Fri. 3/5/10
Elite Semifinals:
A Night of Nail-Biters
Naclerio Goal Lifts Avon past Nobles, 5-4 --
A Mark Naclerio goal -- his second of the game -- with 1:27 remaining in regulation lifted Avon Old Farms to a 5-4 win over a game Nobles squad in a nail-biter that went right down to the final buzzer.
It really looked like Nobles, trailing 4-2 and looking gassed after the second period, would get picked apart by a quick Avon squad in the third. However, Nobles dug deep, utilized the second intermission, gathered energy and came out flying, blitzing Avon for two goals in a little over a minute, tying up the game, and setting up a battle that didn't resolve itself until the final buzzer.
First, sophomore Andrew Doane cut the Avon lead to 4-3, scoring off a faceoff 36 second in. Assists went to Nick Raffone and Ben Wiggins. Right afterwards, Nobles' Kevin Hayes carried the puck behind the net, held it, and hit Mark Hourihan, stationed out front, with a perfect pass. Hourihan buried it at the 1:02 mark, much to the delight of the Nobles' faithful.
Avon, though, got right back into it and the two teams traded chances and power plays for the duration. Both goalies, Avon's Josh Dionne and Nobles' Gene Lane, were forced to come up big.
Nobles had a good chance to go ahead when, with 2:57 left in regulation, Avon turned it over in their own end and Nobles forward Jared Lackey fired a shot that glanced off the crossbar.
A minute and a half later, Avon scored the game winner, but it went down to the wire, as Nobles, with four seconds left, set up nicely off the faceoff in the Avon end, and got the puck on net and, with four seconds left and everyone crashing the net, almost pushed the puck past Dionne. Avon, however, held the fort and will advance to play Northfield-Mt.Hermon Sunday at 3:30 pm.
When the game started out, it looked like Avon was going to blow Nobles out as they scored two goals in the first three minutes of play. Nobles, however, was able to slow things down slightly in the middle of the period and get one back. But the Winged Beavers just came right back with more pressure, moving the puck quickly with precision passing.
Senior Mike Pereira was the story of the period, figuring in two of the three Avon goals.
A minute or so in, Paul Mimms scored off a weird angle deflection -- a little hard to tell exactly how it went in, but it appeared to be a redirection, likely off a skate.
At the 2:37 mark, Avon went up 2-0 when Pereira took a pass at the blue line, neatly pulled the puck from behind him as the turned his body and hit Quinn Smith, who was breaking to the net, with a nice pass. Smith knocked it home from the far post. Avon had the early momentum, and the loud Avon Army energizing them further.
Nobles, however, wasn't fazed, coming back with a big goal to cut it to 2-1 when Ben Wiggins drove to the net and Doane knocked home the rebound at the 11:27 mark.
With 1:46 left in the period, Pereira buried the rebound of a Kevin Tiefenwerth shot to make it 3-0.
The second period was a better one for Nobles. They came out with a lot of energy and got on the board in the first minute on a great effort by Doane, who carried it up the right side, walked an Avon D, circled around behind the net and got it out to the point where Phil Sciretta put it on net, and Nick Raffone knocked home the rebound to cut Avon's lead to 3-2.
Nobles had a great chance to tie it up on a 5-on-3 advantage, but couldn't capitalize.
Late in the period, with 1:13 left, Avon scored off a great passing sequence, with Mark Naclerio and Morgan Mullen swapping passes as they moved into the Nobles' zone with speed. Naclerio finished the play off, snapping it past Nobles' Lane to give Avon a 4-2 lead.
Avon goaltender Josh Dionne was called on to make some big saves, and Lane came up with some nice ones as well.
As the second period came to an end, Nobles' top two lines and D pairings looked gassed, which didn't exactly bode well for Nobles' chances of a comeback in the third, but they confounded all, came back and made it a game, falling just short..
