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3/4/06

The Div. I semifinals are in the books, as Taft edged Nobles, 3-2, and Salisbury got by Cushing in OT, 2-1.

The Div. II semifinals are in the books, too, as Hebron topped Vermont Academy, 3-1, and Proctor came back from a 3-1 deficit to top Brooks, 6-4. 


Div. I Semifinals:

Salisbury 2, Cushing 1

Salem, NH -- A Will Ortiz goal at 11:22 of overtime lifted Salisbury to a 2-1 win over Cushing here tonight.

The winning goal came off a defensive zone turnover. An attempted clear up the right side by Cushing sophomore defenseman Zach Bogosian was intercepted by Jeremiah Cunningham who gathered in the puck and passed it left to right to a streaking Will Ortiz, who fired it past Cushing senior goaltender Richard Bachman for the big win.

It actually looked like this game could have gone deeper into the night. Grade A scoring chances were few and far between, but Ortiz for Salisbury and Broc Little for Cushing were the most consistently productive forwards for their respective teams. It looked like one or the other might bury it... eventually. 

Little almost converted on a wraparound midway through the extra session. He came close, too, close enough to try the exact same move a little over a minute later. Again, Salisbury goalie Anthony Borelli was up to the task. 

Both goalies played very well in this game, a tense, tight, physical, cat-and-mouse, don't-want-to-make-the-last-mistake kind of game.

Unfortunately for Cushing, they made the last mistake. Nonetheless, either team could have won this game. Cushing played a tough, focused game, effectively shutting down Salisbury's vaunted attack for huge stretches of time. The Penguins played good team D and did everything possible to keep the Salisbury forwards from getting shots off from prime scoring areas. A good example came in OT when Alex Curran went down to block a shot by Michael Biega, got up and seconds later went down again to block a shot by Ortiz.

Salisbury broke out to a 1-0 lead just 4:34 into the game when Ben Ketchum picked up the puck off a broken play in the neutral zone and fired a slapper from the top of the circle that beat Bachman between the pads. Defensemen Nick Jaskowiak and Dan Reed picked up assists on the play.

It would be nearly 61 minutes before Salisbury would score again.

Cushing picked up the tying goal -- their only goal of the night -- at 10:34 of the second when John Frey, from the left faceoff circle, made a perfect pass to Ryan Duff, who was coming down the slot. Duff snapped one over Borelli's shoulder to make it 1-1. Aaron Blades was also credited with an assist on the goal.

The goal seemed to wake Salisbury up, for they suddenly had a flurry of opportunities, including a 3-on-1 that Bachman stopped cold. Greg Collins and John Cavanagh followed with a couple more good chances.

Cushing found themselves down two men as the second period wound down with the game tied at 1-1. The 5-on-3 carried over to the beginning of the third but Salisbury, outside of a good chance by John Cavanagh, was unable to get much going.

Cushing got a lift from the successful penalty kill, and the Little-Brad Malone-Curran line generated a couple of good opportunities before the third settled into a tense, defensive struggle, a game which played into Cushing's hands.

Salisbury's John Cavanagh had a great chance with a minute left in regulation, but was stoned by Bachman.

Then came overtime, and Ortiz game winner.

As a result, Salisbury will meet Taft for the Div. I prep championship tomorrow at 3:00 pm.

Note:

Salisbury forward Paul Carey missed the game due to sickness. There's a chance he'll be ready to play tomorrow.   

     
Taft 3, Nobles 2

Salem, NH -- Taft, on a Doug Jones game-winning goal at 6:18 of the third, edged Nobles 3-2, in a tight, tense battle.

Taft moves on to face the winner of the Cushing-Salisbury game, which will start at approximately 6 pm.

On the winning goal, the only goal of the third, Jones, a Hamilton College recruit from Marietta, Georgia, got the puck at the top of the left faceoff circle and angled toward the net, dribbling the puck, but holding it until Nobles goaltender John Muse committed and then backhanding a low shot to the corner, glove side.

Nobles had a few terrific chances to tie it up, particularly with 30 seconds left in the game: Jimmy Hayes found Josh Franklin in front, but Taft goaltender Andrew Margolin came up big.

