Colonials boast many weapons.

• Position: Sports

Throughout the winter season, the Shrewsbury High boys' hockey team has been perched atop the Hometeam Division 3/3A rankings.

For good reasons. The 10-2 Colonials began with eight straight wins before their first loss, a 2-1 decision to Groton-Dunstable on Jan. 15. Shrewsbury then edged No. 2 Wachusett, 2-1, before beating Longmeadow last weekend, 3-0.

On Monday, the Colonials, who are unbeaten at 4-0 in the Quinn Conference, lost for only the second time as resurgent Leominster upset them, 5-2.

Shrewsbury senior captain Dave Belbin, with eight goals and eight assists, is a big part of the Colonials' success, centering between junior twin wingers Dan and Jack Quinlivan.

"Dave's been an excellent captain for two years,'' Shrewsbury coach Steve Turnblom said. "And we have three very strong senior assistant captains in forward Derek Dell'Olio and defensemen Cole Ambach and Cole Vincequere.''

"We're off to a good start, winning games,'' said Ambach, who added that the victory over Wachusett was the most satisfying so far. "Since freshman year, we were like 0-9 against them and they beat us last year in the tournament and that was disappointing. So the win was huge for us.''

Turnblom praised the play of sophomore Matt Dillon, who has one goal and 20 assists. "He's leading our team in scoring as a defenseman, and that's hard to do,'' Turnblom said. "Matt is very talented who is out on the ice pretty much every other shift and he sets up a lot of kids.''

"I like to pass the puck,'' the 16-year-old Dillon said after a recent practice at North Star Youth Forum. "Along the blue line, I'm always looking to rush and get the puck up ice to the guys who can score like Jack, Dan and Dave.''

Tied with Dillon for the team's points lead is Dan Quinlivan, who has 11 goals and 10 assists.

"Besides Jack and myself, a lot of the guys grew up playing hockey together on different Shrewsbury youth teams,'' Quinlivan said.

Other top scorers for the Colonials include senior defenseman Sean Hallice (7-7-14), along with Adam Twitchell (5-8-13) and Trevor Shea (2-8-10).

Hallice is the son of Westboro coach Chet Hallice. The Colonials face the Rangers on Feb. 1. "That's going to be fun,'' Sean said. "I'll be chirping the entire game.''

Senior goalies Matt Andrews and William Shipman, along with sophomore Shane Gorrie have combined to give up only 20 goals in 12 games.

"There's a lot of character and a strong work ethic on this team,'' Turnblom said. "They push one...