The 2018-19 high school hockey season officially faced off with a pair of games Thursday. But it’s not too late to take a look at what’s new as we head into the bulk of the schedule over the next few months on the local ponds across Massachusetts.
Continuing a tough trend from recent seasons, the ranks of boys hockey programs will be one fewer this season. Dover-Sherborn has taken on Weston as part of a co-op and the team will split its games between Chase Arena (Natick) and McDowell Arena (Weston) while playing in the revamped Tri-Valley League. Tom Bourque of D-S remains the coach.
With the arrival of Norwood from the Bay State Conference this season, and on the heels of Dedham’s switch a year ago, the TVL now has 11 teams split into two divisions. D-S/Weston will be in the Small Schools along with Bellingham, Dedham, Medway and Norton (still a co-op with Sharon). The TVL Large will consist of Ashland, Holliston, Hopkinton, Medfield, Norwood and Westwood. Jay Thebado is the new coach at Norton, Derek Harrington will lead the way for Medway, while former assistant Matt Sebet steps up to take the reins at Westwood.
Following the departures of Norwood and Dedham, the Bay State Conference has shuffled its two divisions with the remaining 10 teams. The Carey Division now will be the home to Brookline, Framingham, Natick, Newton North and Wellesley – the league’s northernmost schools – while the Herget Division includes Braintree, Milton, Needham, Walpole and Weymouth.
One other merger took place in Central Mass., where St. Peter-Marian now will be hosting players from St. Bernard’s and will have a new coach in Sean Meisenheimer. SPM also will be playing an independent schedule along with Pope Francis and St. John’s (Shrewsbury), with the old Catholic West league dissolved.
It also is believed the MIAA no longer will be recognizing the Big Three for hockey, so that league’s two remaining programs – Brockton and Durfee – also will be independents.
One other team made a big move to independent status, as last year’s Division 3 state champ Shrewsbury jumps to Division 1. The Colonials’ departure leaves the Central Mass. Roy Conference with four teams – Algonquin, Groton-Dunstable, North Middlesex and Wachusett.
There was some good news out of Western Mass., where Southwick got approval for a varsity program last spring and jumps right in this season as a member of the Wright Division, which now is back to six teams. The Rams, who will be led by one-time Easthampton coach Chris D’Angelo, open play Saturday against Belchertown at the Mullins Center practice rink.
Two perennial Super Eight contenders will have new coaches this season. Former Northeastern star Michael Collett, who coached the past two seasons at Nashoba Tech, has taken over Malden Catholic, while D.J. Conte will be the new coach at Central Catholic.
Bob Callahan, who preceded Collett at Nashoba Tech for one season, returns behind the bench for the Vikings. He is one of a handful of coaches back on the ice this season. Derek Edgerly, who led Wakefield to a Division 1 North title and most recently was an assistant at Arlington, takes over Matignon. One-time Everett coach Alex Naumann is back behind the bench for the Crimson Tide while Jason Lawrence, who also had a season behind the Everett bench, is the new coach at Wakefield.
Chuck Jancaterino, who led Bourne to a Division 3 state championship before spending the past three seasons at St. John Paul, now will be in command of Old Rochester/Fairhaven. Replacing Jancaterino with the Lions is Chris Kent.
Chris Wells takes over at Marblehead after one season as coach of the Magicians’ girls program.
Among the other new coaches in Eastern Mass are: Dave Tapper (Blue Hills); Frank Carpenito (Bourne); Zach Lebowitz (Concord-Carlisle); Chuck Bailey (East Bridgewater); Matt Carlin (Lincoln-Sudbury); Aaron Crear (Lowell Catholic); Scott Corbett (Nantucket); and Brian Hurcombe (Scituate).
Ryan Neville, who coached the last three seasons at St. Peter-Marian, moves over to Northbridge and is among a handful of new faces behind benches in Central Mass. Mike Duteau, who scored the winning goal for Gardner in the Div. 3 state championship in 1994, takes the reins at neighboring archrival Oakmont. Meanwhile, Gardner also has a new coach in Scott Freniere, while Barry Hudson will be at the helm in Leominster.
The other new coaches in Western Mass. are Gene Wells at Minnechaug, and Matt Risley at Wahconah.
New team in Newton
It was a much quieter offseason among girls teams in Massachusetts, which remain at 88.
Aside from a similar realignment as the boys in the Bay State Conference, the biggest news was Newton South shifting co-op arrangements from Brookline to Newton North. Both programs also will have new coaches, as Nick Sama takes over at Brookline, while Newton North/South will go with co-coaches Scott Heslin and Amy Severance. Both teams are in the BSC Carey along with Framingham – now coached by former Flyer Casey Diana – as well as Natick and Wellesley. The BSC Herget includes Braintree, Milton, Needham, Walpole and Weymouth.
Norwood also now is part of the Tri-Valley League with Dedham, Dover-Sherborn/Hopkinton, Medfield/Norton, Medway/Ashland (now led by former Natick boys coach Karl Infanger) and Westwood.
John Findley, who has served as an assistant to his brother Tom at Hingham, moves across town to take over rival Notre Dame. Bob Roach is back behind the bench at Shawsheen after a two-year hiatus.
The Middlesex League’s Freedom Division will have a pair of new coaches with Frank Sorrenti (Melrose) and Chrissy Weeden (Wakefield), as will the Northeast Conference with Danielle Finocchiaro (Beverly/Danvers) and Marisa Maccario (Marblehead). Other new girls coaches include Anthony Cornacchia at Matignon, and Roy Bain with Mansfield/Oliver Ames/Foxboro.
