Kelley, Bonito, DeSouza lead Bourne hockey to season opening rout over Monomoy/Mashpee

After the Boure boys hockey team opened its season with a 5-1 win over the Monomoy/Mashpee Sharks, Canalmen head coach Frank Carpenito said he is feeling, "optimistic," about his team heading into the season.

On paper, it's easy to see why. Bourne entered the 2023 season with players who contributed the bulk of production to the team last year.

Ty Kelley and Dom Bonito, the Canalmen's top two point scorers from 2022, both returned, and Bourne entered the season ready to build on last season, rather than dwell on it.

Last season featured a trip to postseason play after the Canalmen qualified as the No. 26 seed in Division 4. The Canalmen fell in overtime to Dennis-Yarmouth/Cape Cod Academy/Cape Tech, in their opening game of the postseason.

Though the loss ended their season, Carpenito said in hindsight the glass is way more half-full, than it is half-empty.

"I don't think the kids had a bad taste after last season because, in that tournament game, we played our best game of the year," he said. "They saw what it took to be successful. We almost pulled the upset, didn't, but they learned a lot of valuable lessons on that day."

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This season, the Canalmen are trying to envision what their best game looks like, and Kelley and Bonito, along with an old but new face, will be at the heart of it.

Kelley was selected as the team's captain this season, with Bonito as his linemate, and one of the assistant captains. The pair of seniors, along with junior forward Joziah DeSouza, were the trio selected by Carpenito to pay close attention to this season, and he certainly had his finger on the pulse.

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The trio accounted for each of Bourne's goals in the win. Kelley had a hat trick to lead the way, and Bonito and DeSouza each added a goal. In total the three combined to score seven of the team's 10 points.

"They're great in transition, you get loose pucks (and) they're on it," Carpenito said. "And then once they get the puck on their stick, they're dangerous. They can make things happen for themselves, (and) for their linemates."

Kelley says team must improve on scoring chances

It's hard to imagine in a game where five goals were scored, that the Canalmen felt they were wasteful with chances. Kelley said after the game that his team needs to improve in that area.

"Definitely capitalizing on our chances in front of the net," Kelley said when asked what the team could improve on. "We had plenty of chances, we put enough of them in thankfully, but definitely could have put more in."

The silver lining for Carpenito is that in game number one, the chances were there. He'd rather opportunities go untaken, rather than there be none at all.

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"We always say, 'if you're not getting opportunities, it means you're not doing the right thing,'" Carpenito said. "They're getting the opportunities, so a lot of good things are happening.

Even so, five goals is hardly a bad offensive night. The Canalmen are confident in their ability to score as this season goes on, but Carpenito said the real key to this team's success, lies at the other end of the ice.

"If we're not going to give anything up, we have some players that can put the puck in the net so it's going to be in our favor. So we're going to start (with) goaltending, defense first, and go out from there."

Peterson: The team will improve as varsity experience increases

For the Sharks, head coach Chris Peterson looked at his team from a big-picture view.

"At the start of the game, I said our age doesn't matter, but I recognized at the end of the game (that) it does matter, because they've never really had to battle adversity the way they're going to have to with high school hockey."

The team is young, and with that comes the learning curve that is unique to varsity hockey. There's a part of this that will have to be trial by fire, as the young players get valuable varsity ice time under their belts.

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Peterson knows this first game will hardly define the season, and said after the game that the team focus has to begin with playing as a unit.

"We can't do single efforts," Peterson said. "Making sure that we're all united, and we all buy-in, and (then) there will be success."

He pointed out that his team ran out of steam late in the third period, but thought there were still positives for his team to take forward.

"We were able to put pressure on them, (and) our defensive zone coverage was good," he said. "I'm happy to see that they're working on our systems, and they're understanding them, and they're getting there, and eventually we'll be able to transition that into some wins."

After the game, Peterson spent time outside the locker room talking with sophomore defender Tristan Eldredge. The two discussed defensive strategies, and it ended with Peterson saying the two would review film from the game at a later point.

It's part of what it takes to help a young team grow. Peterson said after the game adding he understands that a key piece of his team's growth this season, will be on the mental side of the game as well.

The Sharks lone goal came from freshman Gavin O'Leary in the second period. The loss means the Sharks begin the season 0-1.

André Simms covers high school sports for the Times. Contact him at asimms@capecodonline.com. Follow him on X/Twitter: @that1guyandre.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Bourne boys hockey defeat Monomoy/Mashpee in season opener