The landscape of high school hockey in Rhode Island is constantly shifting, with players transferring within the state and others leaving for — or returning from — prep schools across New England. A team’s success last season doesn’t guarantee it will repeat that performance this year — and the opposite is just as true.
But the reigning state champions, Bishop Hendricken (Division 1) and East Greenwich/Toll Gate (Division 2), are eyeing repeats.
There is also little overlap between teams in Division 1 and Division 2. There are 21 teams in the state — eight Division 1 and 13 Division 2. Most teams in Division 1 don’t play Division 2 sides, while few hold early-season scrimmages. A regular-season game between divisions is even rarer. East Greenwich/Toll Gate will test its limits this season, with a scrimmage against La Salle Academy and a game against Burrillville.
Here’s a look at the top 10 teams in Rhode Island heading into the new season.
1. La Salle Academy
Division 1
Last season: 9-5
Coach: Shawn Tingley
The Rams were ousted in the Division 1 state semifinals last season by eventual champion Bishop Hendricken. A young squad last season, La Salle will return 20 players. Junior forward JD Plante returns as the team’s top scorer along with fellow junior forward Chase Birmingham. Last season was both Plante’s and Birmingham’s first with the Rams. Lastly upfront, junior Shane Gaudreau, who contributed eight points in 14 games as a sophomore, is poised for a breakout. LaSalle has two prominent puck-moving defensemen in sophomore Luca Marenghi and senior Declan Sullivan, whom Tingley will need to rely on. In between the pipes, senior Jesse Humes, who’s big and moves well, will likely enter the season as the starter, but don’t count out junior Tommy Connell.
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2. Bishop Hendricken
Division 1
Last season: 10-3-1
Coach: Mike Soscia
The reigning Division 1 champions expect to contend for the crown once again, despite graduating two of its top three point-getters in Frank Tillinghast and Aiden Craft. Luckily for the Hawks, junior forward Nick Stevens is returning despite garnering interest from numerous prep schools. Stevens led Bishop Hendricken in scoring as a sophomore with 22 points in 14 games. The Hawks also boast a strong defensive core headlined by seniors Mason Crain and Ethan Sykora and sophomore Teddy Blackwood. Junior Zach Fontenault will start as the team’s No. 1 choice in goal, and though he was relatively inexperienced last season, many expect him to be one of the best goaltenders in the state.
3. Moses Brown
Division 1
Last season: 9-5
Coach: Frank Fede
Coming off the best season in program history, the Quakers will look to make light of their double overtime loss to Prout in the state semifinal last season. Despite losing several key pieces to prep schools in the offseason, Moses Brown returns its “backbone” — according to Fede — in senior defenseman Jeff Larson and Cam Souza. Also returning is junior goaltender Alan Jaffe, who was one of the state’s best netminders as a sophomore last season. It’s now Fede’s fourth season at the helm, and the Quakers have improved in each of his first three seasons. The expectation is to take another step this season.
4. Prout School
Division 1
Last season: 11-3
Coach: John Gaffney
The Crusaders fell just short in last year’s state final against Bishop Hendricken, losing 3-2 in triple overtime. Prout expects to compete for the state championship again this season, but it’ll be a much different team, according to Gaffney. The Crusaders will need to replace their top four defensemen, notably losing Sam Chartier to prep. Prout also graduated its star goaltender Angelo Evangelista, who was the best in the state as a senior. Most underclassmen on the roster didn’t see much playing time last season, so Gaffney says it’s going to take time for his team to gel this year, but he’s confident they will and will be successful.
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5. Pilgrim
Division 1
Last season: 3-11
Coach: Mike Boyajian
Don’t let Pilgrim’s record last season deceive you. The Boyajian-led Patriots play a difficult schedule, both in Rhode Island and out of state. Pilgrim is returning senior forwards Marcus Walsh, Jackson Monte, and Jackson Bromage, who will skate out as a line together and lead the team’s offensive charge. Boyajian admits that the Patriots will need to improve defensively this season. Seniors Declan Bragg and Justin Cramer will be mainstays on Pilgrim’s blue line. Senior Michael Bessette played in all but one league game as a junior in goal, posting an .896 save percentage. He’ll be the Patriots’ top choice in net once again, but Ethan Gustafson, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, is back healthy this season.
