12/2/03
Cushing Heads Up USHR Div. I Poll
Back on March 2, Deerfield, behind a Dan Travis goal 32 seconds into OT, edged St. Sebastian’s, 3-2, in a taut, well-played game at Salem, NH. Seems like a long time ago now, doesn’t it? It’s a new season, and here’s our pre-season top 10.
1. Cushing – They’re always in the Final Four, but the Penguins haven’t won a title since 1998. With forwards Boomer Ewing, Chris Bourque, and Billy Ryan; and defensemen Keith Yandle, and Kyle Koziara, there’s a very good chance that could change. The hands-down favorites.
2. Taft – After Cushing, it looks like a real scrum. Taft returns all noteworthy players except forward Casey Ftorek – and both goaltenders. If the Rhinos are to contend for the top spot again, someone will have to stand out between the pipes. The core group of d-men is extremely solid, and primarily composed of seniors. Center Alex Meintel is one of the top players in prep hockey and will be leading the offense. Seniors Todd Johnson and Keith Shattenkirk will need to have big years.
3. Andover – They have the best goalie in prep hockey in Cory Schneider. However, they lost their top three scorers to graduation, and yet another, Chris Cahill, to the NTDP. Losing Cahill hurts, but the other slots can be filled from below. Look for junior Kyle Kucharski to have a big year. Tommy Dignard, a soph, is the top d-man.
4. Salisbury – Hard to say how they’ll do, but they came close to knocking off Deerfield in the quarters last year and may be out to prove something. With Michael Atkinson and Jerry Pollastrone they have two guys to build an offense around. Top incoming player is PG Brian O’Hanley, a Boston College recruit out of BC High.
5. Deerfield – Lost a lot of the key players from last year’s title-winning squad. New head coach Brendan Creagh will be counting heavily on forwards James Guay and Scott Bartlett, and big defensemen Paul Baier and Will Boardman. Probably won’t have enough to repeat, though.
6. St. Sebastian’s – Losing four NHL draft picks hurts, but there’s a lot of depth remaining, particularly up front. Colin Young, only a soph, is the top defenseman.
7. Nobles – A lot of observers feel the time has come for Nobles to K.O. St. Seb’s from the top spot in the Keller Division. And they may be right. After all, Nobles has the league’s top player in defenseman Dan McGoff, and some skilled forwards headed by Chris Poli, Matt Nelson, and Erik Pridham.
8. Hotchkiss – Likely to be the #4 team out of the west, but could surprise and move up. After all, they have a top goaltender in junior Zane Kalemba, who gives the Bearcats a chance in every game. And UVM recruit Torrey Mitchell is back to lead the offense. The defense, headed up by sophomore Corey Toy, is a question mark.
9. Gov. Dummer – Coach Peter Kravchuk has three Hockey East recruits in forwards Brian McGuirk (BU) and Benn Ferriero (BC); and D Kevin Kapstad (UNH). Those three guys will have to have huge seasons for GDA to get back to the playoffs. Forward Alex Berry is gone, having transferred to Cushing.
10. Avon Old Farms – Not exactly loaded with stars, but a team with a lot of depth and a couple of reliable goaltenders. Could surprise.
12/22/03
Westminster Tops Greenwich; Wins its Tournament
Simsbury, Conn. – Host Westminster won its tournament for the first time in three years here Sunday afternoon, upending defending tourney champs Greenwich Academy, 5-3.
The game’s turning point came early in the third period, when two Greenwich penalties gave Westminster a 5-on-3 advantage. Westminster head coach David Pope called a time out to marshal his forces, then, after Greenwich had killed off the first penalty and was playing 5-on-4, sophomore Gina Valles, on an assist from junior Emma Chipman, scored what would turn out to be the game-winner at the 2:38 mark.
Westminster then showed its killer instinct when, just 17 seconds later, junior Becky Julian scored off a pass from freshman Kim Sirko to make it 4-2.
Westminster, which had been outplayed over the first two periods, didn’t let up from that point on, and carried the play down the stretch. As the clock wound down, Greenwich pulled its goalie and, with the extra attacker on, Torrey Taussig was able to poke home a rebound to cut Westy’s lead to one with 38 seconds left in regulation.
On the ensuing faceoff, with the Greenwich goalie on the bench and the extra attacker still on, Valles potted an empty-netter with 31 seconds remaining for the final 5-3 margin of victory.
