with 18 each. Senior forward Romulus Riego De Dios has also been solid up front, notching four goals and 11 assists in 18 games.
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Vaughn Makar has had the edge in net with a terrific save percentage of .946 and 1.45 goals against average in 11 games. Evan Tompkins has played in seven games, posting a .912 save percentage and 2.86 GAA.
Dexter Southfield
The first nine games of the season saw Dexter struggle to find scoring, as it went 4-4-1. Since then, Dexter has a 7-3 win over Stanstead College and a 5-2 win over Canterbury. Its most recent performance was a hard-fought, 1-1 tie against Culver.
As it figures things out up front, junior forward Cullen Emery (Reading, Mass.) leads the charge with five goals and 11 points in 12 games. Senior forward Connor Sutherland (West Roxbury, Mass.) has five goals and 10 points in 12 games. College coaches in attendance will no doubt be looking at Nate Porter (Hingham, Mass.), who has four goals and eight points.
Sean Keohane (Milton, Mass.), a Harvard commit, heads the defensive core with three goals and six points.
Seniors Paul Dalessio (Burlington, Mass.) and Max Gatti (Winchester, Mass.) have split time in net. Gatti has a slight edge in numbers with a .905 save percentage and 2.33 GAA, while Dalessio sits at a .900 save percentage and 2.62 GAA.
Frederick Gunn
After opening the season with eight straight wins, Frederick Gunn lost its last two games before the holiday break. Those defeats came to Loomis Chaffee and Tabor.
The Gunnery has had no trouble finding goals — five players are a point per game or better. Junior forwards Alex LoGuercio (Monroe, Conn.) and Jacob Rothman lead the way with 14 points apiece in 10 games. Junior forwards Mark Pizzo (Monroe, Conn.) and Marko Goich have two goals and 11 points each. Senior Michael Markowski has seven goals and 10 points.
On defense, senior Christian Wood (Shelton, Conn.) has one lamplighter and eight helpers. Sophomore Luke Calabria has one goal and seven points.
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While senior Ryan Crowshaw (West Hartford, Conn.) has seen the majority of time in net, junior Mitchell McCusker has the edge in numbers with a 1.49 GAA and .948 save percentage. Crowshaw has a 2.21 GAA and .916 save percentage.
Kimball Union
In its first action since falling to Milton Academy in the Flood-Marr championship game, Kimball Union enters with a 7-4-0 record.
Senior forward Jackson Kyrkostas (Windham, N.H.), an RPI commit, has undoubtedly been the squad's best player with nine goals and 15 points in 11 games. Junior forwards Jack Sadowski (Arlington, Mass.), Kyle Murray-Smith (South Stafford, Vt.) and Sam LeDrew all have nine points apiece.
On defense, Andrew O'Sullivan and Jack McMinn, both '06s, are the big guns to watch. Senior Tom Valentin-Lagarde is tied with McMinn leading the defense in points with five.
Senior Dan Heroux, a Vermont commit, commands the net for Kimball Union with a 2.33 GAA and .921 save percentage.
Mount Saint Charles 18U
The Mount Saint Charles 18U squad enters this weekend a stunning 26-5-2, winning 10 of its last 11 games.
In 18U AAA games, forward Patrick Murphy, a Brown commit, leads the team in points with 22. Forward Christian Venticinque, an '05, leads the team in goals with 14, while '05 forward Jake Gutwirth leads the squad in helpers with 14.
Defenseman Alex Bosland leads the way on the back end with three goals and 16 points in 25 games of 18U AAA matchups.
Cody Butikis has the majority of time in net with a 14-2-1 record, .919 save percentage and 2.06 GAA.
Nichols
Nichols heads into Merrimack College 15-15-4. It hasn't played a game since the Lawrenceville Tournament Dec. 16-18 due to the Nichols-Belmont Hill Tournament being canceled because of snow.
Forward Tanner Wisniewski, an '06, leads the offense with 26 points, while forward Jacob Brunton, also an '06, leads the team in goals with 12. Forward London Goodwin has eight goals and 21 points in 33 games.
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On defense, Joshua Viney has two goals and 13 points. Lots of eyes are on '05 defender Donovan Hamilton, who has also played 10 games for the Omaha Lancers in the USHL this season.
Christian Schwartz and Maxwell Ilecki split time in net. Schwartz has a 2.96 GAA and .916 save percentage in 20 games, while Ilecki has a 2.27 GAA and .927 save percentage in 18 games.
Northwood
Northwood enters the tournament at 24-14-3 after going 6-4-0 in December. It's Northwood's first action since before the Christmas break.
Up front, James Schneid leads the team in goals (24) and points (53) in 40 games. Northwood has also gotten lots of production from Nikita Meshcheryakov with 22 goals and 49 points in 39 games and Billy Batten with 15 goals and 44 points in 43 games.
Defenders Daniel Buchbinder and Bjorn Lervick have posted a good amount of production. Buchbinder has four goals and 25 points, while Lervick has two goals and 21 points.
Nikolas Trakakis and Josef Zilinec have split time in net. Trakakis carries a 1.52 GAA and .910 save percentage in 23 games. Zilinec has a 1.25 GAA and .920 save percentage.
St. Andrew's College
St. Andrew's College is 13-10-0 entering the tournament.
The top point-getters are Anselmo Rego with 19 goals and 36 points, Jonathan Castagna, a Cornell commit, with 12 goals and 30 points and Dean Letourneau, a Northeastern commit, with 12 goals and 28 points. And even though forward Jack Pridham, a Boston University commit, has only played 16 games, he has eight goals and 22 points.
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Francesco Dell'elce, a UMass commit, has been impactful with six goals and 17 points.
Daniel Salmivuori has spent the most time in between the pipes with a 3.55 GAA and .893 save percentage.
