The graduation of standouts Tayber Labonte, Ryan Raphael,and Zak Labonteweren’t the only losses for the Old Rochester Regional/Fairhaven hockey program heading into the 2018-2019. The Bulldogs are also forced to move on without coach Eric Labonte, who led the Bulldogs to six South Coast Conference titles and, more importantly, the 2017 Division 3 State Title game where ORR/Fairhaven finished as runner-up.
However, ORR’s Athletic Director Bill Tilden handed the keys over to the more than capable Chuck Jancaterino, currently a physical education teacher for Old Rochester Regional Junior High School.
Jancaterino has had himself quite the career as well, playing at UConn prior to starting his coaching career at Curry College as a graduate assistant. Most recently, he served as the head coach for St. John Paul II for three seasons while assisting at Barnstable just before that. The bulk of Jancaterino’s career was spent as the head coach of Bourne hockey, running the program for 14 years. In that span, he led the Canalmen to a state championship win and a state championship runner-up finish. Now he finally has his chance to take over a program he’s eyed from afar, though, at the same time, up close.
“The timing just happened to be right,” said Jancaterino. “You have relationships with the kids, especially when you teach them in junior high, and now you get to see them move into high school. That’s something I am looking forward to.”
Though it may be tough for Jancaterino and the Bulldogs to extend the streak of SCC titles into 2018-2019. Not only has Jancaterino’s former team, Bourne, retained most of its contributor’s from last season when the Canalmen (15-5-2) were one of the best teams in the region, but the Bulldogs also graduated its two best offensive players, Tayber Labonte and Raphael, who combined for 42 goals last year, as well as their leader on defense, Zak Labonte.
“Eric had some great runs with some great teams,” Jancaterino said. “We’d like to get back to that. I really don’t know what to expect. It’ll be a tall challenge to match what he accomplished.
“We’re definitely going to be a hard-working team,” continued Jancaterino. “We like to be very physical. We like to be very aggressive. We have high-tempo practices, which hopefully leads into a fast-paced and very physical game.”
The Bulldogs will rely heavily on defender Owen Powers, forwards Sam Austinand Jack Barros, and goalie Jacob DeMoranville, who had himself a big game in Monday night’s season opener. The junior goaltender made 39 saves, somehow giving the Bulldogs a chance to squeak past Dartmouth. However, ORR/Fairhaven would only get 11 shots off, squeaking away with a 2-2 tie.
“You saw some of the saves he made,” said Jancaterino. “We tried not to give them rebounds because he’ll stop the initial one every time. That’s what we were trying to do. You have to have a goalie to go anywhere and he pulled off one of those nights where he stands on his head.”
Robert Ramsaywould score the Bulldogs’ first goal with his team down 2-0, cutting the lead in half in the second period. ORR/Fairhaven would tie it 2-2 with less than five minutes left in the game when aCarson Spencerpass found Austin and he buried the game-tying goal.
“We definitely have a lot to work on,” Jancaterino said. “We were lucky to come out with a tie getting out-shot the way we did against a team like that. It’s good for our young guys to get their feet wet in a close game with that kind of intensity. You can’t take a shift off. You have to be ready to go when you get on the ice. You can’t take any breaks against a team like that.”
ORR/Fairhaven (0-0-1) goes after its first win again on Saturday when it takes on Attleboro at the New England Sports Village.
High School Sports Update
By Nick Friar