Prep Hockey Coaches Poll: NJ native Farinacci has Dexter on the rise

John Farinacci (Chatham, N.J.) is the top NHL prospect among prep hockey players. (Dave Arnold/New England Hockey Journal)

Two new teams joined the ranks of New York Hockey Journal’s eighth Prep School Coaches Poll of the season, including one for the first time this season. However, this edition also sees a group of four regulars at the top separated from the pack.

Salisbury is the top team in the region for the sixth consecutive week despite being handed its third loss of the season during the last seven days. Kimball Union narrowly returns to No. 2 after being topped in last week’s poll by a Lawrence squad that has yet to lose. The second and third teams are separated by only two points. Dexter Southfield rounds out the top four.

Northfield Mount Hermon rises into the top five after entering the fold for the first time this season, ahead of a first-time ranked program in Westminster that notched a pair of tight victories last week.

Six other teams also received consideration in at least one submitted ballot. Teams receive 10 points for a first-place vote, nine for a second-place vote, eight for a third-place vote, etc.