6. Smithfield
Division 1
Last season: 6-7
Coach: Rob Jackson
If there’s one thing about Jackson's team, it’s that they are a hard-nosed bunch that plays unselfishly. No one player for the Sentinels had gaudy point totals last year—senior Jacob Hopkins paced Smithfield with 11 points—and it’s likely to be the case again this season. But that’s not to say the Sentinels lack quality players. Now senior Jacob Sylvester looks to play a larger role up front for Smithfield, while Ethan Polak anchors the Sentinels defensively. Junior Julian Herrera is the only goalie on the roster who saw time between the pipes for Jackson last season. He expects to have upwards of four players competing for starts. Even though Smithfield finished sixth in Division 1 last season and was ousted by Moses Brown in the state quarterfinals, expect the Sentinels to be a tough matchup for anyone.
7. East Greenwich/Toll Gate
Division 2
Last season: 15-2
Coach: Jeff Giusti
Despite graduating its entire top forward line in Joe Andreozzi, Jack Keirnan and Garrett Carney — who combined for a whopping 103 points in 17 league games — the defending Division 2 champions expect to contend again. The Avengers’ new top line of seniors Brady Parks (11 goals, 19 assists), Austen Dufresne (13 goals, 12 assists), and Brendan Darcey (eight goals, three assists) are poised to pick up the slack. Don’t sleep on freshman Joey King, who plays club for the South Shore Elite in Massachusetts. Headlining the defensive core will be juniors Caleb Carpenter and Brady Slinn. While they’re not going to light up the score sheet, Carpenter and Slinn are a steady presence that will be relied upon. Wyatt Gelzhiser will be East Greenwich/Toll Gate’s starting netminder again this season. A senior, Gelzhiser posted a .914 save percentage in league play last year.
8. Blackstone Valley
Division 2
Last season: 11-1-1
Coach: Chris Librizzi
If you ask Librizzi, losing in the Division 2 semifinal to Portsmouth last season was a disappointment. Once again, Blackstone Valley has its sights set on a state championship. In order to reach that goal, senior forwards Cam Governo, Declan St. Vincent and Jaxon Boyes will need to pick up the scoring void left when Kyrylo Osypenko (26 goals, 11 assists in 16 games), Nathan Gravel (16 goals, 10 assists) and Tim Cedergren (eight goals, 17 assists) all graduated. Blackstone Valley returns its two best defensemen in seniors Alex Pickering and Colin Dorgan and its goaltender, senior Jacob Faria. Blackstone Valley’s blue line and netminder are arguably the best in Division 2.
9. Portsmouth
Division 2
Last season: 13-3
Coach: Greg Cunningham
The Patriots fell to East Greenwich/Toll Gate in overtime in last season’s Division 2 state final, and they’ve lost 70 points heading into this season after Shane Temple’s graduation and Chase Pascoe’s departure to prep school. But senior forward Connor Rogers — who recorded 33 points (11 goals, 22 points) as a junior — and junior defenseman Luke Brule (24 points as a sophomore) are returning, both as captains. Portsmouth will be a young squad this season with 10 freshmen, so there will be some growing pains. A name to look out for on the Patriots is freshman forward Kane Brule, the younger brother of Luke. Cunningham believes he has something in the younger Brule brother.
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10. Barrington
Division 1
Last season: 7-6-1
Coach: Jacob Kapstein
The Eagles beat Prout, Moses Brown, and La Salle last season but eventually fell to La Salle in the state quarterfinals. It’ll be an uphill battle for Barrington this year, having lost 15 players, notably its top three scorers in seniors Henry Kelsey, Conner Hayes and Dawson Wood, who left for prep. Seniors Brock Carroll and Conor Helm and junior Nicholas Sweeney will have to carry the load offensively this season. In goal, it’ll likely be a tandem of senior Noah Salois and junior Max Parylak, who each played in only one game last season but have the skills to fill the void left by Dom Bruzzi, who posted a .928 save percentage last season.
