There is a fair amount of change this season in the Mayflower, which has a somewhat quick turnaround after playing in the MIAA’s “wedge” season that wrapped up in late April.
A pair of schools – Diman and Upper Cape – will have new coaches, while Southeastern’s long-standing cooperative arrangement has been cut by one school.
The big question is whether any of the other five teams can chase down the Hawks, who have dominated the MAC championship in recent years. Tri-County came close last year, reaching the league championship game and will be a contender again along with South Shore. Blue Hills returns to the ice after not competing last season.
BLUE HILLS
Coach: Dave Tapper
MIAA Division: 4
It’s been two years since the Warriors have been seen on the ice, since the school did not participate in sports last winter.
Look for center Chris Sarno, who had a huge season two years ago (18-33-51) to be the top player for Tapper and Blue Hills again this season.
DIMAN (4-4-0)
Coach: Marc O’Connor
MIAA Division: 3
The entire preseason and first week of practices and tryouts was a feeling-out process for O’Connor, who takes the reins of the Bengals this season. His motto this season is: “New Season, New Philosophy, New Expectations.”
With that, the new coach is emphasizing the entire team approach, putting the spotlight on his whole 19-player roster.
The forwards will be seniors Ethan Laforce, Ethan Carreiro, Peter Moniz, Connor Faria and Caleb Aguiar, junior Isaiah Almeida, and sophomores Jacob Almeida, Bryce Medeiros, Aiden Farias and Ariel Pimentel. Defensively Diman will have seniors Colby Pimentel and Quinn Dutra, junior Connor Santos, and freshmen Ryan Sanford, Evan Barbosa and Jameson Botelho. The three goalies on the roster are juniors Cameron Mattos and Aiden Monaghan, and sophomore Zackary Gouveia.
“We are looking to be a strong 5-on-5 team and hope to take advantage of special teams as much as possible,” said O’Connor, adding there will be an emphasis on player development this season.
“We will not sacrifice the future to win now, we want to build a strong program for years to come.”
SOUTHEASTERN (10-0-0)
Coach: Mark Cabral
MIAA Division: 3
The Hawks had to wait until the MIAA’s “Fall II” season a year ago, but the season was no less successful as they ran the table and won the Mayflower championship.
Things will be a bit different this time around — West Bridgewater no longer is officially part of the co-op (ending a two-decade arrangement), but Southeastern still has its arrangement with Bristol-Plymouth. Add in the fact the Hawks graduated 17 players off that team, plus some losses to juniors, and Cabral sees a challenging season ahead.
Senior Ryan LeBaron returns in goal along with sophomore Dylan Quinn. LeBaron is one of two holdovers from West Bridgewater, and will backbone a defense led by senior captain Matt English, as well as sophomores Kasey Brown and Thomas Leger.
Up front, Cabral will look to senior alternate captains Thomas Mondeau, Nolan Sturdevant and Keagan Bunker (the other “grandfathered” WB player), as well as juniors Dalton Ghelfi, Bobby Manning, and senior Shane Willis.
Newcomers Nick Sturdevant, Nick Falcione and Andrew Flanagan will try to fill some of the holes throughout the Southeastern lineup.
SOUTH SHORE (6-4-0)
Coach: Derek Mariani
MIAA Division: 4
The Vikings are hoping to build off the winning record they posted during their abbreviated Fall II season.
Mariani likes the senior leadership at the forward positions – led by winger Cole Sheehan (13-6-19) and center Preston Channell (7-6-13) – and hopes they will be able to shoulder the load for a younger defense. Juniors Jacob McAleer (5-4-9) at wing and Tommy Jenkins (4-4-8) at center will help with that task.
Senior Jackson Snyder (2-1-3) leads that young blue line corps with sophomore Tyler Hartwell (1-5-6) and junior Camden Devereaux (1-6-7). Mariani expects his goaltending will be solid.
“The team will need to play good team defense, all six on the ice, and capitalize on their scoring opportunities,” he said.
TRI-COUNTY (8-3-0)
Coach: Bryan Harrington
MIAA Division: 4
The Cougars dropped a heartbreaker to Southeastern in last April’s Mayflower championship game, and Harrington will look to build on that momentum as he enters his second season behind the bench.
It will be a much younger, inexperienced group this time around. Senior Cameron King (6-4-10) and sophomore Lucas Sobczak (6-3-9) are the top returning forwards from a season ago. Junior captain Marcus Altieri played only one game in 2021 before being injured, but his two goals and one assist in that game are proof of the impact he can have.
Harrington says his defense will be young with “lots of opportunity to stand out.”
Nine freshmen overall bring high hopes for the future. Harrington believes the key will be building the right chemistry and focusing on the defensive end, even if it means playing more conservatively on offense.
UPPER CAPE (1-8-0)
Coach: Joe McGuire
MIAA Division: 4
A new era begins just on the other side of the canal, as McGuire jumps into the top spot behind the Rams bench.
The Rams have experience on defense with senior Ryan Mulligan and juniors Matthew Paling and Kiernan Ballard all in at least their third seasons with the program.
Senior Max Bowman and Christopher Hanly are the veterans up front, and sophomore Ryan Hanson appears position to be a prime scorer for UCT.
Rylan Tellier and Jake Earle are sharing the net to start the season.
