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Former Malden Catholic and Kimball Union Academy hockey standout Nick Roberto has switched his commitment to Boston University, after de-committing from Maine in the recent weeks. He will join the Terriers for the 2013-14 season.

Roberto, a Wakefield, Mass. resident, tallied 23 goals and 48 points in 29 games for the Wildcats last season.

"Nick has worked very hard to attain this goal," KUA head coach Mike Levine said Monday. "The KUA community is very happy for both him and his family."

Roberto played the previous three seasons with Malden Catholic, where he was a part of the Lancers' Super 8 championship team in 2010-11, before enrolling at Kimball Union. He also was part of the Wildcats' Piatelli/Simmons Tournament victory in 2011-12 and was named Flood-Marr Tournament Most Valuable Player in 2012.

He joins former KUA teammates Doyle Somerby and John Macleod as BU commits and becomes the seventh player with Massachusetts roots joining the Terriers next year, including Robbie Baillargeon, Brendan Collier (former MC teammate), Tommy Kelley, Dalton MacAfee, T.J. Ryan and Somerby.

Roberto's change in commitment was first reported by Jasper Kozak-Miller of the "Over the Boards" hockey blog.

Kimball Union Academy hockey has announced the commitments of two of its senior defensemen.

Alex Carle will lace them up at Merrimack College while former Malden Catholic standout Brendan White will land at Bentley University.

Carle, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound native of Anchorage, Alaska, is the younger brother of Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Matthew Carle. The Wildcats captain will join the Warriors for the 2014-15 season.

"The KUA community is very excited for Alex and his family," He is a great player who is also a great leader."

White, a Medford native, won back-to-back Super 8 titles with Malden Catholic before transferring to KUA this year.

"Brendan has worked extremely hard to get to the level he is at," Levine said. "He is a good kid who is fun to be around everyday."

Kimball Union Academy (N.H.) senior forward Jonathan Charbonneau committed to Mercyhurst, he announced via Twitter on Tuesday.

The 6-foot, 180-pound winger is a native of Blainville, Quebec, and previously played at Northfield Mount Hermon. Charbonneau will join the Lakers for the 2014-15 season.

"He's a great kid, a pleasure to coach," Wildcats head coach Mike Levine said. "We are very excited for him and his family."

Kimball Union Academy hockey wrapped up its first-ever Flood-Marr Holiday Tournament championship on Sunday with a 4-2 win over Westminster School. The Wildcats were led by senior forward Nick Roberto, who earned the tournament’s David Rogerson Trophy as its MVP.

Roberto, a Maine commit and Wakefield, Mass. native, also became the first KUA player to take home MVP honors since 1975.

Considered one of the top prep hockey teams in New England entering the 2012-13 season, the Wildcats are in the hunt for another NEPSAC championship this year.

We caught up with Roberto, who started his high school hockey career at Malden Catholic, in between games on Friday:

Q: You have some pretty skilled players beside you on your line with Casey Miller and J.D. Dudek. How do your skills complement each other?

A: “We’re always on the same page. We’re not selfish players, we’re always looking for each other. I like Casey because I’ve been playing with him for two years now. He’s a pass-first and shoot-second kind of player. He’s always looking. Dudek came over [transfer from Pinkerton Academy] and he’s just a hell of a player, he’s going to [Boston College], that says a lot. He brings a lot of skill to the line. I’m more of a grind-it-out player, but Casey and him, it’s all skill. That goal, my first goal [on Friday] was all Dudek, Casey drove the net and I was high and Dudek just made a nice pass. I was lucky to get it underneath the crossbar. And then, at the end of the game … At first, I thought it was going to be a little bit scary, but we got it. Casey just found a little hole on the ice and I tipped [the shot] up and batted it out of midair.”

Q: The tournament started a little tough for you guys, but you took over the third period of your first game against Salisbury with your two goals, including the game-tier and the game-winner. What was the difference?

A: “I think I played the worst two periods of my life, then the third period, Coach [Mike Levine] just told everybody to relax. I was a little snake-bitten with my stick and then I just came alive in the third. But it was a team effort.”

Q: You have a very talented roster and, as a result, there’s high expectations again for this team this year. What do you expect of yourselves as a team?

A: “I think today [Friday] really showed what we’re made out of as a team. It was the first time we’ve been losing for two periods and we fought back. No one gave up. Everybody was really positive on the bench, and that helps a lot. Coach wasn’t negative. He’s always helping us, encouraging us. We just starting playing hard, getting shots to the net and good things happened.”

Q: You have a couple of your old Malden Catholic teammates – Connor Evangelista and Brendan White – playing with you. What’s it like having been around those guys for so long?

A: “Well, Connor and I have been best friends since we were about three years old. We’ve gone to every school together: preschool, elementary school, middle school, MC and now here. We were roommates last year. Brendan came along this year, and I’m roommates with [Providence College commit] Niko Rufo this year, but I think Whitey’s in our room more than we are. It’s just fun up there with those two because we’ve been friends for such a long time.”

Q: You’re still a couple years away from Maine, but what are your hockey plans from here?

A: “I went up there a couple of weeks ago, I saw them play BC and we talked after the game. They said they don’t have that many openings for 2013, so then I can play a year of juniors and step right in and play. I’m fine with that, they’re really supportive of me – whatever helps. I’m not looking to go to college right now with the economy being what it is. I might as well live the dream some more and I’ll get there when I get there.”

The high school ice hockey season arrived last week, and with it came controversy.

