New England Hockey Journal - December 2015 - 28

By Mike Zhe

he puck slid out to the point
on a 5-on-3 power play and
was blasted toward the net
on a one-timer.
It never got there,
smacking sprawling Salve Regina defenseman Lucas Sousa square in the chest.
Then Sousa slid and blocked another
shot. Then another. Finally, the two-man
advantage late in the second period was
over and host Neumann had not produced the insurance goal it so desperately wanted.
An hour later, the game was over,
too. Sousa (Billerica, Mass.) retreated
to the locker room with his teammates,
grabbed some ice and got ready for the
next battle.
"There were two one-timers right in
a row and you just try to get yourself in
position to block the shot," said Sousa.
"In situations like that, when the other
team's got the momentum, you can take
some away when you do that.
"Yeah, you feel some pain. But this
year especially, I want to do things like
that and lead by example."
"He blocked four shots in the chest on
a 5-on-3 and kept on going," said Salve
coach Andy Boschetto (Watertown,
Mass.). "Lucas is a guy that's heart-andsoul."
At Thanksgiving, Salve Regina stood
just 2-4-1, lamenting a couple results during an opening-weekend trip to Manhattanville and Neumann that they couldn't
finish. But they see themselves on the
list of candidates who can contend for a
title in the ECAC Northeast, and two big
reasons for that are their seniors on the
blue line.
Sousa, a four-year player, and Alex
Pompeo (Hingham, Mass.), who's in
his second year after transferring from
Southern Maine, are leaders with punch,
guys who can provide some offense anytime they're on the ice.
"There's a lot of similarities," said
Boschetto. "Both of them are very good
athletes. They're strong, they're fast and
they put in the time. ... Both have the ability to play after (college) if they want to."
Pompeo was an instant offensive upgrade after arriving last year. His eight
goals and 20 points ranked among the
national leaders and made him the Newport, R.I., school's first-ever semifinalist
for the Concannon Award, given to the
top American-born Division 3 player in
New England. In 81 career college games
at USM and Salve, he has 60 points (21
goals).
"He's a one-of-a-kind player," said
Sousa. "When he's out there guys know
to get him the puck. He brings a whole
new dynamic. When we're having a
tough time breaking out, he's always an
option because he can do it himself. ...

Lucas Sousa

END
TO
END

n Salve Regina defensemen Alex Pompeo and Lucas Sousa

are guys who make things happen at both ends of the ice

Bridgton Academy standout
such a threat? "Alex has high-end
speed," said Boschetto. "He has
the ability to beat five guys. Every opponent that we play knows
that he has that capability.
"He's one of those kids that
does stuff in practice that makes
the other guys go, 'Wow.' "
Sousa, an assistant captain,
has a little more solidity to his
game. Coming up on teams at
Lawrence Academy and the
New Hampshire Junior Monarchs, he was regarded more
for his defense than offense.
Alex Pompeo
"I had some (Division 1)
From the first time I saw him, I knew he feelers in high school, a little bit in juwas going to be great for us."
niors," he said. "But when it came down
What makes the 6-foot-1, 190-pound, to it I knew I was going to be playing Diformer Hingham High School and vision 3 hockey. I spoke to Andy and he

Around division 3
Defending national champ Trinity raised its banner and opened its season against the same team that
upset it in the NESCAC quarterfinals last year - Tufts
- and got another tough game. The Bantams got
goals from Ethan Holdaway (Glastonbury, Conn.),
Tyler Whitney (Wakefield, Mass.) and defenseman
Sam Johnson in a 3-2 win, spoiling Pat Norton's
debut behind the Jumbos' bench. ...
After playing 21 games in 2½ seasons at Division 1
Quinnipiac without registering a point, senior transfer
Matt Lemire (Townsend, Mass.) already has produced
six goals and 13 points in six games for the Beacons
(6-0), picking up where he left off last year, when he

28 NEw ENGLAND HOCKEY JOURNAL December 2015

Brooke Scoca

DIVISION 3 COLLEGES

had 10 goals in 16 second-semester games. ...
The 5-1 start that has defending champion
Plymouth State tied for the early lead in the MASCAC
is no surprise. But Westfield State matching that early
overall record might be, and the captains are leading
the way. Senior defenseman Kyllian Kirkwood's
10 assists were tied for the national lead late last
month, while forwards Jackson Leef (six goals) and
Dalton Jay (five goals) have been the finishers. ...
Freshman forward Alex Marcinek goes down
as the player who scored the first goal in Endicott's
Division 3 history, during a 1-1 tie with Stonehill in
the opener. In their debut season, the Gulls brought
a five-game unbeaten streak into Thanksgiving.

- MIKE ZHE

told me what he was going to do with the
program. He was rebuilding and I wanted to be a part of something bigger."
As a freshman, Sousa produced a 1-1314 line on a team that reached the ECAC
Northeast championship game, losing
at Wentworth. With a team-best seven
points in seven games, he's on pace for
his best offensive season.
The Seahawks are without forward
Evan Schultz (Durham, N.H.), last year's
leading scorer, until at least January
with a broken clavicle suffered on his
first shift of the season. It will be up to
guys Marc Biggs, Peter Gintoli (Shelton,
Conn.) and Evan Schmidbauer to pick
up the scoring slack - plus Pompeo and
Sousa, without sacrificing their responsibilities in the back.
"They bring a lot," said Boschetto.
"Sometimes I think they try to do too
much because they're trying to help us."
They'll try to boost the Seahawks to
the top of the ECAC Northeast. Two-time
defending champion Nichols, newcomer
Endicott, Johnson & Wales and Suffolk
are the teams that have made the most
noise at the start, but this battle should
rage all winter.
Sousa and Pompeo are ready -
whether they're apart or together.
"We get out there together sometimes," said Sousa, "but we have similar
games so usually not. We like to be everywhere on the ice."
@MikeZhe603
mzhe@hockeyjournal.com

Free digital subscription at hockeyjournal.com/free

New England Hockey Journal - December 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of New England Hockey Journal - December 2015