Cedar Rapids RoughRiders forward David Bosco spent the past two winters making a name for himself in New England prep.
The Winchester, Mass., native helped Belmont Hill make back-to-back NEPSAC Large School tournament appearances, recording 36 goals and 84 points across 63 career games. After emerging as one of the region’s top freshmen in 2023-24, Bosco was the leading scorer for the Sextants, who put together a résumé worthy of being the No. 1 seed in the field.
As Belmont Hill coach Brian Phinney put it, Bosco was a do-it-all type of player.
“There’s a lot to his game that you can’t necessarily teach, and he makes everyone around him better,” Phinney said. “He had an opportunity to play in a lot of different types of situations as a younger guy (in prep) … and that helps, right? Just getting access to playing in critical moments and some pressure situations.”
A few weeks after the early-March end to Belmont Hill’s run, Bosco earned a new opportunity: suiting up in a USHL game for Cedar Rapids. While he didn’t know how the following months would transpire, that game proved to foreshadow the next step.
“At the end of last season, I kind of knew (returning to Cedar Rapids) is what I wanted to do, but I wasn’t 100 percent sure it would happen yet. I stayed in a positive relationship with Belmont Hill in case something didn’t work out,” Bosco said. “So, it wasn’t really until after camp that I knew this is where I’d be playing all year, even though I knew this is where I wanted to go.”
This season’s early returns have shown the move pay off for Bosco, who initially came on the Roughriders’ radar as a third-round pick in the 2024 USHL Phase I Draft. His eventful calendar year has not only included climbing up to the junior level but also finalizing a commitment to Harvard on Aug. 1.
The 5-foot-10, 165-pound forward entered the month of November as the USHL’s top rookie scorer, logging six goals and 12 points through his first 13 games after beginning the season on a three-game goal streak. As of now, he has 15 points in 21 games.
He's currently playing for Team USA in the World Junior A Challenge.
“He’s done a real good job so far,” Cedar Rapids coach Mark Carlson said. “He practiced with us quite a bit and played really well here last year, so that was great to see at the time. He’s just been very rounded. He’s doing a nice job creating offense, he’s been responsible and reliable defensively, and his compete (level) has been good.”
Bosco knows that playing at the prep level has helped prepare him for his current step — including a move to the left wing for the first time in a couple of seasons — and quickly pointed to Phinney as a key figure in his career development.
“I think being able to play with a high skill level just helped prepare me for the game out here,” he said. “You need to be strong all around. Everyone out here has a really good skill-set, really good effort. Coach Phinney just helped so much with growing my confidence and knowing I can become the player I want to be.”
While the season has gone well so far, Bosco’s decision to head out to Iowa wasn’t an easy one.
He made it with full support from his family, friends and Belmont Hill coaches and teammates, though everything that came with leaving home behind weighed on him at first.
“It was really difficult,” Bosco said. “You kind of want to stay back because it would have been my junior year, with a lot of buddies from my hometown, from Belmont Hill. I was also playing lacrosse there and had a ton of fun on that team. And a Belmont Hill education is really important as well. … It’s hard leaving all of that behind, but everyone was really supportive.”
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Every hockey path takes different turns, but Cedar Rapids has been a stop along the way for many New Englanders and prep alumni alike. Ross Colton (Taft/Vermont), Adam Gaudette (Braintree, Mass./Thayer/Northeastern), Cal Burke (Boxboro, Mass./Nobles/Notre Dame) and Justin Hryckowian (Salisbury/Northeastern) are just a few players with local ties who have played for Carlson — a New Jersey native and UMass Lowell alum — on their path to the NHL.
In particular, Carlson’s telling of Colton’s story resonated with Bosco. The current Colorado Avalanche forward provided the perfect example for him.
“I think his story was similar to mine (in) that maybe his family wasn’t sure about him leaving early, and Coach made sure this was the right decision for him at the time,” Bosco said. “We had a couple conversations about that, which I think really helped me make my decision to come out and play for him. It’s been great so far.”
Bosco’s high-skill, high-IQ package will benefit Harvard, as he is set to join a program that has developed next-level talent on an annual basis. It was hard not to notice that legacy on the walls of the Bright-Landry Hockey Center.
There are numerous similar examples from the program, too. Top prep alumni are right in the Crimson’s wheelhouse, with the likes of former St. Mark’s star Richard Gallant (Concord, Mass.) and fellow Belmont Hill product Matthew Biotti (Cambridge, Mass.) having joined the roster as freshmen this season.
“They believe in me,” Bosco said, referring to his conversations with head coach Ted Donato (Dedham, Mass.), assistant James Marcou and the Crimson staff. “It’s a great fit academically and athletically. They’ve put out a lot of high draft picks, Hobey Baker winners.”
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The journey is just getting started, but Bosco’s present and past coaches know the sky is the limit.
“His ceiling is really high,” Carlson said. “He’s got the ability, the balance (as a player) and he’s just a great kid. … He’s going to fall in line with a lot of very successful prep players we’ve had, so that’s a huge compliment.”
“Every time he’s given an opportunity, he finds a way to be relevant,” Phinney said. “He’s with us as a freshman, he steps up right away. When he goes to national camps, wherever he is, he finds a way to make (that impact). Sometimes people will say, ‘Oh, (a player) doesn’t do this,’ but there’s something to be said about a kid who just finds a way. That makes me really excited about his path forward.”