Valles (2g,1a) led the scoring parade for the victors, while Sirko added a pair of assists.
Earlier, freshman Ali Evans, from Valles and Julian put Westminster up 1-0 just 24 seconds into the game, but Greenwich answered with a goal of their own off the stick of senior Lacey Farrell, sophomore Lauren Amicucci assisting.
In the second period, Westminster’s Anning put the hosts up 2-1 with a shorthanded goal 3:33 into the period. Greenwich then tied it up at 2-2 when junior Steph Holmes scored at 3:44, an assist going to junior Erin Brawley.
Senior Westminster goaltender Gen Triganne finished with 37 saves for Westminster. Greenwich junior Jess Zublin had 16 saves for Greenwich.
The two teams have a rematch in February.
12/20/03
Sat. Cushing Tournament Results
Championship Game: Cushing 3, Berkshire 1
Third Place Game: Lawrence 5, Northwood 4 (OT)
Fifth Place Game: Gunnery 2, Culver 1
Seventh Place Game: National Sports Academy 9, New Hampton 1
12/20/03
Parsons, MacLeod Lead Nobles to Harrington Title
Dedham, Mass. -- Junior center Sarah Parsons had a goal and an assist and senior goaltender Elizabeth MacLeod posted an 18-save shutout to lead Nobles to a 2-0 win over Pomfret in the title game of the Harrington Holiday Tournament here today.
In a rugged, penalty-filled first half, Nobles had a couple of defensive breakdowns that led to breakaways by star Pomfret forward Sarah Vaillancourt and talented sophomore Micaela Long, but MacLeod came up big, as she would several times during the game.
Nobles coach Tom Resor called a timeout with 5:19 remaining in the half to settle his team down, and both squads went into the intermission tied at 0-0.
In the second half, Parsons went to work, sending a long diagonal pass across the neutral zone and then stepping off the ice on a line change just about the time the puck landed on the stick of senior LW Catherine Neckes, who broke in on Pomfret senior goalie Breanna Dobbe and, from an angle, wristed a beautiful shot high inside the far post.
About ten minutes later, Parsons, on the penalty kill, picked up a loose puck along the left wing boards around center ice and broke in on Dobbe, cutting across the top of the crease and jamming home a shot that made it 2-0 at the 7:39 mark.
Over the next 12-plus minutes, Vaillancourt and her Pomfret teammates tied to cut into the Nobles lead, but to no avail as MacLeod held the fort.
Dobbe, who was strong in a losing effort, had 38 saves for Pomfret.
12/19/03
Fri. Patsy K. Odden Tournament Results
Lawrenceville 5, Groton 0: Fischer (2), Martinelli, Moody and Ruff scored for Lawrenceville; and McGilley and deGorter combined for a 12-save shutout. Fiore had 37 saves for Groton.
Loomis 2, Andover 0: Hill had both goals for Loomis; and Payne had an eight-save shutout. Shipe had 54 saves for Andover.
Consolation Final: Hotchkiss 5, St. Paul’s 0. No statistics available.
Championship Final: Tabor 2, Taft 0. No statistics available.
Note:
No scores were received from the Deerfield Tournament, Harrington Holiday Tournament, and the St. George’s Tournament.
12/19/03
Fri. Cushing Tournament Results
Northwood 2, Gunnery 1 (OT)
Berkshire 11, New Hampton 0
Cushing 6, NSA 0
Lawrence 2, Culver 1 (OT)
Northwood 6, NSA 3
Cushing 5, Gunnery 1
Berkshire 2, Culver 0
Lawrence 7, New Hampton 0
12/18/03
Thurs. Patsy K. Odden TournamentResults
Tabor 3, Hotchkiss 3: Farnsworth, Battin, Gallinaro, Greenwood, Sluzas, and Nickerson scored the goals. Ford was in net for Tabor and Paris for Hotchkiss.
Taft 6, Groton 0: Hakins (3), Morris (2), and Sisk scored for Taft. Fior had 22 saves for Groton. Brown had a zero-save shutout for Taft.
Andover 6, St. Paul’s 1: Shea(2), Wadland, Montecalvo, Seno, Crocker, and Burleigh were the goal scorers.
