St. Mary's goaltender Donald Hesse posted a goals-against average of under 2.00 last season. (ITEM FILE PHOTO)
St. Mary's boys hockey gears up for a milestone and some challenges
With a wealth of experience returning, St. Mary's boys hockey coach Mark Lee sounded hopeful for the Spartans' chances this season."We've got a strong core of leaders," Lee said, "and a very young, talented group also. It's a good combination. We're excited as coaches. As they say, we're cautiously optimistic. It's a hard-working team with a great attitude."
This season marks Lee's 25th as a head coach, and the Spartans are coming off a run to the Division 1 North final last year.
Lee enters his milestone 25th season with four North titles under his belt.
"We haven't gotten a state title yet," he said. However, he noted that the program has posted a double-digit number of league titles in that span, and that its postseason appearance last year was its 16th in a row.
"It's been a nice run," he said. "Every year is another challenge."
This time around, the Spartans will begin with some challenging scrimmages before the regular-season opener against St. Bernard's (Fitchburg) at Connery Rink on Dec. 15. St. Mary's will play preseason scrimmages against Catholic Conference schools Xaverian, St. John's and Catholic Memorial. The Knights will visit Lynn for the first time in Lee's 25 years.
"We're very happy we're even scrimmaging these types of teams," the coach said.
Adding to the optimism is the fact that 56 players tried out for the Spartans this year, a record high for the school.
The 2010-11 edition of the Spartans will have three captains: Cam Kennedy, James Perkins and Julian Yourawski. Last season, Perkins scored 12 goals and assisted on six more for 18 points, while Yourawski scored seven with nine assists for 16 points.
"Defensively, our rock is Hesse in net," Lee said. "He's the backbone of our team, along with a core of returning defensemen.
"I think he's very well-schooled. He's dedicated a number of years to goalie schooling. He plays angles well and is not bothered by a crowd. He loves big games, he loves to be 'that goaltender.' The tougher the game, the bigger he seems to play. He took us to the finals. We're very happy he's back."
The defense includes brothers Nikko and Andrew Markham, both of Salem, and Justin Levine of Marblehead. Lee also has three candidates for backup goalie: junior Stephen Poliskey of Gloucester and freshmen Bailey MacBurnie of Beverly and Patrick O'Leary of Wenham.
"All three goaltenders are extremely competitive and very talented," Lee said. "It's a good problem to have as a coach."
Asked whether this situation is rare, he said, "It's very rare to have this quality of goaltenders. For a freshman, it's great to work with a junior and senior."
On offense, one newcomer is senior Bucky Surette, a transfer from Lynn English. He is a forward who can play either center or wing.
"I think he's a very good player," Lee said, "and a very good kid, which is even more important. He's going to be a big part of our season."
The team's list of returning players is long, and includes quite a few Lynners. Among them are Tommy Braswell, Timmy Aylward and Brendan Mageary, all of whom the coach characterized as impact players. Last season, Mageary tallied eight goals and eight assists for 16 points. Cam O'Neill and defenseman Chad Wilkins are fellow Lynners on the team.
Also on the team are Connor Parent, a sophomore from Danvers, and junior forward Bobby Mullins, who is coming off a sophomore season in which he tallied eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points. As for freshman Jordan Manthorne of Peabody, the coach said, "We expect him to break the starting lineup this year ... He's impressed us early."
The team had just three seniors last season. One of them, Corey Bartlett, is repeating his senior year, and the MIAA has ruled that he will be eligible for the second half of this season.
Last year's team went 16-9-1, 7-3 in the CCL. A highlight of that season was Lee's 300th career coaching win, in the opener against Arlington Catholic. Lee is 315-154-55 at St. Mary's for a .685 percentage. The Spartans finished last year one win shy of the state final after the Cougars defeated them in the North final.
This year's Spartans will play a challenging schedule that includes AC, Austin Prep, Springfield Cathedral, Malden Catholic, Weymouth, Duxbury and Super 8 champion Hingham.
One issue that Lee called a learning experience for the team was penalties. Last season, after an altercation with AC, the Spartans were disqualified for the playoffs. The Spartans received no misconduct penalties after that game and appealed the suspension; the suspension was overturned and the team went to the postseason.
Of penalties, Lee said, "We went the entire second half (of last season) averaging less than three penalties a game. I don't anticipate it will be an issue ... We've learned a lot as a team. It's important to stay out of the penalty box."
The coach sounded hopeful that his team would absorb more positive lessons from last year as well.
"Last year, I think, was a big year," he said. "We had only three seniors. To go to the finals, we gained a lot of experience last year, going deep in the tournament. We're hoping it carries over."
