Charlestown Youth Hockey Reigns at Mayor’s Cup Tourney: A Record 13 Teams Participate, Four Take the Cup Home

The Charlestown Youth Hockey Association (CYHA) had a record number of teams compete in the Mayor’ Cup tournament over the holidays, with six teams making it to the finals and four of those teams winning the Cup.

Of note, the Charlestown girls’ teams (U10, U12, and U14) swept each division of the Cup, while the Squirt 1 team took the championship and two PeeWee teams made it to the championship, but lost in overtime.

Erin Flaherty moves into the offensive zone with the puck during the U12 Mayor’s Cup Championship game at Boston College’s Conte Forum on Sunday, Jan 5.

“All in all, it was a really good tournament,” said Board member Mike Frawley. “We had a lot of teams in it. We’ve never had 13 teams compete in the Mayor’s Cup. Mayor Walsh and the City did such a great job organizing it – from the hats and sweatshirts to securing the venues at area colleges. It was the best ever. We even had some home games. I don’t know that we’ve ever had this many teams compete, and compete so well.”

The Mayor’s Cup tournament is a youth hockey tournament featuring only teams from the City of Boston. Covering all divisions of youth hockey – including a Mite level jamboree at Warrior Ice Rink – the Cup runs over the holidays and finished up at Matthews Arena on Dec. 28, and in the Conte Forum at Boston College on Jan. 5.

CYHA entered four Mite teams into the jamboree, and nine full-ice teams.

“We have some really competitive teams now and our numbers are up and it’s showing,” said Coach and Board member Joe DeRoeve. “What you saw in the Mayor’s Cup is what could be in District play for representation in the state tournament. It was exciting for the kids to be able to play in places like Harvard, UMass-Boston, Northeastern and Boston College. They look forward to it and remember it.”

•The Squirt 1 team is perhaps one of the most talented teams in the CYHA at its level, and they defeated a very good Dorchester team, beating them 4-1 in a tough contest at the Conte Forum on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 5.

Coach DeRoeve said he was very proud of the team, and felt they showed their best in the finals.

DeRoeve said the first period was slow-going, but Danny Chan was able to put a backhand in the slot at the end of the first period, giving Charlestown an opening lead going into the second. Dorchester then fired back and tied it up in the second period 1-1. Then Charlestown broke it open.

“Defenseman Griffin Vraibel scored on a shot from the point that went five-hole on the goalie,” he said. “Then, 45 seconds later, Wyatt Boucher was able to score on a rebound to put us up 3-1. It was a really physical game in the second and going into the third, especially for a Squirt game. We were able to seal it later with an empty-net goal by Brayden Fidler-O’Neil.”

He said the defense also played very strong with Vraibel, Abigail DeRoeve, Tommy Arria, Jack Daley, and Jack Collins.

Forwards on the team are Sam Johnson, Chan, Toren Anderson, Tommy ‘Mayor’s Cup’ Bresler, Fidler-O’Neil, Boucher, Angela Wells, Beckett Murphy, and Sloane Irvin.

One of the key players in the tournament was Jack Chardavoyne, who played early games in the Cup, but was gone for the championship.

Goalie Jackson Phillips kept the net very clean for the Townies, and DeRoeve said he has been an outstanding goalie for the team all year.

•The U10 girls team beat a tough Allston-Brighton team 1-0 in the Conte Forum on Jan. 5 – taking the first of three Mayor’s Cup titles for the girls program.

The game was destined to be a hard-fought rematch. Earlier in the tournament, Allston-Brighton had beat the Townies in a shootout at Harvard. It was a loss the girls did not forget.

The action was fast early in the game, but late in the first period, the puck ricocheted out of the Allston-Brighton offensive zone, and Charlestown’s Georgia Devens was right there at mid-ice to take control of it and skate as fast as she could to the goal. With a defender closing in on her, Devens rifled a shot on goal that hit the pads and snuck into the goal – becoming the game-winner for the girls.

The remaining two periods were hotly contested, though the Townies were on the offensive most of the game. Late in the third, however, Allston-Brighton escaped on a breakaway, making a shot that was expertly saved by Goalie Erin Alves. But it snuck over to the side in front of an open net, and a plethora of Townies closed in to bat it away a split second before an Allston-Brighton player arrived to tap it in uncontested.

The remainder of the contest went the Townies way, and the girls skated out with the Cup.

•The U12 team is perhaps one of the most talented girls teams in the state for their age group. Coach Derek Arsenault led his charges into the Conte Forum on Jan. 5 to take on Allston-Brighton. The girls skated to a powerful 6-2 win over A-B, and took home the Cup as well.

Julia Lambert had a hat trick in the game, while Olivia Arsenault, Annie Driscoll, and Amaya Gosselin-Neves also scored. In regular league play during the same weekend, the U12’s beat Andover 4-0, with four different scorers and Rory McConnell leading the way on defense.

•The Charlestown U14 girls team works together like a well-oiled machine under coach Joe Scoppetuolo. The girls played at Matthews Arena on Dec. 28 for the U14 championship versus Parkway. The girls left the arena with a 9-0 win and the Mayor’s Cup in hand. It was yet another victory in a season that has been outstanding for the U14s.

•The championships very likely could have extended to the PeeWee level had the puck bounced a little differently on a few occasions. The PeeWee 1 team lost to Hyde Park on Dec. 28 in Matthew Arena on a shootout, a crushing blow for a team that played very well in the tourney. Meanwhile, the Squirt 2 team lost in Matthews Arena on Dec 28 in overtime to Dorchester. Both could have very easily brought two more Mayor’s Cups back to Emmons Horrigan O’Neil Rink.

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