Rebranded Monomoy-Mashpee Hockey Program Hopes To Build Despite Youth

SOUTH DENNIS – There’s a new hockey team on Cape Cod.

After playing together as the Mashpee-Monomoy Monarchs for the past several years, boys hockey players from Monomoy and Mashpee will continue to play together under a new name: the Monomoy-Mashpee Sharks.

Monomoy took over the responsibilities of host school this winter because the majority of the co-op team attends Monomoy. Aside from some sharp new uniforms, the program’s longtime head coach Chris Peterson said little has changed with the co-op squad.

“It’s just new uniforms,” Peterson said. “I don’t really care what’s on the uniforms, it’s all about the kids that are wearing them.”

Although the Sharks have shown flashes of greatness during their first two games, the team is still looking to string together a full 45-minute performance and earn its first victory. After opening the season with a 5-1 loss to Bourne on Dec. 9, the team dropped to 0-2 following a 7-2 defeat to Martha’s Vineyard on Dec. 13 at Tony Kent Arena.

“We’ve got skill and we’ve got some speed, but we’re very young,” Peterson said after the Vineyard loss. “So, when it gets a little tough, we’re trying to figure out the mental part of the game and how we’re going to battle through that. That’s definitely a big hurdle for this team right now.”

There was plenty that Peterson did like in the loss to the Vineyarders, especially during the first period. Despite allowing Martha’s Vineyard to open the scoring with a goal by Griff Callahan 5:11 into the game, Monomoy-Mashpee answered quickly when Monomoy freshman Max Cronen netted the equalizer just 1:19 later.

Just over a minute after Cronen’s goal, the Vineyarders rallied to regain control with a goal by Nate Averill — who finished with a hat trick — to take a 2-1 lead. But the Sharks once again responded with another game-tying goal, as Monomoy sophomore Luke Raftery lit the lamp to make it 2-2 with 6:55 remaining in the first period.

Even though Martha’s Vineyard took a 3-2 lead into the first intermission, the back-and-forth flurry of goals showed Peterson that his team can overcome adversity and score in a flash.

“I was really happy with that,” Peterson said. “To be honest, I was a little surprised that we were able to jump that quickly on top of them, and I think the guys were, too.”

With 14 underclassmen on the roster, Peterson will rely on his captains, Raftery and Monomoy junior Casey Huse, to provide leadership.

“Casey and Luke were unanimously voted as captains by their teammates,” Peterson said. “They are pretty positive on the bench and they are always there to help everybody out and their work ethic on the ice shows their leadership abilities.”

Although the coach recognizes there will be growing pains during the beginning of the season, Peterson is hopeful that providing positive messages to the team will help the players continue to give it their all even when mistakes are made.

“We’re really emphasizing all of the positive aspects of what they are doing to help them understand that they are doing the right things,” Peterson said. “So when those little mistakes happen, they are able to look back on it and realize that they are doing the right things and hockey is a game of mistakes.”