TEWKSBURY GOALTENDER BACKBONES SOLID SQUAD
O’keefe named Player of the Year, Baker the top coach
It was another fun and exciting season in the rinks as 11 local boys hockey teams qualified for the MIAA statewide tournament.
Headlining the 14-member Sun all-star team is Tewksbury senior goalie Ben O’keefe, the Player of the Year. Teammates Nick Diciccio and Matt Cooke were also selected.
Chelmsford was the other team to have multiple selections with Cole Pelkey and AJ Bongiorno. Shawsheen Tech’s Chuck Baker was selected as Coach of the Year after guiding the Rams to the Division 4 Elite 8.
Player of the Year Benjamin O’keefe, Tewksbury
Last year, as a junior, O’keefe led the Redmen to the Division 2 state championship title with a 1.30 goals against average, a .926 save percentage and six shutouts. This year, he led the team to 19 wins and the team’s second straight MVC/DCL Division 2 championship title.
He had even better numbers with a 1.03 GAA, a .943 save percentage and eight shutouts, which is believed to be a school record.
O’keefe, also a member of the TMHS golf and baseball teams, was named the MVC/DCL Division 2 Player of the Year and is a two-time all-conference selection.
Ethan Cliff, Billerica
A three-sport captain at BMHS, with golf and boys volleyball as the other sports, Cliff earned MVC/DCL Division 1 allconference honors as the Indians’ goalie. Despite the team finishing with a 6-13-1 record, Cliff had a terrific season as evidenced by a sparkling .937 save percentage with one shutout.
A senior and National Honor Society member, Cliff also received the Boston Bruins Sportsmanship Award for the MVC/ DCL Division 1 conference.
Cole Pelkey, Chelmsford
Named the MVC/DCL Player of the Year as a defenseman, Pelkey helped lead the Lions to a successful season, which included a trip to the Division 1 state tournament. The Lions lost to Belmont to finish 11-7-3.
A senior who also plays golf and baseball at CHS, Pelkey finished the season with six goals and 23 assists, and closed out his career with seven goals and 42 assists for 49 points. He was also named the team’s Most Valuable Player.
AJ Bongiorno, Chelmsford
A senior captain and forward, Bongiorno was the team’s top offensive threat, finishing with an impressive 15 goals and 14 assists in 21 games. He helped the Lions finish with 11 wins and compete in the Division 1 state tournament, losing to highly-touted Belmont.
For his efforts, Bongiorno was named to the MVC/DCL Division 1 all-conference team.
Tommy Workman, Dracut/ Tyngsboro
A senior who resides in Dracut, Workman had a sensational season for the co-op team, which finished 16-5-1, including a 1-1 mark in the state tournament. Workman, a forward, was named the MVC/DCL Division 3 Player of the Year.
The National Honor Society member finished the season with impressive numbers with 16 goals, 34 assists and 50 points in 22 games. He closes out his career with 42 goals, 75 assists and 117 points.
Cole Beigel, Grotondunstable
A senior forward and two-year captain, Beigel did everything on the ice for the Crusaders, helping the team reach the postseason.
As a forward, he led the team in points with 29 on 10 goals and 19 assists. He either scored or assisted on just over 50 percent of the team’s total goals. A four-year varsity player, he also won 70 percent of his faceoffs and was instrumental in the team’s penalty kill.
He was named a Central Mass. Roy Conference first-team selection.
Aiden Lavoie, Lowell
A four-year varsity player, the senior was named to the MVC/DCL Division 3 all-conference team.
A goalie who was part of the 2019-20 North Sectional championship team, Lavoie finished his career with 1,232 saves. Among his highlights were making 47 saves in a win over Dracut/tyngsboro and 55 saves in a win over Marblehead.
A two-year captain and two-year team MVP, Lavoie is also a member of the school’s crew team. He is deciding between playing next year at the University of Tampa or playing junior hockey.
Vinny D’urso, Lowell Catholic
The only freshman to make The Sun all-star team, D’urso was a saving grace as the Crusaders’ goalie. He finished with a 2.05 GAA, a .931 save percentage and posted three shutouts.
He played his best in the biggest games, including making 40 saves in a tie against Essex Tech, 30 saves in a tie against Shawsheen Tech, and then he had 30 and 47 saves in back-to-back state tournament games against Haverhill and Tewksbury, the 2022 state champions, respectively.
D’urso was named LC’S MVP and selected to the CAC all-conference team.
Aaron Scarelli, North Middlesex
One of six goalies to make first team, Scarelli was a four-year member of the Patriots. This season, he finished with 10 victories, a 1.94 GAA, a .943 save percentage and three shutouts. He was named as one of the top two goalies in the Roy Conference, earning all-league honors.
For his career, the Townsend resident finished with a GAA under 2.00 and a save percentage well over 90 percent.
Chace Darcey, Shawsheen Tech
A junior center who resides in Billerica, Darcey was named the CAC’S MVP after guiding the Rams to a share of the league title and an overall record of 18-4-1, which included two state tournament wins and a trip to the Division 4 Elite 8.
