Only here would a 13-2 week taste a bit sour.

This has been a great set of games over the holiday break. Tournaments have been buzzing with quality teams going toe-to-toe, spreading holiday cheer in the names of some legendary figures that have touched each hockey community. And over this last week, there have been 106 combined games between the boys and the girls that have been settled by two or fewer goals, which is the margin the crystal ball aims for when previewing its games of the week.

Excellent battles all over.

Out of 15 chances, the crystal ball picked seven of those tight games, and its average differential jumped from 1.77 goals last week to 2.32.

It’s not an overly upsetting figure, given the important implications each game had in last week’s crystal ball. But on the boys side, we missed Norwell’s overtime winner over Winthrop. Needham’s overtime winner over Wellesley. Xaverian’s 2-1 win over Winchester in the final minutes, Hopkinton’s tight wins over Barnstable and Duxbury for the ICO Cup championship, Concord-Carlisle’s shootout win over Acton-Boxboro in the Battle Road Classic, and Arlington Catholic’s 2-1 upset win over St. John’s of Shrewsbury.

And on the girls side, Belmont’s rally to tie Hingham 2-2, Winthrop and Arlington Catholic’s 1-1 tie, and Norwell/Scituate/Abington’s 2-1 win over Marshfield stood out as games we didn’t include.

We’re aiming to predict wins, so a 13-2 mark last week is great. But we also want the barnburners, and we’re intent on improving.

Reminder – the crystal ball predicts seven or eight games to watch for the week for the boys and the girls. Schools can only get one of their games picked in the same week, barring special exceptions. We DO have one of those exceptions on the boys side, so we threw in an extra game on the girls side to watch out for.

Happy New Year everyone. Let’s kick it off by finding some gems. There should be plenty in another big week with heavy implications:

LAST WEEK’S RECORD: 13-2

TOTAL RECORD: 22-4-2 (.821)

AVERAGE GOAL DIFFERENTIAL: 2.32 goals

**WINNERS in ALL-CAPS**

BOYS

MONDAY

Xaverian at HINGHAM (SS Holiday Classic championship at Pilgrim Arena), 3 p.m. – Two of the most high-powered starts in the sport face off. Nobody has been able to keep up with Xaverian’s attack (5.75 goals per game), but Hingham’s is as balanced and fast as they come (6 goals per game). Advantage to the home team.

WEDNESDAY

CANTON at Milton, 10 a.m. – Unbeaten Div. 2 title contenders collide early on. Milton (3-0) has allowed just one goal and it will be challenged with a balanced Canton (3-0) attack that’s scored at least three goals every game.

ST. JOHN’S PREP at Reading, 1 p.m. – After rolling through the Middlesex League Freedom, Reading (3-0) gets its first big test of the season to close out 2025. St. John’s Prep (3-0-1) comes off a Pete Frates Winter Classic championship over perennial powers BC High and Pope Francis. A top-10 matchup that could come down to the third period, and that’s when the Eagles have thrived.

CATHOLIC MEMORIAL at Arlington, 3 p.m. – This is a top-5 matchup – public vs private – to get excited about. Though both lost key members from their respective runs to the Div. 1 Final Four last year, both return plenty of firepower as legitimate title contenders again. CM’s defense has been able to limit every attack against a strong early schedule. First big test of the year for the Spy Ponders (3-0) kicks off a tough week with matchups against Winchester (Saturday) and Pope Francis (Sunday), too.

THURSDAY

HANOVER at Duxbury, 3:20 p.m. – It’s been a red-hot start for Hanover (5-0), rolling through defending Div. 4 state champion Winthrop and Lynnfield to take the Michael Giordano Christmas Classic. It now looks to beat Duxbury (1-3) for the first time in over four years, though the Dragons have since rebounded from a 9-0 loss to Xaverian with a strong showing in the ICO Cup. Good Patriot League tilt to monitor.

SATURDAY

CATHOLIC MEMORIAL at St. John’s (S), 4 p.m. – The first rematch of last year’s Div. 1 title game between the Catholic Conference foes. Edge goes to the defending champs, though St. John’s took the Pope Francis group CM tied early on to OT as well.

FALMOUTH at Barnstable, 7 p.m. – Barnstable (3-1-1) kicked off the year with a bang, snapping Nauset’s long unbeaten streak in the opener. After a tough matchup with Sandwich, it gets another big test in the Cape and Islands League against a veteran Falmouth group (4-2) coming off a win in the Ray Kenney Classic.

Medfield at NAUSET, 7:10 p.m. – Another rematch from TD Garden last March, this one the Div. 3 state final. Medfield lost a lot of firepower from that run, but has a chance to show it’s still in the conversation against a Nauset group loaded up as a Div. 3 favorite once again.

GIRLS

MONDAY

Natick at ALGONQUIN, 4 p.m. – Impressive 5-0 starts for both brings plenty of attention to this nonleague matchup between Div. 1 threats. Algonquin has scored at least three goals in every game. Natick’s off to a slower start on the attack, but defensively has shut down everyone.

Milton at HINGHAM (Tenney Cup semifinal at The Bog), 6 p.m. – It’s a Garden party of sorts in this Tenney Cup semifinal between reigning Div. 1 state champion Hingham (4-0-1) and Div. 2 state finalist Milton (4-0). It’s also a top-5 matchup between contenders looking to get back. Edge goes to the champs, but this will be tight.

Notre Dame Academy (H) at DUXBURY (Tenney Cup semifinal at The Bog), 8 p.m. – Chance for a bit of a statement for either young group. Duxbury’s (5-1) lone blemish is an overtime upset, but has some emphatic wins over quality teams. NDA (2-0-2) took a bit to find the winning touch, but a 3-1 win over Archbishop Williams in the first round was a major piece of momentum within a gauntlet of a schedule thus far.

WEDNESDAY

Nantucket at KING PHILIP, noon – Obviously a lot of emotion here for King Philip, which will be playing its first game since beloved coach Ken Assad unexpectedly passed away. The Warriors were rolling (3-0) beforehand and will be tough to beat.

Woburn at HPNA, 5 p.m. – Head coach Gary Kane felt like his HPNA group would turn some heads as it builds to get back to the Div. 1 Final Four, and it has so far in a 4-0-1 start. Woburn (2-1) has a chance to prove itself in the Div. 1 conversation here. Great nonleague tilt ahead.

SATURDAY

NORWELL/SCITUATE/ABINGTON at Hanover, 5:20 p.m. – NSA (3-1) has made a bit of a statement since a lopsided loss to Pembroke in the opener, edging juggernaut Duxbury in overtime before downing Marshfield. It’s challenged again in the Patriot League against a Hawks (3-1) team also in the mix in the Fisher title race.

BELMONT at Reading, 6 p.m. – First Middlesex League Liberty matchup of the year for the defending champion Marauders (2-1-1), who made a bit of a statement rallying to tie reigning Div. 1 state champion Hingham last week. They’ll have their hands full with Reading (3-0), who will be battle tested on Wednesday against Billerica/Chelmsford. Good way to kick off league play for both.

Central Catholic at SHAWSHEEN/BEDFORD/LOWELL, 6:40 p.m. – Defending MVC/DCL Small champion Central Catholic (1-2) is in for a big week, facing St. Mary’s of Lynn on New Year’s Eve before facing off against a group hungry to dethrone them as league champs. Shawsheen/Bedford/Lowell (4-0) has showcased an attack nobody’s been able to slow down. Big league title race implications here.