Globe North High School Hockey

A rookie survives

trial by fire

Rare freshman goalie at

the Prep helps squad land tourney berth

St. John's Prep freshman David Letarte takes a breather during practice as the varsity goalie. (John Blanding/Globe Staff)

By Justin A. Rice Globe Correspondent / February 26, 2009

David Letarte started this season as goalie for the St. John's Prep junior varsity, but a 2-0 shutout victory against St. John's High of Shrewsbury caught the eye of the Eagles' varsity coach, Kristian Hanson.

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Hanson immediately bumped the freshman's status to varsity, and eventually the team dug itself out of an 0-3-1 start and inched its way into the postseason, starting with last night's matchup against Reading Memorial High, the defending Division 1A champion, in the first round of the Division 1 North sectional.

Despite making a turnaround in the unforgiving Catholic Conference, Hanson freely admits being unsettled about entering postseason play with a first-year player in net.

"It's pretty unusual to have a freshman goalie, especially at St. John's. I'm sure there's only been a freshman goalie a couple times in the program's history," said Hanson, now in his second season at the Danvers school after a successful run at Salem High. "Yeah, of course I worry, but I worry going into the playoffs anyway; it's a one-game elimination scenario."

The Eagles only learned the identity of last night's foe on Tuesday, leaving Letarte little time to study the scouting report. The Division 1 North and South pairings were finalized on Tuesday after the two play-in games for the 1A tournament were held Monday night. "I don't have a lot of knowledge about the teams we are playing but I know they'll be playing really hard," said the 15-year-old, who compiled a 5-3-6 record with a 1.80 goals-against average and a save rate topping 90 percent.

"I think I'll pretty much be all set because I have my whole team in front of me. Everybody gives me support and I think I'll be all right once the first game starts," Letarte said. "I'm a little nervous but I can't think about that, I have to think about how far we've come."

Finishing the regular season 7-6-7, St. John's was 0-2-1 when Letarte started his first varsity game, a 5-1 loss to Catholic Memorial, the second-ranked team in the Globe's Top 20. Then the Prep finally collected its first victory, 6-1, against Woburn, before skating to a 2-2 deadlock with Boston College High.

"That was the turning point in the season," Hanson said of the tie against a team that St. John's would later beat, 2-1, on the road. "The kids started to believe in one another and say, 'Maybe we can do this, maybe we can make the tournament.' It certainly wasn't easy; we had enough tough games between then and now," the coach said.

The team finally reached .500 on Jan. 17, after beating Bellows Free Academy in consecutive games. And for the second straight year, February was kind to the Eagles, who were 6-0 in the second month of 2008 before going 1-2 in round robin play in the Super 8 tournament.

And this month, the team is 3-1-2, including a 4-4 tie with top-ranked Malden Catholic, a 6-1 victory against St. John's High and a 5-3 win against Springfield Cathedral on Valentine's Day to clinch the playoffs. "So we've only had one loss in February the last two years," Hanson said.

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Beyond graduating two goalies last year, Hanson's team also lost 13 position players. Of the 74 goals scored by St. John's last season, 60 came from seniors, including 24 by Christian Cowles. This season's leading scorer, Colin Blackwell (18 goals, 9 assists), only scored twice last year.

"A lot of the seniors last year took me under their wing and guided me," Blackwell said, while also crediting his current teammates for his success this winter. Senior Derek DuBois has chipped in with seven goals and three assists, and senior Justin Dirienzo has four goals with 10 assists.

While most teams starting out as roughly as the Eagles did might splinter, Blackwell said, they bonded in defeat. "We couldn't make excuses," he said. "We kind of put that behind us and just came together. That brought us together and built camaraderie. The team played a lot better after that stretch."

Going forward, Letarte said, he and his teammates can draw on the strength they gained from those dark days. "Everybody just lifted their heads and said, 'We have a long season ahead of us. We can't give up now because the season just started.' "

When Letarte started minding net around the age of 6 or 7, he recalled, he had to be persuaded to stick with it by several coaches. One of his coaches, ex-Bruin Barry Pederson, had talked him into playing net in the first place. It was only two games later when Letarte was asking to be let loose, saying he'd rather score goals. "No one else would go in, so I kept playing" as goalie, he said.

A few years later, when Letarte was in the Squirts division, his coach again had to talk him into staying in net, although Letarte was allowed to flee every now and then. Eventually he attended Bob Rotondo's Puckstoppers goaltending clinic in North Andover, and the position stuck.

"Everything turned around and I started loving goalie," said Letarte, now 6 feet tall and 165 pounds. "I was limber, I was able to stretch out and stuff. I think a lot of kids were afraid to go in net because you have pucks coming at you and you always get stingers."

Today, even Letarte finds it hard to believe he became a starting varsity goalie well before his 16th birthday (it's next month).

But then again, Letarte said, "No one thought we could come this far. No one thought we would even get into the playoffs."

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