Essex Tech boys serve notice
Coach Mark Leonard is building a winner
Former longtime Peabody boys hockey coach Mark Leonard remembers the excitement just as much as he remembers the disappointment.
A loaded upcoming class was dominating the youth circuit four years ago, winning tournament after tournament throughout New England for Peabody Youth Hockey and Leonard’s North Shore Coyotes. Leonard, who helped build that pipeline through his 24 years at the helm of the Tanners while president of that Peabody Youth Hockey program, couldn’t help but be excited over what they could provide his struggling varsity team. They were going to make a heck of a difference for him as they dreamed of playing together at Peabody.
That is, until Peabody fired their longtime coach in 2019 after winning just one game over the prior two years. The opportunity he patiently waited for was instantly thrown into serious doubt.
It didn’t take long for him to find another head coaching gig, landing at the 3-year-old program at Essex Tech across the town line in Danvers. The potentially star-studded 2025 class that included his son, Brady Leonard, wanted to play for Leonard over their hometown school. So, when the time came two years later, they followed him.
Since they did, the regional tech school has a 31-5-4 record, has accomplished many programfirsts, and is 16-1-1 so far this season.
“I’ve coached a lot of these kids since they were 8 years old … they’re a good class,” Leonard said. “I got very fortunate to get the job at Essex Tech. I’m very grateful for it. I have nothing but great things to say. … I’ve had a ton of support from the school, and we’re only going to get better.”
One of the missions Leonard set out for when he took over was to leave a memorable stamp on the team. The young program was already on a rapid trajectory with two playoff appearances in three seasons before he got there, but there’s no mistaking the heights Essex Tech has reached over the last four years.
Even before sophomores Brady Leonard, Jayden Vargas, Anthony Bisenti, Mason Sutcliffe, Riley Sobezenski and Andrew McKenna, as well as juniors Armani Booth and Brandon Cole, joined the program, the Hawks accomplished a program-best, 11-win season and was six seconds away from the Commonwealth Athletic Conference for the first time in the new coach’s first season. The COVID season didn’t have many games, but Essex Tech won the games it needed to for
the CAC title.
Last year, bolstered by returning experience and the jolt the then-freshman group provided, went even better. Finishing at 15-43, the Hawks had won the fully-loaded CAC for the first time, won their first Mass. Vocational State Tournament championship, and beat Bedford 1-0 in overtime in the first round of the Div. 3 state tournament for the program’s first playoff win.
“We’ve kind of taken a step each year,” Mark Leonard said. “One of the biggest things I’ve seen as a coach is, you don’t get a lot of respect in the voke league. … Trust me, I hear the chirping out there. A lot of times it’s, ‘You guys suck, you’re just a tech school.’ That’s really kind of — our kids want to get away from that and I think they really have.” Especially this year. For as much as there can be said about its strength of schedule, Essex Tech is looking like a legitimate team to worry about come this season’s tournament. Ranked at No. 9 in the latest MIAA Div. 3 power
rankings, the Hawks were one of the last teams to remain undefeated at 140-1 before Shawsheen finally beat them earlier this month. That’s the longest unbeaten streak in program history, and a win on Sunday against Lowell Catholic would secure a third straight CAC title.
Offensively gifted, their 5.61 goals per game ranks second across all divisions in the state entering the weekend. Junior Logan Casey (15 goals, 25 assists) and Brady Leonard (17 goals, 21 assists) star on two different lines, aided by fellow leading scorers Vargas (21 points), Booth (21 points), Chris Maher (19 points) and Bisenti (17 points). Eleven different players are in double-digits scoring points, and senior goalie Kyle Mahan has allowed just 1.59 goals per game behind the defense.
Factor in the chemistry of this group, and the longtime coach believes this team could make a further run than last year’s.
“We’re getting scoring from a lot of places, which
is nice, it’s not just one or two kids doing all the scoring,” he said. “The kids work hard, they show up every day, they work hard at practice, they’re a very tight-knit group. They all get along, they hang out together, they support each other. They’re fun to coach. … I think we can play with anybody. I really do. If we’re playing our game, we can play with anybody.”
Perhaps the most exciting part for Leonard is the room the program has to keep growing, with all of Essex Tech leaving the CAC for the Cape Ann League next season.
Losing senior defender Cam Doherty will hurt, as will the graduations of Ethan Long, Graffeo, Mahan, and Bryan Swaczyk. But those are the team’s only five seniors. All eight of the group’s current top scorers will be back.
As far as Leonard is concerned, this is still just the beginning.
Milestones
At least 14 skaters across boys and girls MIAA hockey have surpassed the century mark in points, and five goalies have set impressive marks in saves. Cam Fici (Belmont boys), Anthony Patete (East/West Bridgewater boys), Caroline Doherty (Hingham girls) and David Noel (Minnechaug) joined the 100-point club this week, while goalie Cam Tomaszycki (Taunton boys) picked up his 1,000th save and goalie Izzy Laskin (Cambridge girls) secured her 2,000th.
Paul Magalhaes (Arlington Catholic), Drew Damiani (Lynnfield), Tommy Workman (Dracut/Tyngsboro) are other boys to break 100 points. Jen Birolini (Pembroke), Lexi Yost (Bishop Stang), Mikayla Brightman (Bishop Stang), Emma Holmes (Winthrop) and Julia Holmes (Winthrop) are girls to do it. Maggie Lynch (Archbishop Williams) passed 200 points this year, as did Jenna Chaplain (St. Mary’s of Lynn) with 100 goals. Bridget Gray (Belmont) also has 2,000 saves, while Mikal Franklin (Framingham) and Lila Chamoun (Milton) each surpassed 1,000.