Sat. 3/5/22
* Prep Semifinals Highlights *
Saturday, March 5, 2022
***
Stuart/Corkery Tournament (Elite 8)
#5 Salisbury Nips #1 KUA in OT; #3 Belmont Hill Stuns #2 Avon
Salisbury 2 @ Kimball Union 1
A Ben Poitras goal at 8:37 of overtime lifted #5 Salisbury to a 2-1 win over #1 Kimball Union Academy.
Like so many goals in OT, this one came on a somewhat flukey play, as Poitras's shot from the right point looked fairly harmless -- not a lot on it -- but a KUA defender tried to stop it with his hand, and got enough of it that the puck was deflected, sailing over the glove hand of KUA goalie Dan Heroux and into the top corner.
The game started with the two teams feeling each other out, but the pace picked up in the second. At the 8:25 mark, a hard Dylan Hryckowian shot from the left faceoff circle rebounded to senior Lee Parks, who beat Heroux short side.
The scored stayed 1-0 until late in the third, when a quick give-and-go out of the right corner was finished off when Wildcats senior Will Blackburn found fellow senior Jaiden Moriello at the net. With 3:06 left on the clock, Moriello, a UMass-Lowell commit, beat Salisbury goaltender Austin McNicholas for his league-leading 33rd goal of the season.
That sent it to OT, and the eventual game-winner from Poitras.
The game was a good, fast, physical, hard-checking one, with odd-man rushes kept to a minimum, and teams generating offense off the cycle. There weren't many second chances as both teams defended well.
Shots on goal were 23-17 in favor of KUA, though Salisbury carried the play a bit more.
Salisbury will travel to Belmont Hill for Sunday's Elite 8 title game. Faceoff is scheduled for 5:00 pm. Salisbury will be gunning for its seventh title overall, and second straight Elite 8 title. (Salisbury beat Dexter, 4-0, on March 8, 2020, just days before Covid-19 brought the sports world to a screeching halt.)
Belmont Hill 4 @ Avon Old Farms 2
A James Fisher goal at 9:17 of the third period, from Teddy Stiga and Ronan O'Donnell -- that line's second goal of the game -- broke a 2-2 tie and turned out to be the game-winner. Belmont Hill would add an empty-netter for the final margin of victory.
Fisher's game-winner came just 46 seconds after Avon junior Charlie Gollob, from sophomore Joe Connor, had tied the game at 2-2.
Earlier, Belmont Hill broke out to a 2-0 lead on goals from senior Charlie Cave at 16:42 of the first, and O'Donnell at 5:56 of the second, Avon answered back just 56 seconds later, as senior Matt DiMarsico, from PG Brendan Fennell and senior Brennan Ali, cut Belmont Hill's lead to 2-1. And that's how the second period ended.
Avon would tie it up at two apiece at 8:31 of the third, with junior Charlie Gollob scoring, with an assist from sophomore Joe Connor. It was a short-lived tie: 46 seconds later, Fisher struck for the game-winner.
Avon's PG goalie, Connor Callaghan, stopped 31 of 34, finishing his season with a 1.27 GAA and .948 save percentage.
Sam Scopa, Belmont Hill's standout sophomore goalie, stopped 29 of 31.
#3 Belmont Hill will host #5 Salisbury on Sunday (5:00 pm) for the Elite 8 title. Belmont Hill has won two titles, in 1985 and 1990. So it's been a while.
***
Martin/Earl Tournament (Large Schools)
#1 Brunswick Beats Nobles; #2 Kent Crushes Exeter
@ Brunswick 3, Nobles 2
Nobles scored the game's first goal, and the last. But Brunswick scored three in between, and that was the difference in this one.
Getting things started was Nobles' junior wing Austin Tasca, who was on fire in Wednesday's quarterfinal win over NMH, putting the Bulldogs up 1-0 at 11:43. But Brunswick had the edge in play in the first, and finally broke through on junior D Sloan Farmer's shot from the point with 28 seconds left in the period, tying the game at 1-1.
In the second, Brunswick took over. A James Shannon short-handed breakaway goal at 10:39 gave the Bruins the lead they would never relinquish. Drew DellaSalla, from Shannon and defenseman Lucas St. Louis, made it 3-1 at 16:01.
