3/5/06
Dramatic Comeback Earns Salisbury Div. I Crown
Salem, NH -- The Salisbury School, led by Alex Biega, scored three unanswered goals in the third period to complete a come-from-behind win, edging Taft 4-3 for the Div. I prep title here today.After a first period that was even, with Salisbury getting a goal from Dan Reed early and Taft answering with an Andrew Balysky goal late, it was 1-1 and appeared to be anybody's game.
Taft, however, came out hard in the second, and dominated from beginning to end, scoring two goals, a rebound tally by Bobby Kramer early and a Max Pacioretty lights-out laser late, to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission.
"I told my players," said Dan Donato afterward, "that a two-goal lead is the hardest lead to hold. I told them if they could get one, that the next one would come easier."
The Salisbury team that came out for the third was a totally different-looking team than the team that had showed up for the first five periods here in Salem. They were bringing it, and Taft seemed to be watching the show.
Still, it took a bit of work for Salisbury to get that first goal. They finally broke through when Paul Carey, who missed Saturday's semifinal with a case of the strep and couldn't even watch Saturday's game due to upheavals in his gastrointestinal tract, found himself in the right wing corner with the puck. When no Taft defenseman made a move toward him, the sophomore took the clear lane to the net and wristed a low shot by Taft goalie Andrew Margolin to make it a 3-2 game at the 5:16 mark.
Donato had said the next one would be easier, but time was passing and with it opportunity. Salisbury was getting shots and dominating play, while Taft didn't even get a shot on Salisbury goalie Anthony Borrelli until seven minutes into the third. But dominating play means little without scoring goals, and Salisbury wasn't getting anything past Margolin.
As the clock moved toward five minutes remaining, it began to look like Taft might be able to pull out the win, at least as long as Margolin could come up big.
But then senior co-captain Alex Biega struck twice.
With the puck on his stick at the left point, Biega pedaled his quick feet, looking for an opening. When he found it he fired a low, hard shot that forward Sean Sylvester, stationed about five feet in front, got his stick on and deflected upward, high into the net. Margolin had no chance. And Salisbury, with 5:21 left in the game, had tied it at 3-3.
The knock-out blow came just 42 seconds later when Biega carried the puck into the zone with speed and fired one hard on net that rebounded out to Will Ortiz, who whistled it right back past Margolin with 4:39 left to give Salisbury its third straight even-strength goal -- and a 4-3 lead.
Taft head coach Dan Murphy called a time out to settle down his players.
After the TO, the Rhinos played better, harder, and with desperation, and had some chances in the final few minutes. A puck bounced off the end boards strangely and came out front but eluded chances to get good wood on it. Jack Downing had a nice chance with 1:11 left. And then, with the extra attacker on, Eric Baier walked in for a nice chance in the final minute. But it was too little too late: nothing was going to get by Borelli at this point.
"Salisbury in the third period just outworked us," said Murphy. "They won the little battles and just kept coming. They played a great game."
The win gave Salisbury their first-ever Division I title, and capped off a season in which they won the Flood-Marr Championship and went wire to wire as the #1 ranked team in New England. They had to work hard at the end to get the gonfalon, but they did just that.
As for Taft, they came far for a young team. Most of their key players will be back next year, so they'll get a good kick at the can come next fall.
3/5/06
Hebron Tops Proctor 5-3 For Div. II Title
Salem, NH -- Hebron Academy, behind a Jordan Krusch hat trick, topped Proctor Academy to take the Div. II title today, 5-3.
Krusch scored the game-winner with 4:16 left in the game, an unassisted goal, that came when Proctor junior defenseman Dana Lucenta, from behind his own goal line, attempting to make an outlet pass, put the puck right on the stick of Krusch, moving in toward the net. Krusch easily tucked it by Proctor goaltender Josh Rosenholtz to give Hebron a 4-3 lead.
It was the second straight game here decided on a clear-cut defensive zone turnover, as last night's Salisbury OT win over Cushing was also decided thusly.
With one second left in the game, Matt Pedemonti scored an empty-netter for the final 5-3 margin of victory.
This was a game with several shifts of momentum. Hebron owned the first period, taking a 1-0 lead on a Krusch wraparound 2:55 in.
In the second, an even period, the teams traded goals. Hebron went up 2-0 when Krusch, in the left wing corner, got the puck out front to Pedemonti, who held it nicely before jamming it past Rosenholtz. Proctor then scored on a Matt Robertson power play goal off passes from Al Milley and Chris Leach to cut Hebron's lead to 2-1. Hebron then went up 3-1 on a Krusch rink-lengh rush, that came when the junior forward picked up a loose puck in the Proctor zone and took off the length of the ice, wristing it past Rosenholtz at the 7:10 mark, an unassisted goal. Proctor came back with 4:14 left in the period, cutting the Hebron lead to one when Ian Flanagan, behind the net, fed it out front to Neil Ruffini, who easily tucked it behind Glant.
Hebron took a 3-2 lead into the third, but Proctor came out hard, and at 3:06 Ruffini tied the game up when he walked over the blue line and took a low shot from the top of the faceoff circle. He didn't appear to get good wood on it, and it may have fooled Glant, but it slid into the net glove side to tie the game at 3-3.
Then, with 4:16 left, Krush scored the game winner, and Hebron wins their first Div. II title since back-to-back titles in 1994-95.
3/5/06
Berkshire, GA Win Championships
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
3/4/06
Brewster, GA, Berkshire & Pomfret Advance
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.
3/1/06 Updated
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
