Andrew DeCarlo climbing the youth hockey ladder

In the near future, Andrew DeCarlo hopes to realize the dream of any hockey player.

After helping the 18-and-under Selects Academy at South Kent School (a.k.a. – the Central Connecticut Capitals) win the Tier 1 title of the USA Hockey National Championships in April, DeCarlo is plotting his next move.

As DeCarlo said in his own words, “The goal for any hockey player, really, is to move on to the next level.”

The Huntington Beach resident believes it is time for him to explore his next option, and the rising senior intends to join a North American Hockey League club.

“Andrew, physically, I think is ready to play junior hockey,” South Kent coach Matthew Plante said of the 6-foot, 190-pound DeCarlo. “He’s got good size. He’s strong. He’s very athletic. He’s got good skills.”

DeCarlo, who will turn 18 in July, has demonstrated a willingness to take on new challenges throughout his hockey career. He began playing roller hockey at the age of 5. Then he transitioned to club hockey.

He was first spotted by South Kent personnel as a member of the Anaheim Jr. Ducks’ Midget 16U AAA team. Assistant coach Scott Gainey approached him about joining the Connecticut-based boarding school, but DeCarlo decided to stay with the Jr. Ducks for one more season.

That year, DeCarlo’s Jr. Ducks and South Kent squared off in the national tournament, allowing the two sides to cross paths again. After the season, DeCarlo made up his mind that it was time to make the leap.

No regrets came out of that decision. South Kent provided a busy schedule. The team played 59 total games, the school had its own ice rink, and the practices and workouts were more rigorous.

For Californians like DeCarlo and his linemate Jordan Skahill (San Dimas), the easy access to ice time was a departure from their beginnings in roller hockey and the scramble to get in a couple of practices on the ice per week.

“The intensity out there ramps up, and you’re practicing against some really good players,” DeCarlo said of the prep school environment. “The pace is fast. On top of that, workouts are more intense. Everything just seems a step up out there.”

Heading off to prep school also supplied the added motivation that the primary purpose for the move was hockey-centric. DeCarlo headed off to South Kent with big goals in mind.

“Just going into the season, our coach knew that we had a special group of guys,” DeCarlo said. “The goal even before we started practicing was to win a national championship. We all knew that we could with the personnel that we had.”

DeCarlo began the season playing among the top six forwards. A lingering hip injury sidelined him for two months, but he was able to return in time for the national tournament.

After drawing back into the lineup, DeCarlo found himself centering the third line with Michael Gebhardt and Skahill.

Plante said the move should not be looked at as a demotion, as South Kent had great depth, especially at the forward positions.

DeCarlo’s line provided imperative secondary scoring in the playoffs, and DeCarlo himself potted the game-winning goal in the national title game. He deflected a shot from the point. When the puck dropped in the goal crease, DeCarlo won the race for the rebound.

South Kent defeated the Cape Cod Whalers 5-2 in the Tier 1 18U national championship game. It was the first national championship for South Kent, for either the 16U or 18U Selects Academy.

DeCarlo produced seven goals and 25 assists in 46 games his junior season.

Once healthy, Plante saw DeCarlo become a difference-maker every shift. The six-year head coach of South Kent said that the junior forward played an energetic style of hockey after the injury subsided.

“I thought he had a good national tournament,” Plante said. “The thing that he was really consistent with was his competing. He was hard on the puck, he worked hard, he played with a little more structure, but he played with a lot of jam.

“That was the thing early on in the year that was a little bit frustrating was that some games, he played with jam, and some games, he didn’t. He was so impactful when he played with jam for us.

“You wanted to see more consistency with that. We really saw consistency with that at the national tournament, probably because he was healthy.”

andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner