Three cheers St. John’s Prep star Vana the ultimate winner
The first thing St. John’s Prep boys hockey coach Kristian Hanson said about it was just that it was typical fashion.
Before the turn of the New Year, the Eagles were locked in a battle with defending Div. 1 state champion Pope Francis on Dec. 28. It was the championship game of a back-to-back in the Pete Frates Winter Classic, a tournament that host St. John’s Prep hadn’t won since 2015.
High-level goaltending and defense kept the game scoreless through the end of regulation, and fatigue had clearly set in for St. John’s Prep. But a few minutes into overtime, senior captain Jake Vana spoiled a Pope Francis pinch by powering the puck toward open ice. Nobody caught up to him skating through two zones on a breakaway, and Vana finished off the gamewinner with his backhand for the trophy.
Moments like that seem to be when Vana — who’s won five Div. 1 state titles across his three sports — shines the brightest. And with how No. 1 St. John’s Prep (9-1) has surged ever since, there’s reason to believe he can help lead this team toward his sixth.
“Typical Jake Vana fashion, he finds a way in the biggest moment of the game to score the goal,” Hanson said then, before elaborating on Vana earlier this week. “That’s Jake, he just always finds a way. … He’s been so good, he’s won so many battles and he helps our team in so many different ways.”
For a student-athlete as decorated as Vana, there aren’t many team firsts left to experience. The Princeton lacrosse commit has already three-peated in lacrosse and won state championships in three consecutive seasons with his other sports (hockey in 2022, lacrosse in 2023, soccer in 2023).
Yet, this hockey season is already shaping out to be a special one.
The goals set by the team are typically the same for the Eagles in each preseason: Win the Pete Frates Winter Classic, win the Catholic Conference, and win the state title. But even after taking it all in 2022 and reaching the Div. 1 state semifinals as the top seed last year, St. John’s Prep had never accomplished the other two goals through Vana’s four years on varsity.
Winning the Frates tournament already checks off one box, and the Eagles have surged to a nine-game win streak to hold the top spot in the latest MIAA Div. 1 power rankings. Scoring was a bit of a struggle early on, but St. John’s Prep’s sixgoal eruption over St. John’s of Shrewsbury on Wednesday marked the attack’s fifth straight game with at least three scores.
In the meantime, firstyear starting goalie AJ Farese and a deep defense has hit a groove by limiting powers St. John’s, Catholic Memorial, Xaverian and Reading in comfortable wins. The season opener against Hingham is the team’s only loss.
There’s no doubt that the Eagles are rolling, and a two-game lead in the Catholic Conference race has them in a great spot to potentially check all three boxes. But Vana and fellow captains Jack Doherty, Johnny Tighe, and Christian Rosa know better than to get ahead of themselves.
“We couldn’t be more happy with how we’ve played,” Vana said. “But this is probably the hardest part of being on a St. John’s Prep team, when you get to the middle of the season and everything starts to click. … This is the part where a lot of teams take their foot off the gas, and right now, me, the captains and the coaches are trying to emphasize, ‘No, this is the part where we need to get even better.’ ”
Vana has a wealth of winning experience he provides that most programs don’t have even half of. Add in the other voices of teammates he’s shared championships with, and there’s no shortage of perspective and guidance available to the Eagles despite about a dozen firstyear varsity players.
Vana looks at his five rings with humility, but recognizes how helpful that experience is.
“Over the years, after playing in the big games as a young guy, playing in the state championship game as a freshman or sophomore, it’s just eye-opening to now,” he said. “I’m more like, ‘Alright, I know what to do.’ … If it’s like a big game, I’ve been there where the younger guys are and I can almost help them a little bit.”
Vana is the first to say he’s had excellent influences that have helped along the way. He cites his parents, Frank and Rebecca, and grandparents for setting the bar of hard work’s importance and impact. Former captains inspire him to lead with honesty and unwavering support.
He thinks of when former teammate Jimmy Ayers backed him during lacrosse as he broke out of a slump. Vana did the same for Farese after the goalie earned the Frates tournament MVP honors. Vana cut off a postgame question to say Farese can be the best goalie in the state if the team doesn’t put him in bad spots, and the junior sits at a sub-1.00 GAA with 8-1 record on the year now.
“The most important thing I need to keep together is the team culture, whether we win or lose,” Vana said. “I have to give a ton of credit to all the seniors I’ve had before, I’ve had some unbelievable leaders. … Seeing different experiences, not even all the good things, but all of what they did during the bad stuff, when things didn’t always go our way. I’ve just had so many great leaders, players, coaches, friends just show me what to do and I’m trying to do my best.”
Hanson often says that every piece matters, and the domination SJP has played with as of late is a reflection of that. But there’s no denying Vana is one of the primary catalysts in this start, and with him, St. John’s Prep has the potential to finish back on top.
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