***
JC Cangelosi, NMH Come Through in OT --
Westminster fought back from a 3-0 deficit to send the game into overtime, but came up short in the extra frame as NMH junior JC Cangelosi took a pass from younger brother Austin Cangelosi and beat Westminster goaltender Patrick Spano five-hole at the 5:53 mark. The play was set up by Joe Birmingham, who spotted the younger Cangelosi at the far blue line, hitting hit him with a beautiful pass through the neutral zone - and right on to his stick. Cangelosi spotted his older brother breaking to the net, and NMH, with the 4-3 win, moves on to Sunday's championship game where they will face the winner of the upcoming Nobles/Avon game.
The winning goal came shortly after Westminster had a great opportunity when Peter Michaildis found Andrew Tegeler on a backdoor play but couldn't stuff it past NMH goaltender Branden Komm.
In the first period Gabe Colana put MNH up 1-0 with a power play goal at the 7:57 mark, with assists going to Sean Cirbus and Austin Cangelosi. Less than a minute later, at 8:51, JC Cangelosi made it 2-0 with an assist from Austin Cangelosi.
In the second, 1:17 in, Garrett McMullen scored to put NMH up 3-0, with assists going to Joe Birmingham and Nick Gordon. At 15:33 Westminster, on the power play, cut it to 3-1 when Ryan Tyson scored with assists going to Dan Hnatko and Jeff Smolens. The Hoggers' Josh Woody was called for a hit from behind -- a five minute major -- at 16:44, but Westy couldn't get anything past Komm as the period came to a close.
Westminster started the third with 3:44 of power play remaining on the major, but failed to cash in. However, shortly after, at the 4:23 mark, defenseman Brian McQuillan took a pass from Peter Michaildis and drilled one from the slot to cut the Hoggers' lead to 3-2.
Westminster tied the game at 3-3 when a delay of game was called against NMH goaltender Branden Komm for knocking the net off during a scrum with 2:53 to play, and Westminster was awarded a penalty shot. Ryan Tyson took it, skated in, dipped the left shoulder slightly and beat Komm high stick side to tie it at 3-3, sending the game to overtime.
Sun. 3/7/10
Girls Championship Sunday
-- at the Berkshire School; Sheffield, Mass.
Div. II:
Governor's 5, Southfield 4 (OT) --
Kate Leary, from Alex Carpenter, nets game-winner.
Carpenter named tournament MVP
Div. I:
Westminster 3, Lawrence 1 (final)
Paige Decker named tournament MVP.
Sat. 3/6/10
Girls Prep Semifinals
-- at the Berkshire School; Sheffield, Mass.
Div. II:
Governor's 10, Brooks 1 (final -- 6 g,3a for Alex Carpenter)
Southfield 5, Rivers 3 (final)
Div. I:
Westminster 2, Choate 1
Lawrence 2, Nobles 1
Sunday Championship Games:
Div. II -- 11:00 am -- Governor's vs. Southfield
Div. I -- 1:00 pm -- Westminster vs. Lawrence
Fri. 3/5/10
Championship Weekend is Here
Semifinals: Sat. March 6th at the Berkshire School; Sheffield, Mass.
Div. II - Governor's vs. Brooks, 11:00 am
Div. II - Southfield vs. Rivers, 1:00 pm
Div. I - Choate vs. Westminster, 3:00 pm
Div. I - Nobles vs. Lawrence, 5:00 pm
Finals: Sun. March 7th at the Berkshire School; Sheffield, Mass.
Div. II - Championship Game, 11:00 am
Div. I - Championship Game, 1:00 pm
We are hoping to receive some quality photos from today's quarterfinals and this weekend's semis and finals.. If you have something you like, please send, along with a caption, to information@ushr.com. Thanks! -- USHR
Wed. 3/3/10
Quarterfinals ScoreboardDiv. I
#8 Pomfret @ #1 Choate -- Choate 3, Pomfret 2
#7 Lawrence @ #2 Brewster - Lawrence 5, Brewster 2
#6 Berkshire @ #3 Nobles -- Nobles 2, Berkshire 0
#5 Williston @ #4 Westminster -- Westminster 3, Williston 0
Div. II
#8 NYA @ #1 Governor's -- Governor's 6, NYA 0
#7 Gunnery @ #2 Rivers -- Rivers 5, Gunnery 0
#6 Millbrook @ #3 Southfield (@ Williston) -- Southfield 9, Millbrook 2
#5 Canterbury @ #4 Brooks -- Brooks 4, Canterbury 3
Semifinals: Sat. March 6th at the Berkshire School; Sheffield, Mass.
