Dolphins End Skid With Big Win Against Division’s Top Team

SOUTH DENNIS – The Dennis-Yarmouth/Cape Cod Tech/Cape Cod Academy boys hockey team responded to a tough rivalry loss last week by taking down the top-ranked opponent in their division right after.

The Dolphins dropped a Jan. 7 matchup with Monomoy-Mashpee — a tangle between the two occupants of Tony Kent Arena — in a game in which head coach Lewis Alberti said they let their “emotions get a little bit of the best” of them. The 2-6 record at that point wasn’t the start they wanted, Alberti said, but with the MIAA’s first set of power rankings to be released just a couple days later, there was optimism that the Dolphins would see where they fell and begin to find their balance.

“We'll go into the week and see if we can sneak a couple games out,” Alberti said.

Sneak a couple games out indeed. 

DY/CCT/CCA bounced back from the 4-0 loss to Monomoy-Mashpee and a three-game skid with another 4-0 blanking Saturday, this time in their favor, to Martha’s Vineyard, the No. 1 ranked team in Division 4. 

The home shutout easily became the best win of the three tallied thus far by the Dolphins, who ranked No. 30 in Division 4. DY/CCT/CCA also has a pair of wins against Division 3 teams Upper Cape Tech and Diman. 

The Dolphins were a young group with 22 underclassmen last year but managed a tournament win as a No. 31 seed in the preliminary round of the state tournament. In 2025-26, the team — still with a majority of freshmen and sophomores — is again young, though they now have that added playoff experience.

“We're just young,” Alberti said. “We make some of those mistakes that young teams make, like turning the puck over the blue line or just not getting the puck in deep, and good veteran teams make you pay.”

Key contributors for the Dolphins include Dennis-Yarmouth sophomore Colin Endres and junior Matt Garbitt leading the charge up front. Cape Tech junior Matt Swartz and sophomore Liam Graham have been relied upon as defenders. 

Cape Cod Academy junior Isaiah Stacey emerged as the starting goaltender from a pack of six during tryouts. He earned his first career shutout against Martha’s Vineyard. Dennis-Yarmouth freshman Kellan Desley had a goal and two assists in the big win, while Endres added a goal and assist. Cape Tech freshman Josh Houston and junior Adam White also recorded their first career goals in the game.

“Isaiah kind of just got the start, and he's been in the net since, and so he battles each and every night, and he's kept us in all of the games,” Alberti said.

The Dolphins have struggled to score consistently at times, only further underscoring Stacey’s strong play between the pipes. The team is averaging less than a goal per game in losses and more than five goals a game in wins.

But DY/CCT/CCA, Alberti said, would continue to work hard and drill in an effort to put more pucks in net. They also have plenty of other aspects of their play to hang their helmets on.

“Our forecheck is getting better each and every day,” Alberti said. “I think that we're doing better [at] playing together. We're not individuals. We're really focusing on our attitude and our effort each and every night, and it's getting a little bit better each week.”

The convincing win against top-ranked Martha’s Vineyard certainly confirmed how that improvement was happening not only week by week but day by day.

“Eventually we're going to get the bounces,” Alberti said. “The bounces, hopefully, will even out.”