Nobles struck first today, as Josh Franklin, on the power play, one-timed a shot from just inside the far left wing hash marks at the 13:06 mark of the first. 

Taft tied it up 1-1 on a power play goal at 8:19 of the second when Max Pacioretty, practically standing on the goal line five feet in from the right wing boards, whistled a pass behind Muse, right onto the stick of Jack Downing, who banged it in from the far post. 

Nobles went ahead 2-1, again on the power play, when Chris Huxley carried the puck around the net and from the faceoff circle in his own end hit Matt Rhone, at the far blue line, with a long cross-ice pass. Rhone got it to Hayes, who beat Margolin at 10:53.

Taft tied it up several minutes later, as Bobby Kramer got it to Woody Redpath in the slot about 15 feet out. Redpath roofed a beauty to make it 2-2 with 3:52 left in the period.

In the third, Jones scored the game winner, and Taft advances.

For the game, Taft outshot Nobles 28-24.  


Div. I Championship game: 
Icenter, Salem, NH, Sun. March 5, 2006 at 3:00 pm 
Salisbury vs. Taft

                    ***

Div. II Semifinals:

Proctor 6, Brooks 4.

Salem, NH -- Proctor, trailing Brooks 3-1 in the second, scored five of the next six goals to earn a hard-fought come-from-behind win over Brooks here today.

At one point it looked like it would be Brooks' game, particularly when, six seconds into the second period, Bishops' sophomore Bobby Farnham scored an unassisted shorthanded goal to put Brooks up 3-1. 

Proctor took a couple of penalties right afterward and seemed on the verge of letting this one slip away.

The key to the Proctor turnaround came when junior Neil Ruffini picked off a Brooks breakout pass and moved into the zone, deked a Brooks defender and then, when the second defender moved in on him, Ruffini dropped the puck to himself between his skates, kicked it up to his backhand, continued across the crease and beat Brooks goalie Derek Missert with a low backhand to make it 3-2 6:09 into the second. 

The goal, a beauty, seemed to lift Proctor. In addition, the game turned into more of a 5-on-5 affair, allowing Proctor to grind away at the Brooks lead. 

Ruffini scored his second goal at 13:18 of the second to make it 3-3. Then, with seven seconds left in the period, and Brooks again on the PP, Farnham, a quick, talented sophomore who would figure in all four Brooks goals with a terrific performance, gave Brooks a 4-3 lead to take into the second intermission.

In the third, it was all Proctor, with Ruffini notching his third goal of the game to tie it up 3:35 in. Then Ryan Ruddock banged home the game winner at 5:41 after some nice corner work by Devin Pyne.

Proctor added a shorthanded empty-netter, also off the stick of Ruddock, with 1:49 left in the period. Ruffini picked up an assist to give him a four point afternoon (3g,1a).

Proctor moves on to meet Hebron in the Div. II pre championship tomorrow at 12:30 pm  

Hebron 3, Vermont Academy 1.

Salem, NH -- Hebron Academy, behind a game-winning goal from Oleksandr Romanenko, topped Vermont Academy 3-1 today to advance to the Div. II title game tomorrow afternoon.

Romanenko's goal, which came on the power play at 8:21 of the second, came off a deflection of a point shot that Vermont goaltender Matt Clifford was screened on.

In the third period, Hebron's Roman Lao-Gosney converted off a 2-on-1 after a Vermont neutral zone turnover for the final margin of victory.

Hebron had the edge in play in the first, outshooting VA, 18-7. Shots were even, 11-11, in the second. Vermont Academy, fighting to get back in the game, had a 13-7 edge in the third, but couldn't finish their opportunities.

Vermont Academy also had a couple of great chances early in the first, by Mike Allport and Brian Gibbons, but Hebron's John Glant came up big both times.

Instead, at the other end, Jordan Krush, after a strong forechecking shift, knocked the puck off a Vermont defenseman's stick, and broke in alone, beating Clifford glove side to give Hebron the early lead 3:10 into the game.

VA  tied it up  at 6:12 of the second when Gibbons one-timed a pass out from behind the net by Jamie Armstrong past Glant. 

Hebron's Glant kicked out 30 of 31 shots for the win; Clifford stopped 33 of 36.

Div. II championship game: 
Icenter, Salem, NH, Sun. March 5, 2006 at 12:30 pm 
Hebron vs. Proctor

Brookline, Mass. -- Berkshire topped Pomfret, 4-1, to win the 2006 Div. I title here today, and Greenwich Academy topped Brewster, 4-3, to take the Div. II championship, their second straight.

In the Div. I championship game, Berkshire's Dawn Sullivan scored two goals and added an assist and was named tournament MVP. Freshman Kelly Wallace had a goal and an assist, and Liza Ryabkina also had a goal. Freshman Kristin Wolfe picked up the win in goal.

In the Div. II championship, Greenwich Academy's Emmy Burleigh scored the game winner for at 6:32 of the second period. There was no scoring after that, though Brewster outshot GA 11-3 in the third in a furious attempt to get the tying goal. This was an exciting up-and-down game. After the first period ended 1-1, there were six goals scored in a span of a little over five minutes early in the second. For GA, Julia Ireland (2g) and Bray Ketchum (2a) led the attack. For Brewster, Katherine Buesser (1g,1a), Nicole Louiseize (2a), and Carole LeBlanc (2a) each had two points. Alexa Pujol kicked out 23 of 26 shots to earn the win in the Greenwich net.


Berkshire 4, Pomfret 1
B- Sullivan (Wallace)
P -- St. Germain (Zeek)
B- Ryabkina (unn.)
B - Wallace (Sullivan)
B -- Sullivan (Holmes)
Goaltenders: Wolfe (B) and Bellonio (P).
Penalties: Berkshire 5, Pomfret 3

Greenwich Academy 4, Brewster 3
GA -- Crane (Ketchum)
B -- Anctil (Buesser, LeBlanc)
GA -- Ireland (Ketchum)
GA -- Ireland (Kratovil)
B -- Buesser (Hennigar, Louiseize)
B -- LeBlanc (Campbell, Louiseize)
GA -- Burleigh (Amicucci)
Shots: Brewster 26, GA 20
Goaltenders: Pujol (GA) and White (B).
Penalties: Brewster 4, GA 3

Here are the results from today's semifinal action at the Southfield School.

Sat. March 4 -- Semifinals
at Southfield School; Brookline, Mass.

Div. II

Brewster 8, Hebron 1
Brewster goals: Campbell, Arsenault (2), Louiseize, LeBlanc (2), Buesser (2).
Hebron goal: Roy
Goaltenders: White (Brewster) and MacIsaac (Hebron).
Penalties: Hebron 5, Brewster 4

Greenwich Academy 3, St. George's 2
GA goals: Taussig, Castine, Amicucci.
St. George's goals: Reece, Pattemore.
Goaltenders: A. Pujol (GA) and White (St. George's)
Penalties: GA 5, St. George's 5

Div. I

Berkshire 3, Lawrence 1
B -- Holmes (Wallace, Sullivan)
B -- Oberkoetter (Edell, Wallace)
LA -- Cottrell (Wheeler)
B -- Ryabkina (Edell, Schock)
Goaltenders: Wolfe (B) and Muse (LA)
Penalties: Berkshire 6, LA 4


Pomfret 2, Andover 1
PA-- Moramarco (Wadland, Tetreau)
P -- Lorms, ppg (Murphy, Hunter)
P -- Long (Lorms)
Goaltenders: Bellonio (P) and Fromkin (PA)
Penalties: Pomfret 7, Andover 6

Sun. March 5 -- Finals
at Southfield School; Brookline, Mass.

10:30 am -- Div. II Championship Game: Brewster vs. Greenwich Academy
12:30 pm - Div. I Title Game: Berkshire vs. Pomfret

3/1/06 Updated

Calling All Blackberries, Treos, Razors – and Plain Old Cell Phones

For this year’s quarterfinals, we’re going to do what we did last season, and post updates at the end of every period of every game, both Div. I and Div. II, both boys and girls.