Darcey finished with 29 goals, 12 assists and 41 points, giving him career marks of 52-21-73 with one more year remaining.
Matt Cooke, Tewksbury
A talented forward who was part of an explosive first line, Cooke helped lead the Redmen to a 19win season and league title. He was named to the MVC all-conference squad after posting regular season numbers of 16 goals and 18 assists in 20 games.
Last year he was a key member of the state championship team, and finished with 18 goals and 18 assists. Besides playing hockey, he is part of the TMHS golf and baseball teams.
Nick Diciccio, Tewksbury
One of three defensemen to make The Sun team, Diciccio excelled on the blue line defensively and offensively.
During the regular season, he finished with six goals and 24 assists, which comes off of last year’s season when he had nine goals and nine assists and was a key figure in the team’s state championship title.
Diciccio, who was named to the MVC/DCL all-conference team, was also a part of the team’s stingy defense, which came away with eight shutouts.
Tyler Frazee, Westford Academy
A junior, Frazee was extremely valuable as the Ghosts’ goalie, helping the team into the Division 1 state tournament, which included their epic overtime loss to highpowered Arlington.
On the season, the assistant captain finished with a 2.30 GAA and a .902 save percentage. He was voted as one of the top seven players in the MVC/DCL Division 1 conference, earning all-league status. He is also a member of the WA baseball team.
Nate Alberti, Wilmington
A two-time Middlesex League all-league selection and two-time team MVP, Alberti, a senior forward, had a remarkable season offensively, leading the Wildcats with 25 goals, 19 assists and 44 points.
He compiled a 12-game scoring streak, which is the longest during head coach Steve Scanlon’s 31-year tenure. Besides hockey, Alberti also broke the lacrosse program’s single-season scoring mark last year. He will be attending Saint Anselm College to play lacrosse in the fall.
Coach of the Year Chuck Baker, Shawsheen Tech
In his 17th season, Baker guided the Rams to an 18-4-1 record, which included sharing the CAC Division 1 league title, while guiding the Rams to a deep postseason run which included wins over Hamilton-wenham and Hull/cohasset before losing to Grafton in the Division 4 Elite 8.
He has won 230 games games, nine CAC titles, five Vocational titles and led the 2009 team to the Division 3 state championship game. He also has approximately 200 wins and nine league titles as
Shawsheen’s boys lacrosse coach.
Second team
Alvirne: Matthew Ryan, sr., center; Hayden Richard, sr., forward. Chelmsford: Mark Bierwirth, so., goalie; David Wood, jr., forward. Dracut/tyngsboro: Jacob Mcdougall, sr., defense; Drew Duross, soph., forward. Gr. Lowell/nashoba Tech: Cal Norris, sr., defense. Groton-dunstable: Jerry Fang, sr., forward; Jack Van Pelt, jr., forward. Littleton: Evan Piekos, jr., defense. Lowell: Thomas Woodlock, sr., defense; Ned Akashian, fr., forward. Lowell Catholic: Andrew Marcucci, so., defense. North Middlesex: Jimmy O’keefe, sr., forward. Shawsheen Tech: Brady Darcey, sr., forward; Kevin Ackerley, sr., defense; Nick Calouro, sr., center. Tewksbury: Cooper Robillard, jr., defense; Conor Cremin, sr., forward; Jeremy Insogna, jr., forward; Tyler Barnes, jr., forward. Westford Academy: David Maclure, sr., defense; Nick Burns, so., forward; Ryan Nelken, so., forward. Wilmington: Bobby Cyr, jr., defense; Owen White, sr., defense.
Honorable mention
Alvirne: Brennan Levesque, sr., defense; Sal Pace, sr., forward. Billerica: Danny Viscione, so., forward; Nolan Dawson, so., defense. Chelmsford: Nicky Lafreniere, soph., forward; TK Ervin, sr., defense; Ryan Lally, sr., defense; Declan Crowley, so., forward; Joey Stagnone, sr., forward; Kaiden Belleville, jr., forward. Dracut/tyngsboro: Colin Underwood, jr., forward; Nate Freelove, so., defense. Gr. Lowell/nashoba Tech: Evan Mosscrop., sr., forward; Jayden Auger, so., forward. Groton-dunstable: Jarrett Arsenault, sr., forward; Colin Flood, sr., forward; Cullen O’malley, so., defense. Littleton: Zachary Lizotte, so., forward; Paul Doyle, fr., forward. Lowell: Jack Geary, sr., forward; Aaron Sosa, 8th grade, forward. Lowell Catholic: James Kierce, jr., defense; Lucas Rego, sr., forward; Jake Cabral, fr., forward. Shawsheen Tech: Dylan Higson, so., forward; Larry Cullity, so., defense; Mike Cedrone, jr., goalie. Tewksbury: Brady Chapman, sr., forward; Ryan Flynn, sr., forward. Westford Academy: Ben Mulgrew, sr., forward; JJ Funaro, soph., defense; Tom Rose, jr., defense. Wilmington: Mike Daniels, sr., forward; Brian Barry, sr., forward.