In the third, on the period's first shift, senior defenseman Aidan Lyons cut Brunswick's lead to 3-2. But that was as close as Nobles would get. Brunswick junior netminder Brendan Holahan (23/25) earned the win; Nobles sophomore Tyler Bloomfield (30/33) took the loss.
Shannon and DellaSalla each had a goal and an assist for the Bruins.
Nobles junior center Ben MacDonald, with a pair of assists, figured in both Nobles goals.
#1 Brunswick will host #2 Kent at 2:00 pm Sunday.
@ Kent 7, Exeter 3
Exeter held a 3-2 lead midway through the second, but the Kent Lions roared back with five unanswered goals to win this one going away.
The big gun for Kent was senior Jake Kraft, with four goals. Hard to top that. 'Smaller guns' were fellow seniors Michael Hurst and Max Resnick (3 assists apiece) and Dante Palombo (1g,1a).
Kent sophomore goalie Aidan Hopewell (27/30) earned the win. His counterpart for Exeter, normally sure-handed junior Michael Salvatore (25/31), had a rough go of it.
#2 Kent travels to #1 Brunswick for Sunday's 2:00 pm title game.
***
Piatelli/Simmons Tournament (Small Schools)
#4 Pomfret Blanks #1 St. Mark's; #2 Gunn Tops #6 Governor's
@ Gunn 3, Governor's 1
Senior goaltender Joey Lovullo kicked out 24 shots and senior forwards Julian Facchinelli, Kyle Smith, and Ryan Novo scored one goal apiece as host Gunn topped Governor's, 3-1.
Sophomore Cam Russo scored Gov's only goal, midway through the third.
Gov's junior goalie Max LaCroix (31/34) took the loss.
This was the third consecutivve game that Gunn has won by a 3-1 score. They'll have another chance Sunday when Pomfret comes to town for the Small School Championship game.
This will be the second straight Gunn-Pomfret title game matchup. The two teams met in the 2020 title game, with Gunnery coming out on top, 5-3.
Pomfret 1 @ St. Mark's 0
Pomfret senior goaltender Kellen Beauton slammed the door on #1 St. Mark's with a 47-save shutout, while senior Declan Chapman, who was flying all day, scored the only goal his team needed.
Chapman put a backhander into the top corner after corraling a neutral zone pass from Matthew Spears and beating a St. Mark's defender at 9:56 of the second period.
With 47 shots against, Beauton, a Connecticut College recruit, had some notable moments. St. Mark's freshman LW Richard Gallant had a point-blank shot early in the second. A couple of minutes after Pomfret scored its goal, St. Mark's star d-man Michael Fisher had a great scoring opportunity, but his shot hit the shaft of Beauton's stick and dropped to the ice inches from the goal. A Pomfret defender was able to sweep it from danger.
St. Mark's strongest period was the first. The Lions managed to keep the puck in the Pomfret end for lengthy stretches, and were buzzing. But they couldn't score, despite the zone time and the heavy pressure. Also, Grade A chances were tough to come by as the Pomfret defensive corps did an outstanding job tying up St. Mark's forwards down low, and keeping shots to the outside. Pomfret also did a good job being generally aware of Fisher whenever he was on the ice, which seemed like all the time.
For St. Mark's, senior goaltender Adam Costley (23/24) was excellent in defeat.
As the game moved into the third period, the tension was palpable.
"It was great to see our guys play with such poise," Pomfret head coach coach Matt Goethals said. "They bent, but didn't break. They won battles, blocked shots, and just to see them gut it out like that was fun."
As for Beauton, "He's improved so much over the last two years. And this was probably his best game."
Pomfret advances to the Small School title game and travels to Gunn for a 2:30 pm start. In the last Small School Championship, in 2020, The Gunnery, as the school was then named, beat Pomfret, 5-3, at Trinity College.
Sun. 3/6/22 -- All scores are in.
