Midget Senior U-19 Strong Finish!

The Bay State Breakers midget major U-19 team finished their fall campaign by winning the Blue Chip Classic in early November. The tournament was held at the ICenter in Salem, NH. Although the tournament featured strong out of state programs like the Ontario Hockey Academy,Rice Academy, and CP Dynamo (Upstate NY), it came down to the Breakers and the South Shore Kings in the Final. The breakers beat the Kings convincingly 4-1, led by the line of Brendan Fitzgerald (Dexter), Ronny Walsh (Xavarian), and Jay Matthews (Thayer). Kyle MacDonald (Xavarian) went the whole way in the tournament with Shane Joyce (Tabor) out with an ankle injury. The Breakers were also short Kevin Salvucci (Tabor) for the weekend because of a wrist injury.

The Breakers started the year with the Tier 1 Labor Day Face-off in Marlboro. The tournament featured the best U-19 assembled this fall. The Breakers came out of the gate quickly by beating the Amhearst Knights (NY) 3-2 and District 10 Bulldogs 5-1. They tied The Cent. Mass Outlaws 1-1. Sunday morning the loss to the Connecticut Cliipers 5-3 which feature a strong core of players from Avon, Taft, and Kent. Shortstaffed for the Sunday afternoon game, they lost big to Team Maryland 5-0 who went undefeated in the bracket. They did not move on to Monday’s semis with the Clippers and Maryland moving on.

The second tournament of the season was the Jr. Bruins Shootout in late September. The Breakers went 2-1 but did not move on to Sunday’s quarterfinals, needing to go undefeated to get there. They beat the Buffalo Saints 5-3 and the Seacoast Spartans 3-2. Their loss came in the first game Friday night when they loss to the Eastern Mass Senators with a short bench.

The Breakers turned the corner at The Fall Classic hosted by Foxboro. The team moved through the weekend advancing to the semis on Monday morning. After beating the Kings in the morning, the breakers faced defending National Champion GBL Bruins in the finals with only 12 players. (many of prep school players did not have Columbus Day off). It was a hard fought contest, with the breakers losing 1-0. Brendan Fitzgerald, Ronny Walsh and Jared Wiedeman (Dexter) made the All-Tournament Team.

Thanks to all the players for their hard work this fall. I look forward to next year with many of the players able to return for at least one more year. A special thanks to Steve Salvucci for his help and his passion. Good luck this year at school and hope to see you this spring at tryouts.


G Shane Joyce           So.    Tabor Academy
G Kyle MacDonald     Sr.     Xavarian
D Pat Sullivan             Sr.     B.C. High
D Shawn Joyce          Sr.     Tabor Academy
D Joe DiPietro            Jr.     Dexter
D Paul Sharpe            Sr.     Needham H.S.
D Jared Wiedeman    Jr.     Dexter
D Conor Coveney      Sr.     Hingham H.S.
F Jay Matthews          Jr.     Thayer Academy 
F Pat Curtis                 Jr.     Dexter
F Kevin Salvucci       So.    Tabor Academy
F Tim Driscoll             Jr.     Hingham H.S.
F Collin Norton           Sr.     B.C. High
F Dan Sullivan            Sr.     B.C. High
F Brendan Fitzgerald Jr.     Dexter
F Ronny Walsh           Jr.     Xavarian
F Matt Previte            Sr.     Arch-Bishop Williams
F P. J. Falvey              Jr.     Noble & Grenough

Coach: Duane Joyce

Coach: Steve Salvucci