Two-year-old team continues to improve

 
BY BILL DOYLE
CFP CORRESPONDENT
 
A loss in the state playoffs Thursday night doesn't take away from the successful team-building that St. Paul's hockey team has undergone this season. And with such a young team, they will continue to improve, Coach Jay Monfreda predicts.
Colin Kreuz’s teammates on the St. Paul Diocesan Junior/Senior High School hockey team look up to him for leadership.
That says a lot about him considering that he’s only a sophomore. It also says a lot about the youth of the team, which has only two seniors and one junior. Kreuz is one of four sophomores and there are also four freshmen and five eighth-graders.
“He’s mature for his age,” Mr. Monfreda said, “so he’s able to overcome a lot of the thinking, ‘Oh, he’s too young to play at a varsity level.’ His maturity is off the charts.”
“It’s an honor that they look up to me,” Colin said. “I just try to lead with how I play and try to be a good teammate.”
Colin, 15, of Worcester is also a great player for any age. Entering St. Paul’s first appearance in the state tournament, he was leading Central Mass. with 57 points on 21 goals and 36 assists.
“He’s a great skater, sees the ice very well, a smart player and a natural leader,” Mr. Monfreda said. “He leads the group and makes his teammates and linemates better.”
Colin, a 6-foot-1, 160-pound center, skates on St. Paul’s top line between eighth grade left winger Evan Waden, who has 24 goals and 10 assists for 34 points, and freshman right winger Cam Joinville, who has nine goals and 21 assists for 30 points.
“I would definitely put them up there with the best, 100 percent,” Mr. Monfreda said of that line.  
“Colin can see plays happening before they happen, which is why he has so many assists,” Mr. Monfreda said, “and Evan is a great finisher. Cam is a great complementary player.”
At about 5 feet tall, Cam is the shortest player on the team, but he plays big.
“Just being smart,” Mr. Monfreda said, “and not being afraid out there. When you’re small like that, if you’re afraid, you’re going to get bullied over. He’s smart with the puck and he puts it in the right spot for Colin and Evan to do their thing.”
When Colin began playing hockey at age 5 for the Junior Railers, his father, Nick, coached him. His father is an assistant hockey coach for St. Paul.
“I’ve played for him my entire life so it’s nothing new,” Colin said.
The Knights entered the state tournament with a record of 12-7-1. That’s quite an improvement over the 4-14 record they posted the year before in their inaugural season. In the fall of 2020, St. Peter-Marian Central Catholic Junior/Senior High School and Holy Name Central Catholic Junior/Senior High School merged to form St. Paul.
The Knights, however, won their final two games last year to build some momentum for this season.
“It kind of propelled us and gave us more confidence,” Coach Monfreda said. “All the hard work we were doing all year started to pay off.”
Just a year later, the Knights qualified for the playoffs.
“This is only year two,” Nick Kreuz said, “and to be able to make the tournament in year two is something the kids are really proud of.”
“I’m already considering this as a successful season because we made the playoffs,” Mr. Monfreda said before the state playoffs.
Colin said he learned a lot last year.
“Last year, I was double shifting at center,” he said. “I was playing like 37 out of the 45 minutes. Power play, penalty kill. It took a toll on my body. I was dead. Some kids in school since we weren’t doing so good would make fun of us a little bit. But we grew stronger as a team and it prepared us for this year.”
Colin said he’s fresher this season because he plays only about half the minutes.
Last year, the Knights were even younger than this season, with no seniors, three juniors, one sophomore, five freshmen, three eighth graders and one seventh grader. For some games, only nine or 10 players dressed, less than half as many as their opponents, so they often grew tired in the third period.
This year, they have 16 skaters. Mr. Monfreda said the Knights are still the youngest team around, but they’re more experienced than last season.
The young players worked hard during the offseason to improve. Colin mentioned freshman Aidan Boyce as one of the team’s most improved players.
“Luckily, some of our younger kids have some size,” Mr. Monfreda said, “and a lot of our guys, they’re very talented players.”
About half of the Knights play on elite club hockey teams during the spring and fall.
Evan and Mia Kondylis are the only boy and girl twins playing on the same high school hockey team that Mr. Monfreda knows of and they’re the only seniors on St. Paul’s team. Both play defense. Eighth graders Leyton Riendeau and Cam Swank are two other top defensemen for the Knights.
Chris Palermo, the team’s only junior, has performed well in net for the Knights.
“He’s a solid stay-at-home goalie,” Mr. Monfreda said. “He doesn’t really make the big, flashy saves all that often because he’s always in position to make the save. He makes a lot of saves that other goalies wouldn’t and he makes it look easy.”
St. Paul suffered a tough loss to Assabet in the opening round of the Central Mass. Athletic Directors Association hockey tournament on Feb. 18. The Knights led 4-0 and 6-2, but lost, 7-6, on a goal with four seconds left. Mr. Monfreda believes the large crowd on hand for Assabet and the pressure of trying to pull off the upset rattled his young team while Assabet rallied from behind.
St. Paul bounced back in a big way by crushing Leominster, 12-1, on Feb. 21 in a consolation game in the CMADA tournament. It was the most lopsided victory for the Knights in their two-season history.
“The boys came ready to play,” Mr. Monfreda said. “We scored six goals in the first period so I knew the last game was in their heads and they wanted to right the ship right away. So it was good to see.”
Unfortunately, No. 24 seeded St. Paul lost to No. 9 Pembroke, 2-0,  in the Round of 32 in the Division 3 state tournament on Thursday, March 2, ending their season.
Colin, Chris, Evan Waden and Evan Kondylis helped the Russell Conference defeat the Coughlin Conference, 4-2, on Sunday, Feb. 26, in the Central Mass. Hockey Coaches All-Star Game at Wallace Civic Center. Mr. Monfreda and Mr. Kreuz coached in the game.
“It gives them reassurance that their hard work is paying off,” Mr. Monfreda said. “For me to coach that team, it reassures me that we’re doing a good job and our program is going in the right direction.”
In his decade of coaching girls hockey at St. Peter-Marian and Algonquin, his teams had never improved as much from one year to the next as this one.
“Somebody upstairs is definitely looking out for us if we’ve improved this much, that’s for sure,” Mr. Monfreda said.