Div. II -- Governor's vs. Brooks, 11:00 am
Div. II -- Southfield vs. Rivers, 1:00 pm
Div. I -- Choate vs. Westminster, 3:00 pm
Div. I -- Nobles vs. Lawrence, 5:00 pm
Finals: Sun. March 7th at the Berkshire School; Sheffield, Mass.
Div. II -- Championship Game, 11:00 am
Div. I -- Championship Game, 1:00 pm
Wed. 3/3/10
2009-10 Girls All-Star Teams
Div. I
G -- Meghann Treacy, Jr., Williston/Lake Peekskill, NY
D -- Kiana Nauheim, Sr., Brewster/Fairbanks, Alaska
D -- Amanda Boulier, Jr., Westminster/Watertown, Conn.
D -- Delia McNally, Jr., Berkshire, Glen Head, NY
F -- Sam Zeiss, Jr, Choate/Stamford, Conn.
F -- Sarah MacDonnell, Jr., Brewster/Quisprimsis, NB, Canada
F -- Ali Vakos, Sr., Berkshire/Hamden, Conn.
F -- Haley Frade, Jr., Tabor, Marion, Mass.
Div. I Player of the Year:
Louise Warren, Senior Forward
Brewster Academy/Pembroke, Ont., Canada
Div. II:
G - Brianne Wheeler, Sr., KUA/Brussels, Ont., Canada
D - Ashley Salerno, Sr., NYA/Brunswick, Maine
D - Natasha Klinoff, Jr., Southfield/Concord, Mass.
F - Eliza Hompe, Sr., Greenwich/New Canaan, Conn.
F - Jen Hand, Sr., KUA/Westford, Mass.
F - Nicole Haskins, Sr., Southfield/Quincy, Mass.
Div. II Player of the Year:
Courtney Dumont, Senior Forward
North Yarmouth Academy/Augusta, Maine
-- The above teams were selected by the girls prep coaches.
-- The above teams do not include the Founders' League or ISL, which select their own all-star teams.
Mon. 3/1/10
Girls Prep Tournament Schedule
Wed. March 3 -- quarterfinals
Div. I
#8 Pomfret @ #1 Choate, 2:45 pm
#7 Lawrence @ #2 Brewster, 3:30 pm
#6 Berkshire @ #3 Nobles, 3:15 pm
#5 Williston @ #4 Westminster, 3:30 pm
Div. II
#8 NYA @ #1 Governor's, 4:00 pm
#7 Gunnery @ #2 Rivers, 4:30 pm
#6 Millbrook @ #3 Southfield, 3:30 pm (@ Williston)
#5 Canterbury @ #4 Brooks, 4:00 pm
Sat. March 6 -- semifinals
-- at the Berkshire School; Sheffield, Mass.
Div. II
1/8 winner vs. 4/5 winner, 11:00 am
3/6 winner vs. 2/7 winner, 1:00 pm
Div. I
1/8 winner vs. 4/5 winner, 3:00 pm
3/6 winner vs. 2/7 winner, 5:00 pm
Sun. March 7 -- finals
-- at the Berkshire School; Sheffield, Mass.
Div. II Championship Game, 11:00 am
Div. I Championship Game, 1:00 pm
Mon. 3/1/10
Girls Final Standings
Div. I:
1. Choate
2. Brewster
3. Nobles
4. Westminster
5. Williston-Northampton
6. Berkshire
7. Lawrence
8. Pomfret
9. Hotchkiss
10. Tabor
11. Loomis-Chaffee
Div. II:
1. Governor's
2. Rivers
3. Southfield
4. Brooks
5. Canterbury
6. Millbrook
7. Gunnery
8. NYA
9. Proctor
10. KUA
11. Tilton
12. Thayer
13. Kingswood-Oxford
14. Hebron
15. Middlesex
Detailed Girls Div. I and II Final Standings
