LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield boys hockey team graduated nine seniors from last year’s team, and a whole lot of production graduated along with them. Now, as the Pioneers prepare for the 2020-2021 season, they’ll need to rely on their team depth more than ever.
“We had a good squad last year with some really talented players,” said coach Jon Gardner. “We unfortunately ran into a tough draw in the tournament with North Andover, but overall we had a successful season.”
The Pioneers lost some big-time production from last year’s 11-8-2 team, including top goal scorer Sam Pifko (24 goals) and playmaker John Simonetti. Ronnie Fucillo, Danny Mack, Jack Hammersley, Robert Tashjian and Sean Robbins have also left to graduation.
“We’ve had years like this before where we’ve lost a bunch of seniors, it’s just something that happens in high school hockey,” said Gardner. “Losing 24 goals from Sam will definitely be tough because I don’t think we’ve ever had one guy score so many of our goals, but we’ve got a great group of guys coming back.”
Luckily for Lynnfield, there is plenty of experienced talent returning. It all starts in net with senior Jake DeBenedictis, an Item All-Star and Cape Ann League All-Star last season. Senior forwards Brendan Henehan and Alex Buonopane will serve as captains, while sophomore Drew Damiani is set to have a breakout year after making an impact as a freshman. Transfer students Aidan Burke and Jake Calvani will also add some fresh faces to the group.
But what could have the biggest impact for the Pioneers is the amount of young players in the pipeline, as Lynnfield is boasting its biggest freshman class ever with 28 players — seven of whom were chosen for the varsity squad.
“From player one to player 48, this is the deepest we’ve ever been here at Lynnfield,” Gardner said. “We have 12 players returning to varsity and a number of call-ups from JV, and our big freshman class has really helped fill out our rosters at all levels. Lynnfield hockey is in good shape for the next few years.”
Lynnfield got back on the ice a couple weeks ago, but the Pioneers took a six-day break around the holidays to be safe and make sure there were no COVID-19 issues. After getting back on the ice this past weekend, the Pioneers are turning up the heat as the season opener approaches.
“The guys are excited to get back to work and they’ve shown that enthusiasm in practice,” said Gardner. “Now that we’re back from our little holiday break we’ve been turning it up, and we’re going to work hard for next week to prepare for that first game.”
Lynnfield was initially set to open the season Saturday against Pentucket, but that game has been postponed due to Pentucket’s problem with COVID-19. The Pioneers will now open the season next Wednesday, Jan. 5 (7) on the road against Newburyport at Henry Graf Skating Rink.
“We’re going to be up against a tough team in a tough rink, and it’s always been that way with Newburyport,” said Gardner. “We split our two games last season, so we’re feeling a little bit of confidence going into the game. We’ve just got to continue to work hard in practice each day and come with our best once we take the ice Wednesday.”