St. Mark’s posted a solid year last season, skating to a 20-6-2 record. The Winged Lions fell to Pomfret, 1-0, in last season’s NEPSAC Small School tournament.
Pomfret went on to win the Small School title.
St. Mark’s head coach Carl Corazzini feels as though it’s time for his squad to make the jump into the Elite 8.
“We’re stuck in that 9-10 region over the course of the last 3-4 years of making it into that Elite 8,” Corazzini said.
It’s a tall task, but the Framingham, Mass., native believes this could be just the group to do it. It wasn’t just last year — St. Mark’s has been a fixture in the Small School Tournament in all but one of the eight seasons (2016-17) that Corazzini has been behind the bench.
The competition in the ISL is never easy, and Corazzini believes his squad needs to avoid complacency to match up better.
“We were never able to replicate our best game and there were probably during the year two, three, four games where we were at our best but we came into games complacent,” Corazzini said of last season. “I always know when our kids go out and play a Dexter, or a St. Sebastian’s or a Belmont Hill that we’re going to compete as hard as we can. We might not match up to the talent level, but even within those games that we played, it was too inconsistent.”
Strength on offense
Where St. Mark’s will match up well with those other top ISL teams is on offense.
“At the forward group, 1-10, we’re as talented as we’ve ever been,” Corazzini said. “They’re the ones that are going to have to drive this team wherever we’re going to go. It’s going to be on their back just because there’s so much talent.”
That starts with Richard Gallant (Concord, Mass.), the sophomore phenom who took prep hockey by storm last season, posting 43 points. His play over the course of the last year has lots of Division 1 college hockey programs doing background work on him in preparation for when they can finally reach out on Jan. 1.
“I don’t know if there’s going to be someone that’s smarter or better than him in prep hockey this year,” Corazzini said of Gallant. “I just think his hockey IQ is so elite, his competitiveness is so strong that he’s going to be a driving force for us every day.”
St. Mark’s will also be counting on contributions from junior Andrew Gibbons (Wakefield, R.I.), senior Jimmy Lyver (Grafton, Mass.) and junior Austin Borggaard (Worcester, Mass.).
Gibbons, an Air Force commit, posted 18 goals and 36 points in 28 games last season. Lyver’s committed to Holy Cross and notched 13 goals and 25 points in 27 games. Borrgaard, who Corazzini said is “probably going to commit to Division 1,” had 15 points in 18 games.
Providing depth will be seniors Damon Myers (Worcester, Mass.) and Sebbie Johnson and junior Jonathan Balzarini (Milford, Mass.).
As for players who might surprise onlookers with great seasons this year, Corazzini pointed to sophomore Drew Carr (Medway, Mass.), senior Ben Croft and incoming freshman Evan Nee, who comes from the Boston Junior Eagles 15U team.
“He’s going to be a little bit different than anything we typically get at St. Mark’s,” Corazzini said of Nee. “Evan is a good blend of a skilled hockey player, but he’s super competitive for someone that’s undersized. He’s really physical and wants to compete in the corners. Typically for us, we’re run and gun. We’re up and down. We’re not typically a team that is tenacious and finishes hits. But I think Evan can kind of play either game, which is different from who we’ve been in the past.”
The X-factor lies in the defense
While Corazzini wants his team in the Elite 8, he knows a lot of that fate rests on his defenders.
“How does our defense come along?” Corazzini said. “Are they up to speed quick enough to get us into that region or are we still No. 9-10, which is great.”
St. Mark’s lost star defenseman Michael Fisher (Westboro, Mass.) after last season. Fisher potted 13 goals and posted 50 points in 28 games, leading him to be drafted 76th overall by the San Jose Sharks in the NHL Draft. He’s committed to Northeastern and is currently playing for the Youngstown Phantoms in the USHL.
One player who will see a jump in minutes and responsibility is junior Calvin Beard (Southborough, Mass.). He had four goals and 15 points in 28 games last season.
“I think he probably makes the biggest jump in prep hockey,” Corazzini said. “He’s been looked at as this defensive player. He was all-ISL, recognized by the coaches as all-ISL and you saw confidence build in him last year. This year, through the fall with the Little Bruins, before he got hurt, he had seven goals in 12 games. He’s just up and down the ice.”
St. Mark’s also returns seniors Justin Pare and Maddox Lizotte (Harvard, Mass.) on the blue line. Both ate up heavy minutes last season and will be expected to do the same this winter.
The rest of the spots on defense will be battled for by Gannon Austin (Winchester, Mass.), Jack Taylor (Framingham, Mass.), Jack O’Connor and Diego Bass.
Austin comes to St. Mark’s from Belmont Hill. Sophomores O’Connor and Bass are both domestic borders, with O’Connor coming from Canton, Ga., and Bass hailing from Los Angeles.
“They played a little bit for us last year and now they’ve got to make significant strides,” Corazzini said. “Diego’s really smart and Jack’s really athletic. Athletically, Jack can compete with anyone out there. It’s just — does he acclimate to making the right decisions all the time?”
And then there’s Taylor, who enters as a freshman after playing for the South Shore Kings last season.
“I do believe he’s going to give himself a really good chance to play Division 1 hockey because of the way that he competes and what his retrievals look like. So he’ll play a big part,” Corazzini said.
The challenge will be replacing by committee what Fisher was able to do.
“We think those guys will make a jump and try to hopefully, not try to be [Fisher], but help replace his offense because of the roles that they’ll have to play this year,” Corazzini said.
In net, St. Mark’s split time between Adam Costley and Charles Watson (Camden, Maine) last year. With Costley at Colby now, Watson looks to have first dibs on the starting job. But Corazzini said it will be a battle between Watson and seniors Jeevan Anand (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Harlan Jackson for the net.
“I think those are three capable goalies,” the head coach said.