Loomis 7, Lawrenceville 1: Wilson (3), Bond, Hill and Kennedy scored for Loomis; Fischer scored for L’ville. Payne and Dyer each had four saves as the Loomis goalies split time. McGilley had 23 saves for Lawrenceville.
St. Paul’s 4, Groton 3 (OT shoot-out): Burleigh, Carreiro, and Nepveu-Goulet are listed as goal scorers, though clearly some scorers are missing. Sorowka had 27 saves for St. Paul’s; Fiore had 27 saves for Groton.
Hotchkiss 3, Lawrenceville 1: Battin, Forgues, and Milan scored for Hotchkiss. Minor scored for Lawrenceville. Parisi was in net for Hotchkiss; McGilley for L’ville.
Taft 1, Andover 0: This was won in an OT shoot-out. The scoresheet lists both Marrison and Morris as goalscorers. Snickers had 22 saves for Taft; Jones 24 for Andover.
Tabor 3, Loomis 0: Feldman, Sheridan, and Gallinaro scored for Tabor. Ford had 39 saves for Tabor; Payne had 12 for Loomis.
The scoring summaries above contain a couple of errors which we hope to correct.
12/18/03
Thurs. Cushing Tourney Results
Gunnery 3, National Sports Academy 2
Culver 7, New Hampton 1
Berkshire 4, Lawrence 2
Cushing 5, Northwood 2
Note:
The US Hockey Report is dependent on the participating schools for the above scores, for which we are thankful. However, none of the scores that we will be listing here this weekend go into the record as complete, official box scores. That has to be done by the individual schools. However, since virtually all schools and coaches are on the road, staying in dorms or motels, they are generally cut off from their Internet connections. Give the coaches time and you will begin to see the “official” box score appear in the drop-down menus above, though it might not happen as quickly as it would if it were a normal game.
Our goal is to give the best reporting possible on this weekend in order to create a full picture of the tournament for fans of today and the future. Enjoy! And thank you for your understanding and help.
If you see any missing scores, please send to information (at) ushr.com
12/5/03 -- updated 12/6
Approaching Storm Causing Postponements
Here's the list of Saturday's games that we know the status of.
Cushing at Tabor, cancelled.
New Hampton at Milton, cancelled
Please e-mail cancellations/postponements to information@ushr.com
12/4/03
Winter Storm Threatening Saturday's Games
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for Friday night into early Sunday morning. The possibility exists for six or more inches of snow.
If all this comes to pass, there could be a large number of games affected. We urge all coaches to email information@ushr.com and let us know ASAP if a game is scratched. We will post it here. Hopefully, we can keep people from driving in bad conditions to games that have been cancelled.
As the time gets closer, check back frequently.
In addition to the games that are listed under Game Results above, we have some scores of other Wednesday games:
Exeter 4, Hebron 1
Middlesex 4, Kimball Union 0
Gov. Dummer 2, Concord Academy 1
Milton 3, St. Mark's 2 (OT)
Brewster 7, St. Paul's 0
New Hampton 7, NMH 2
Holderness 8, Proctor 1
Note: A handful of coaches had difficulty entering their box scores yesterday, partly because we have a newly-revamped system here, but also partly because there was one spot in the process that isn't totally clear. The most technically-savvy, it seems, had no problem with it, but others did. Our whole approach has been to make inputting information as simple as possible, but in this case it didn't turn out quite that way.
We're correcting it right now and it should be fixed shortly. Thank you for your patience.
12/3/03
USHR Div. I Girls Poll
1. Berkshire -- Lost a lot to graduation, but a lot of fire power remains.
2. Cushing -- Tons of depth; great goaltending.
3. Nobles -- Huge loss with Helen Resor out; Sarah Parsons will put up a ton of points.
4. Pomfret -- Will be competive with everyone in the league
5. Taft -- Lost a ton to graduation but always well coached; goaltending a strength.
6. Loomis -- Pelicans will be strong once again.
7. Lawrence -- Young, fast, and deep.
8. St. Mark's -- Great goal tending; lots of offensive power
9. Tabor -- Will continue to be a threat to everyone in the league.
10. Andover -- Graduation will hurt them, but they're strong in net.
The girls prep tournament semis and finals (both Div. I and II) will be held this year at the Dexter and Southfield School rinks, which are about twenty feet from each other in Brookline, Mass. The dates are Sat-Sun. March 6-7.
