
The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School varsity hockey team, off to an impressive 6-1-2 start to the season, has yet another player who has broken the arduous 100-point barrier.
Senior captain Hunter Johnson (No. 7) attained the highly sought-after accomplishment in a game against the Lowell High School Red Raiders at Umass Lowell’s Tsongas Center on Saturday.
For Johnson’s 100th point, he was in the offensive zone slot when junior Joe Medieros (No. 15) found him for an assist. Johnson collected the pass and shot bottom-left for the second goal in the 5-0 win over Lowell.
“It felt pretty good,” said Johnson after practice on Tuesday. “Weight off the shoulders for sure. I knew I could get it done, and it’s nice to know that it is done. Now I get to enjoy it.”
The senior’s 100-point mark comes shortly after fellow senior captain Nate Averill (No. 4) broke the barrier last month. The two of them have played on the same line since making the varsity team in their freshman year.
Averill was the first player in a decade to break the barrier. Having a second on the team is a feat, and can be attributed to Johnson’s spongelike learning qualities, said Head Coach Matt Mincone.
“To have both of these guys do it in the same season, it’s rare,” Mincone said. “I think since I’ve been head coach, we have had six to seven 100-point guys — that’s in 26 years.”
For Johnson, he realized he wanted to try to break the 100-point barrier his sophomore year, when he found himself hovering around 50 points.
“After my sophomore year, I was around 50, and I knew I had potential to keep getting bigger and stronger, and that it was possible if I kept working,” he said.
After reaching 99 points early in his senior season, the pressure for the gleaming 100th point began to build.
“Being stuck at 99 made me hold my stick a little tighter and try to force things, but now that pressure is gone,” said Johnson.
Johnson said his team played a vital role in his achievement. “It’s really the whole team who has helped me,” said Johnson. “It’s a whole team thing; I know I get credit, but couldn’t have done it without them.”
State championships is now the next goal for Johnson and the Vineyard boys.
After high school Johnson hopes to go to college in Denver, and continue playing hockey wherever he can.
Mincone offered some praise to Johnson on the milestone, complimenting his work ethic. “Hunter Johnson is an absolute student of the game,” said Mincone after practice on Tuesday. “Even when he fails he succeeds, because his work ethic is through the roof. He doesn’t look for the easy button; if there’s a problem he’s gonna work his way through it to get to the solution.”
Mincone noted that Sol Donnelly (No. 19), winger on Averill and Johnson’s line, “is a big part of that line. He creates space for those two to be able to do what they do, and when they don’t, Sol does.”
“They are good men,” said Mincone. “They have really developed into something this whole Island is proud of.”