Ashburnham, Massachusetts – Jacob Kamps’ 5-13 goal in the second period made the difference when the Cushing Academy defeated Dexter 2-1 in a matchup of the prep hockey heavyweights earlier this season at Iorio Arena.
With the 1-1 draw, the top line of the penguins went to work. St. Lawrence signed Marc McLaughlin made a nice pass to Max Brainin on the blue line. Brainin pulled to the side of the net before passing it on to Kamps, who wasted no time burying a hard, low shot at Dexter goalkeeper Aidan Murphy.
Cushing took a 1-0 lead in a similar transition sequence around the middle of the first third. Jeffrey Morgan shot a quick punch from the high slot after the puck was lost to a broken game. Ashton Fry was credited with the primary assist in getting the puck over the blue line and into the zone.
Dexter equalized the result after just over a minute. Harvard recruit Jack Rathbone made a great game by keeping the puck from a penguin striker who entered the zone. Rathbone quickly picked up the puck and sent Pat Daly all alone on Cushing goalkeeper Joey Halsrom. The quick Daly went straight in and shot a shot over Halsström’s glove and into the back of the net.
Murphy, a freshman goalkeeper who moved from Xaverian, was standout. He made a lot of saves to keep Dexter in play, including two toe throws on close range shots in the second period.
The game was entertaining and there was insight from both teams as to why they will be in the top ten in prep hockey, but there were a lot of mistakes at the start of the season. One such mistake was a misguided attempt at clearing by Cushing, which almost ended up on the net in the fading moments of the game.
Dexter line combinations
Kevin Hock – John Femia – Patrick Daly
Jack Donato – Jay O’Brien – Jack Nisbet
Danny Shea – Nolan Donato – Tommy Grealy
Tommy Giandomenico – AJ Caprio – Jack Halloran
Ryan McDougall – Jack Rathbone
Bobby Pearl – matt gray
Quinn Cleary
Aidan Murphy
Combinations of damping lines
Jacob Kamps – Marc McLaughlin – Max Brainin
Brent Hill – Vilho Saariluoma – Alec Andreucci
Dakota Mulcay – Eric Huss – Matthew Guerra
Jeffrey Morgan – Jack Dodd – Ashton Fry
Cam Berube – Ethan Roswel
Matt Dillon – Nolan McElhaney
Ben Barton – Noah Kim
Joey Halsrom
Remarks
Dexter ’97 LW Jack Donato had a good game on the line with O’Brien and Nisbet. He played well off the puck, was physical, and gave his more experienced linemates some glue.
Rathbone was the best player on the ice for both teams. He was solid in his own end and was his usual stellar self moving the puck on ice. His skating and footwork were so impressive and he logged a ton of minutes.
Dexter was on his blue line with no ’99 Dartmouth commit Sean Keohan. The junior sustained an injury at one of the team’s exhibition games.
Late ’99 Bobby Pearl, the son of Harvard Associate Head Coach Paul Pearl, was solid and showed quite a bit of promise on Dexter’s blue line.
’98 John Femia made a great first impression after graduating from Canton High School. He’s a good skater who centered Dexter’s top line with Kevin Hock and Pat Daly.
Berube, a ’00 LD from Haverhill, saw his first regular pre-season action many minutes after playing hockey as a freshman at a public school. He’s a slick skater who didn’t look like a ’00 out there. He’s undersized, but a player to watch out for.
Cushing’s fourth row scored the team’s first goal and had several other good shifts. ’98 Junior Ashton Fry, seeing his first varsity action, was a big reason for that. The Colorado native was quick and brought a lot of energy.
Kamps and McLaughlin teamed up to make some beautiful pieces and make an impact with their size and strength.
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