There was a lot of attention given to the goalie matchup in the MIAA Division 1 boys final on Sunday — and rightfully so.
Catholic Memorial boasted eighth grader Jaxson Fleming (Waltham, Mass.). The 2010-born goalie was the starter for the Knights all season and a big reason why his team finished on a 10-game winning streak against a gauntlet of the best teams.
Colin McCarthy (Worcester, Mass.) was in the other net for St. John's Shrewsbury. The sophomore spent the season starting for junior varsity and practicing up with the big club. When the playoffs came, head coach Michael Mead wanted to switch something up given his team was on a 1-9 slide and turned to the JV goalie. Three weeks later, the Pioneers were at TD Garden.
The Knights won, 4-3, on Sunday. Outside of Catholic Memorial's third goal, which McCarthy got a piece of with his glove before it trickled behind him, both goalies were strong. They should be proud of the feats they accomplished. They have set themselves up nicely for future seasons.
But it also made me wonder: When else has this — a JV goalie and an eighth grader leading their teams to the Div. 1 final — ever happened? When else could this ever happen?
The answer to the first question is that it's rare. Sure, there have been some anomalies over the years. In 2018, Pope Francis freshman Ben Zaranek split the net with senior Brendan Maymon (Springfield, Mass.) and helped the Cardinals get to the Super 8 final. Chris Daugherty, then a freshman, stepped into the Weymouth net in 2007 during the Super 8. Starter Ryan McAllister was suspended, so then Weymouth coach Bob Donovan turned to Daugherty. The freshman beat Catholic Memorial, Central Catholic and Austin Prep before falling to BC High in the final.
It can happen. But two young and inexperienced goalies meeting in the championship for Catholic Memorial and St. John's Shrewsbury? That's more than a coincidence, which hits at that second question.
Never. There has never been a time in Division 1 boys Massachusetts high school hockey history when that could've happened. And that says a lot about the state of the game.
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Older high-end talent often doesn't stick around the MIAA for long anymore. Gone are the days of Division 1 (or even Division 3) college coaches and scouts lining the stands.
Catholic Memorial and St. John's Shrewsbury know that all too well.
In the last two seasons, Catholic Memorial lost forwards Tyler Hamilton (Framingham, Mass.), Joe Marchi (Foxboro, Mass.) and Nick D'Olympio (Rockland, Mass.), who have all become key for Dexter Southfield in prep. St. John's Shrewsbury lost Chase Warsofsky (Northboro, Mass.) to Cushing after last season. All four have prospects of playing in college. Other Catholic Conference teams have felt the brunt of this, too, along with the public schools.
The Pioneers were fortunate to have an exception to the norm. Bowdoin commit Daniel Menyalkin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) came back for his senior year. In MIAA Division 3 hockey, Logan Poulin, who capped off an 85-point season for Nauset on Sunday with a state title, is an example. He's committed to playing lacrosse at Vermont.
"Not one coach has called, emailed or anything expressing any said interest, even at the Division 3 level," Nauset coach Connor Brickley told the Boston Globe of Poulin earlier this month.
That's not surprising and it's not because Poulin isn't worthy of interest — he's been impossible to miss. But because that high-end, older talent isn't there to challenge someone of Poulin's stature, coaches often look elsewhere. With the CHL ruling and college and junior scouting becoming more global over the last 10-20 years, the MIAA has fallen behind.
It's not entirely the MIAA's fault either. They're not blameless — see: moving more playoff games out of TD Garden years ago and a departure from the Super 8 — but this is happening everywhere.
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Take prep hockey. While there were a handful of high-end seniors this season, there weren't nearly as many as there used to be. The top two scorers were Brunswick '08 Joe Salandra, a Harvard commit, with 72 points in his first season of prep and Rivers '09 Carter Meyer (Winchester, Mass.) with 70. As an eighth-grader last season, Meyer averaged 1.30 points per game.
Prep is undoubtedly a higher level, but the high-end juniors and seniors are increasingly skipping town for junior hockey before graduation. Full-season academy teams often boast high-end 14U and 15O teams. The best players jump for juniors before, during or after their 16U season, and the 18U teams are filled with late-bloomers and likely Division 3 players.
Everyone is in a rush. It's the way it is now — for good and bad.
And that rush doesn't begin when players enter high school. Players opt for club teams over their town squads at younger and younger ages. Why win a state title for your town when you haven't played for your town with your local buddies since you were 7? Times have changed.
The good news is that players like Fleming and McCarthy got incredible opportunities earlier than they probably would've dreamed of in past generations of Massachusetts high school hockey.
CM lost then-junior goalie Owen Watson (Newton, Mass.) to Austin Prep in the NEPSAC after the 2022-23 season. Junior Ryan Littlefield (Boston, Mass.) left for the Boston Advantage's 18U team after last season. Do those two leave 10, 20, 30 years ago? Probably not. But both departures paved the way for Fleming, a high-end younger goalie, to take hold of the net this season.
St. John's Shrewsbury's situation was a bit different. Both netminders struggled throughout the season and Dante Sousa (Worcester, Mass.), who was a junior last season, left for Mount St. Charles' NEPSAC team last summer. That was a perfect storm for McCarthy, a late '08, to earn the crease for the playoffs.
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McCarthy will enter next season as a goalie to watch. Fleming, who plays on the Boston Junior Eagles 14U team, will have no shortage of prep suitors in the future.
While I'm not in the business of telling players what to do, it's hard to ignore this piece of advice BU coach and goalie guru Brian Daccord offered up in a story I did on developmental paths for goalies last June.
“Goaltending is playing connect the dots,” Daccord said. “Goaltending is about the ability to read a play and a release. It’s about the ability to read patterns. The number of times that you read patterns is important. But now think about reading patterns with consequences. Therefore your games played, the amount of shots, the amount of opportunities you have to read patterns will allow you to anticipate better and react quicker because you’ll be able to see the signs of what’s going to happen.”
Both Fleming and McCarthy will have no shortage of games to play in the MIAA. They're young and have more than earned the trust of their coaches and players after performing well under immense pressure.
If this is to become the norm for the MIAA, then that's what it will be.
"Not every path is the same," Duxbury girls head coach Dan Najarian said in February. "My mindset has become, ‘Let’s get you here for two or three years. Let’s do a hell of a job preparing you so that when you are a junior, you’re mature enough physically, emotionally, mentally to go carry a load at a Phillips Andover or a Tabor or something like that. Instead of sticking your head in the sand and saying, ‘We are the final destination.’ Maybe we’re not. I think it’s pretty clear, given the college landscape, that we’re not. The MIAA isn’t the final stop on a lot of these kids’ high school careers, be it boys or girls."
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So, more younger kids will get opportunities in the MIAA. It will be up to them to decide whether to stay and fight for a state title or depart for higher levels.
Given recent trends, more will leave than stay. It's the way it is now — for good and bad.