We’re looking for volunteers to phone in scores at the end of each period and, if possible, include goal scorers, shots on goal, etc. This worked really well last year and, in pretty close to real time, we were able to bring updates to people across the country and around the world.

If you’re willing to help out, please email cwarner@ushr.com and let us know which game you will be attending.

With your help, we can pull this project off again. It should be fun.

Note:

We had the email address above incorrectly typed yesterday, so if anyone wrote in, and had their email bounce back, please try again. Thank you.

Today's Live Scoreboard

Div. I

#1 Berkshire vs. #8 Westminster, 3:00 (at Berkshire) -- Kostiner (B) and Lessard (W) in net. Westminster leads 1-0 after one on a Bethany Dymarczyk goal. Berkshire comes back in second with goals by Wallace, Ryabkina, and Edell to take a 3-1 lead. Berkshire's Wallace scores again in 3rd. Final: Berkshire 4, Westminster 1.

#2 Pomfret vs. #7 Loomis, 3:15 (at Pomfret) -- Kingston (L) and Bellonio (P) in net. 0-0 after one period. Pomfret 1-0 after two -- Lorms from Long and Nelson. No scoring in third. Final: Pomfret 1, Loomis 0.

#3 Nobles vs. #6 Andover, 3:30 (at Nobles) --Stephens (N) and Frompkin (A) in net. 2-0 Andover after one, both goals by Olivia Coffey. Lindsay Moramarco added an empty-netter in the game's final minute. Final Score: Andover 3, Nobles 0.

#4 Lawrence vs. #5 Choate, 6:00 (at Lawrence) -- Goaltenders are Yokow (C) and Muse (LA). 0-0 after one period. Shots in the first were LA 13, Choate 10. In the second the teams found the back of the net as Knight scored for Choate, then Hollstein for LA, then Gerasimow for Choate, then Hollstein again for LA. Prough scored the last goal of the period to put LA up 3-2 after two. Shots in the second were LA 19, Choate 4. In the third, Prough scored two more for the hat trick as LA won 5-3. Final: Lawrence 5, Choate 3.

Div. II

#1 Brewster vs. #8 Brooks, 3:30 (at Brewster) -- White (Brewster) and Christopher (Brooks) in net. 0-0 after one period. In the second, Louisa, LeBlanc, and Campbell scored for Brewster, and Conway and Bradley scored for Brooks to make it 3-2 Brewster after two. In the third, Sennerty and Kirker scored for Brewster and Bruno scored for Brooks. Final: Brewster 5, Brooks 3.

#2 Greenwich vs. #7 Kents Hill, 3:30 (at Southfield) -- Goaltenders: Doherty (KH) and A. Pujol (GA). Greenwich goals were scored by K. Pujol, Taussig, Crane, Ireland, and Amicucci. Kents Hill goal was scored by Rundlett. Final: Greenwich Academy 5, Kents Hill 1.

#3 Rivers vs. #6 St. George's, 4:00 (at Rivers) -- Parker (R) and Plunkett (SG) in net. 1-1 after one period, goals by Walsh (R) and Hood (SG). 2-2 after two periods. Final: St. George's 4, Rivers 3.

#4 Hebron vs. #5 Kingswood-Oxford, 4:15 (at Phillips Exeter) -- Hebron up 1-0 after one period. Goal by Fey. Kingswood scores in second to make it 1-1 after two. It's still 2-2 after three, and going into OT. Hebron wins it, 2-1, in OT on a Sarah Cain goal. Final: Hebron 2, Kingswood-Oxford 1 (OT).

Sat. March 4 -- Semifinals
at Southfield School; Brookline, Mass.

Div. II
10:00 am -- Brewster vs. Hebron
12:00 pm -- Greenwich Academy vs. St. George's

Div. I
2:00 pm -- Berkshire vs. Lawrence
4:00 pm -- Pomfret vs. Andover

Sun. March 5 -- Finals
at Southfield School; Brookline, Mass.

10:30 am -- Div. II Championship Game
12:30 pm - Div. I Title Game