College hockey recruiting: Sacred Heart lands two New Yorkers

Sacred Heart expects to open its new hockey arena — shown in this artist's rendering — soon on its Fairfield, Conn., campus.

Sacred Heart, boosted by the impending opening of its new state-of-the-art arena, committed two players from New York last week.

One of the new recruits, Westchester Express 16U center Joseph Delaurentis, is a big-time get for the Pioneers. The Hartsdale, N.Y., native is one of the more skilled ’06s in the country.

In 2021-22, he scored 46 goals and 43 assists in 68 games for Bob Thornton’s Westchester Express 15 Only team. In 2022-23, he has five goals and nine assists in eight games with the organization’s 16U team.

The other new commit is ’03 Vitaly Levyy, who is in his second year in the BCHL with the Langley Rivermen.

He has 12 goals and eight assists for 20 points this season. The Old Brookville, N.Y., native is a product of the Long Island Gulls and Portledge School.

Goaltenders commit to Hockey East schools

Two Hockey East programs secured goaltenders for the future late last week. Boston College and Merrimack received commitments from netminders in the USHL.

The Eagles landed Youngstown Phantoms goaltender Jacob Fowler, a late ’04 from Melbourne, Fla., who was previously committed to Clarkson. Fowler is considered one of the top North American goaltenders eligible for the 2023 NHL draft.

The Florida Alliance and South Kent product joined Youngstown midway through the 2021-22 season. He went 11-4-1 with a .927 save percentage last season. This season, he’s 3-4-4 with a .898 save percentage. Big-name programs, including Michigan, were in the mix for securing his commitment. Fowler becomes the second ’04 goaltender to commit to Boston College, joining former Northwood star Jan Korec of the Des Moines Buccaneers.

Speaking of Des Moines, the team’s other goaltender, ’02 Max Lundgren, committed to Merrimack last week. The Angelholm, Sweden, native is in his first season playing in North America. He’s 5-4-1 with a .909 save percentage in 10 appearances for Des Moines. He played for Rogle BK in his native country prior to coming to the USHL.

Another Des Moines commitment

Lundgren wasn’t the only Des Moines player to commit to a New England school last week. Brown received a commitment from ’03 defenseman Alex Pineau. From Thunder Bay, Ontario, he has three assists in 13 games for the Buccaneers in his first USHL season. He split time between the NAHL’s Minnesota Wilderness and the CCHL’s Ottawa Jr. Senators in 2021-22.

Holy Cross picks from the CCHL

Holy Cross received a commitment from Navan Grads right wing Owen Parsons, an ’03 from Waterloo, Ontario. The big power forward has scored 13 goals and 15 assists through his team’s first 20 games of the 2022-23 season. He’s on pace to surpass his 2021-22 season points total by a considerable margin.

South Kent D goes to the desert

Coming off a strong showing at the Prep Hockey Conference Showcase at Mount Saint Charles earlier this month, late ’05 defenseman Richard Baran of South Kent has committed to Arizona State. The Bratislava, Slovakia, native has a goal and 11 assists in 27 games for Jamie Russell’s team. His skating, first touch and vision in transition all stood out in his game Monday against Shattuck-St. Mary’s. He becomes the fourth player on South Kent’s 18U team to commit to a college, joining Chris Battaini (Merrimack), Matthew Frost (Boston College) and Tory Pitner (UMass).