NEPSAC Girls' Hockey Tournament
* Championships Scoreboard *
Sunday, March 6, 2022
***
Chuck Vernon Tournament (Elite)
#2 Nobles @ #1 Williston, 2:00 pm -- Williston 2-0 (Final)
1st period: Maeve Reynolds (Teaghan Hall, Monique Lyons)
2nd period: Jules Constantinople (Hall, Lyons)
Williston -- Natalie Stott, 22 saves
Nobles -- Anya Zupkofska, 23 saves
MVP: Williston senior G Natalie Stott
***
Patsy Odden Tournament (Large Schools)
#2 BB&N @ #1 Deerfield, 2:00 pm -- BB&N, 4-1 (Final)
2nd Period: BB&N -- Hannah Weyerhaeuser (Sophia Kennedy, Ashley Hallice)BB&N: Hallice (Weyerhaeuser, Kennedy)
3rd Period:BB&N: Kennedy (Gali Levy, Emi Biotti)BB&N: Weyerhaeuser (Brenna O'Reilly, Biotti)
BB&N: Alexsa Caron, 24 savesDeerfield stats N/A
***
Dorothy Howard Tournament (Small Schools)
@ #3 New Hampton vs. #5 Rivers, 2:00 pm -- Rivers, 2-0
Sat. 3/5/22 -- All scores are in.
NEPSAC Girls' Hockey Tournament
* Semifinals Scoreboard *
Saturday, March 5, 2022
Chuck Vernon Tournament (Elite)
#4 Andover @ #1 Williston, 2:00 pm -- Williston, 3-2 (OT)
#6 Tabor @ #2 Nobles, 2:30 pm -- Nobles, 1-0
Sunday's Championship:
#2 Nobles @ #1 Williston, 2:00 pm
Patsy Odden Tournament (Large Schools)
#5 Governor's @ #1 Deerfield, 2:00 pm -- Deerfield, 2-1
#6 Hotchkiss @ #2 BB&N, 1:30 pm -- BB&N, 3-1
Sunday's Championship:
#2 BB&N @ #1 Deerfield, 2:00 pm
Dorothy Howard Tournament (Small Schools)
#5 Rivers @ #1 Southfield, 1:00 pm -- Rivers, 2-1 (OT)
#3 New Hampton @ #2 Vermont, 3:30 pm -- New Hampton, 2-1 (OT)
Sunday's Championship:
@ #3 New Hampton vs. #5 Rivers, 2:00 pm
***
How'd They Get Here?
Wednesday's Quarterfinals Results
Elite 8
@ Williston 5, Kent 0
@ Nobles 3, St. Paul's 2 (OT)
Tabor 4 @ Cushing 0
@ Andover 2, Loomis 1
Large Schools
#1 Deerfield -- Bye
#2 BB&N -- Bye
Hotchkiss 2 @ Choate 1
Governor's 2 @ Taft 1 (OT)
Small Schools
#1 Southfield -- Bye
#2 Vermont Academy -- Bye
@ New Hampton 3, Brooks 1
Rivers 1 @ Lawrence 0
Wed. 3/2/22
NEPSAC Girls' Hockey Tournament
* Quarterfinals Scoreboard *
Wednesday, March 2, 2022
Chuck Vernon Tournament (Elite)
@ #1 Williston vs. #8 Kent, 3:00 pm -- Williston, 5-0
@ #2 Nobles vs. #7 St. Paul's, 3:15 pm -- Nobles, 3-2 (OT)
@ #3 Cushing vs. #6 Tabor, 4:30 pm -- Tabor, 4-0
@ #4 Andover vs. #5 Loomis, 2:30 pm -- Andover, 2-1
Semifinals Schedule -- Saturday, March 5, 2022
#4 Andover @ #1 Williston, 2:00 pm
#6 Tabor @ #2 Nobles, 2:30 pm
Patsy Odden Tournament (Large School)
#1 Deerfield
#2 BB&N
@ #3 Choate vs. #6 Hotchkiss, 3:00 pm -- Hotchkiss, 2-1
@ #4 Taft vs. #5 Governor's, 4:00 pm -- Governor's, 2-1 (OT)
Semifinals Schedule -- Saturday, March 5, 2022
#5 Governor's @ #1 Deerfield, 2:00 pm
#6 Hotchkiss @ #2 BB&N, 1:30 pm
Dorothy Howard Tournament (Small School)
#1 Southfield
#2 Vermont Academy
@ #3 New Hampton vs. #6 Brooks, 3:15 pm -- New Hampton, 3-1
@ #4 Lawrence vs. #5 Rivers, 4:15 pm -- Rivers, 1-0
Semifinals Schedule -- Saturday, March 5, 2022
#5 Rivers @ #1 Southfield, 1:00 pm
#3 New Hampton @ #2 Vermont Academy, 3:30 pm
New England Prep Hockey News
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