The issue that created headlines involved Shelby Herrington, a junior at Bishop Brady High School in Concord. Herrington has played varsity hockey for Bishop Brady's boys team the last two years, and intended to do so this season as well. Bishop Brady formed a cooperative girls hockey team with Trinity High School in Manchester this year, however, and the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association declared Herrington ineligible to play for the boys team.

Herrington challenged that decision and a court order allowed her to begin the season with the boys team. A final ruling on whether or not the NHIAA is within its rights to prevent Herrington from playing with the boys team is expected later this month.

Robert Carey, Herrington's attorney, has argued that the NHIAA is attempting to deny Herrington a spot on the boys team solely on the basis of her sex.

If the court rules in Herrington's favor there is concern that other talented girls will attempt to play for boys teams – thereby weakening the girls sport -- and that some boys may even attempt to skate with the girls.

According to the New Hampshire Union Leader, NHIAA executive director Patrick Corbin sent a letter to Bishop Brady that included the following:

“If a sport is offered for boys and a comparable sports is offered for girls, then the girls must play on the team of their gender. There is no consideration or provision that accounts for competitiveness or ability in the by-laws.”

Another female, Danielle DiCesare, played for the St. Thomas Aquinas (Dover) boys team in 2007-08, the first season the NHIAA offered girls hockey as a varsity sport. DiCesare women's college hockey at Princeton.

FOOTBALL CHANGES SHAPE
New Hampshire high school football will have a different look next season, when the state will scrap the six-division format that has been used for years and place its 57 varsity teams in three divisions.

Eight teams from each division will qualify for postseason play, which will create an additional round of playoffs. Four teams from each of the six divisions advanced to the playoffs last season.

Critics of the old alignment argued that there was no need for six divisions – and six state champions – in a state the size of New Hampshire.

“We already have teams that are not very happy with it, but we have to give something a shot here,” said Plymouth coach Chuck Lenahan, who is a member of the NHIAA football committee. “Hopefully it works out well. We have a lot more flexibility with it. Maybe we'll have to tweak it a little, but I think it's good that we're trying something.”

Student-athletes transferring from one school to another is not uncommon, but in no sport has player movement been the major focus of a season preview as it is in high school basketball.

HAWK TALK
Guard Dimitri Floras returned from prep school (Kimball Union Academy) to lead Merrimack to the Division I boys basketball championship last season. If the Tomahawks win another title in 2012-13 they'll have to do it without Floras, who is now suiting up for Vermont Academy.

Although Manchester Central is the consensus favorite in Division I, Merrimack's backcourt will make life tough on Merrimack opponents. Sophomore point guard Austin Franzen has transferred from Bishop Guertin and will team with junior Eric Gendron to form one of the best guard combinations in the state.

ANOTHER TITLE IN THE CARDS?
Bishop Guertin of Nashua won last year's Division I girls basketball state title, and the Cardinals entered this season as the overwhelming favorite as well.

BG returned five starters from its 2011-12 championship team, including junior point guard Jamie Afterburner and Boston University-bound forward Meghan Green.

BG opened its season with a 91-36 victory over Salem. Last year's championship was the school's first in girls basketball.

Roger Brown is a staff writer for the New Hampshire Union Leader, and has been covering high school sports throughout New England since 1992.

Kimball Union Academy's Doyle Somerby was one of the more intriguing New England prospects in this year's NHL Draft Class.

The Marblehead, Mass. native started his high school career at St. Mary's of Lynn and, during his time with the Spartans, began the transition from playing forward to defense.

A rugged, 6-foot-5, 225-pounder, Somberby transferred to the Meriden, New Hampshire school for his sophomore season and continued his journey toward his professional dream.

That goal got a little closer to reality on Saturday as Somerby was selected by the New York Islanders in the fifth round (125th overall) in the NHL Draft.

"It's funny, [the Islanders were the first team I met with back in January," Somerby said in a phone interview from Pittsburgh. "But I only heard from them once more through the process, so it wasn't a surprise, but you're not really sure where you're going to end up."

Somerby will not be rushed to the NHL. He'll return for his final season at KUA in the fall (he'd also been drafted into the USHL and QMJHL) before heading off to join a deep class at Boston University in 2013. It's all part of a progression that Somerby's looking to fulfill.

"It was a tough transitition," Somerby said of his move back to the blue line. "It happened so fast. The biggest thing is still working on footwork. I'm a big guy and it took me a while to be comfortable with my body."

Somerby's development has been helped by playing against some of New England's top forwards at KUA, including Nick Roberto (Maine commit) and Niko Rufo (Providence College).

"Being at KUA, we have a bunch of small forwards who buzz around down low in the zone, like Roberto and Rufo," Somerby said. "It's built confidence in me being able to skate against those guys every day in practice."

He also credited his time in Lynn as having an impact on him.

"St. Mary's was great for me, it made me take school work seriously. Going out against the Austin Preps and Malden Catholics of the world and some of the players they had back then, that really helped me watching those players. It was great seeing them making the Super 8 so high last year, too."

While the work in progress continues, Somerby's looking forward to the hard work, with the ultimate pot of gold on the other side -- a chance to break in on Long Island.

"The team's been building with [Jonathan] Tavares and [Kyle] Okposo and they've got some really good defensemen," Somerby said. "I realize I've still got four, five more years to go, but it's exciting to see them buidling, getting the new rink and they have a great bunch of people in the front office. It's exciting to be a part of that."