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* * 🏒  HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT GUIDE  🏒 * *

Sat. 11/25/17

Belmont Hill Jamboree
8:30 am -- Proctor Academy 2, Belmont Hill 1 -- David Netburn and Ronan Walsh scored for Proctor.

10:00 am -- Winchendon 4, St. Mark's 1 -- St. Mark's went up 1-0 early on a goal by Gibbons, but Winchendon answered with four straight. Leading the way were Matt Fawcett (2g, 1a), Ryan Black (3a), Cam Gendron (1g,1a), and Danny Cavanagh (1g).

11:30 am -- St. Andrew's College 8, Proctor Academy 2 -- Brendan Bowie (2g,2a), Matthew McKim (3a), Ian MacLean (2g). Evan McIntyre (1g,1a), Mark Hillier (1g,1a), and Thomas Munro (2a) all had multiple points for St. Andrew's.

1:00 pm -- Winchendon 5, Belmont Hill 2 -- Ryan Black (2g,1a), Ville Rainio (1g,1a), Danny Allen (1g,1a), Cam Gendron (1g,1a), Matt Fawcett (2a) led the way for Winchendon. Grant and Khozozian scored for Bel Hill.

2:30 pm -- St. Andrew's College 6, St. Mark's 0 -- Didn't get to see this one.

Notes:

Belmont Hill: Losing Christian O'Neill (Omaha/Princeton) and Sam Hesler (Wenatchee/Dartmouth), each of whom had 19 goals last season, is a huge loss up front -- and finding that kind of scoring is difficult. Up front, we thought senior center Noah Traylor played with a lot of energy and his linemate junior Mike Holland we noted a bit too. The defense will be a strength,  with James Perullo leading the way. John Copeland, a 6'7" right shot, has been converted to D this year, and it will be interesting to see how he progresses during the course of the season. Goaltending, with Connor Hopkins (Yale) and Jack Eselius, is also strength. If the Hillies can find the scoring they could be in the hunt again, but that's a big if.

Proctor: With USHR Prep Player of the Year Reilly Walsh off to Harvard, the Hornets have a vastly different look this season. Also lost to graduation is Matt Slick (Chilliwack) who provided solid defensive cover for Walsh's end-to-end rushes, and leading scorer Tate Singleton (Army). The top returning scorer is senior center Cole Joslin and not far behind him is junior Myles Abbate, a strong skater. Sophomore wing Ronan Walsh, Reilly's younger brother, has a lot of upside, with his size and sense of the game. But he's an '02 and 6'4"; his skating hasn't caught up with this body. Sophomore Aidan Torres will have to take a big role on the blue line.

Winchendon: They've lost three of their top four scorers to graduation: Mike Hardman (Des Moines/Union), Ben Thomas (Sioux Falls/Union), and Johnny Mulera (Junior Bruins/Providence College). But Matt Fawcett, a Quinnipiac recruit, is back and leads the attack. Senior Cam Gendron looks bigger and stronger and will be a player to watch closely. Senior F Danny Allen will have to use his speed to play a bigger role in the offense. The most impressive newcomer we saw on Winchendon is Ryan Black, a '99 PG who played last year at Woodstock Academy (Conn. D-III HS). He's a heady player with a nose for the net. If his skating can improve a little bit, he'll draw college interest. Sophomore Danny Cavanagh, from Bishop Hendricken and the Rhode Island Cavanaghs, is an '02 whose youth and bloodlines alone make him one to keep an eye on. 6'4" PG James Corcoran, from Walpole High, is Winchendon's #1 goalie. Corcoran led Walpole High to the Mass Super 8 last March with a .046 gaa and .970 save %. Winchendon scored a ton of goals last year, but they also gave up too many. Corcoran will be key to Winchendon's fortunes.

St. Mark's: The team only has four seniors, two of whom are goaltenders. They've lost so much from last year. Gone are all those '01s: Sean Farrell (NTDP/Harvard), Henry Thrun (NTDP/Harvard), Colby Bailey (Nobles), Tyler Young (Lawrence). Also gone, via graduation, is Ethan Kimball (Powell River). And injuries? Sophomore D Tucker Hartmann was out today, as was newcomer Matt Toporowski from the Lac St-Louis Lions (Quebec Midget AAA). Coach Carl Corazzini sees the 5'7" Toporowski, who is a high-end NESCAC/lower-end DI player, as his top center.  Despite all this, Corazzini says he's excited about watching his young team evolve over the course of the season. '02 defenseman Ian Moore, from the Minuteman Flames, is a newcomer to watch.

St. Andrew's College: They lack the high-enders they had last year. We're talking Cam Hillis (OHL), Corey Andonovski (Chilliwack/Princeton), Morgan Barron (Cornell), and Ryan O'Connell (Pentiction/BU). All gone. But there's depth to this team, and they play with pace. Today, in their 12th and 13th games of the season, they had no problem, topping Proctor and St. Mark's by a combined score of 14-2. Top-line forwards Matthew McKim and Brendan Bowie were standouts. Third line center Mark Hillier, an '02 sophomore from Newfoundland, is a player to watch. On D, we liked left-shot senior Evan McIntyre. Didn't get a strong feel for the goalies. Head coach David Manning did not make the trip, as he and his wife just have a new-born baby at home. St. Andrew's will scrimmage Dexter at 10:15 Sunday morning before heading back to Toronto. They will return for the St. Sebastian's Tournament Dec. 15-17.


***

Other prep scrimmages today:

Thayer 5, Rivers 0, 10:00 am at Rivers (S)

Nobles 5, St. Sebastian's 1,  2:00 pm @ Nobles (S)

Thurs. 11/30/17

Taking the Next Step

Thank you to the handful of coaches who took the time to submit their box scores to Wednesday's games. We know who you are and we appreciate it greatly.

We believe the players will appreciate it too, both today and years from now, when they are able to look back to their prep school days and actually see a record of all their games along with rosters and schedules showing everyone they played against. Over the years, I have heard from many former players wishing they had something like this to remember their days in prep school.

Others who enjoy it would be the parents who make financial sacrifices to send their kids to prep school. College coaches have told us they find our site extremely useful, but wish there was more in the way of stats. So we're reaching out to the prep coaches for help.

USHR is the only independently-run girls prep hockey site that focuses on one league. We feel prep hockey deserves coverage that is the equal of the level of play.

We were looking at the Shattuck-St. Mary's Girls Hockey site today. It's pretty impressive, and no doubt cost the school a good deal of money. But hockey is important to them -- they're 27-1-2 -- so they do it.

USHR costs the participating schools absolutely nothing. For the past 13 years, this typist has supported it primarily with proceeds shifted over from the boys site, some ads, and some donations from parents happy with what prep hockey brought to their daughters' lives. We've also had one terrific volunteer -- a true godsend -- who has labored for years, adding missing schedules, rosters, scores, stats, etc.

Within a week we will be charging for the USHR Girls site. It's not much. Our guide was simply charging half of what we charge for the boys' site. For the site to make that quantum leap this year, we need to charge, to pay writers, to pay travel expenses, to pay for the cost of running the site.

If any coaches, potential writers, advertisers, parents or anyone else has questions about the site please drop me a note at cwarner@ushr.com.

Thank you for your support. We aim to repay it in kind.

Chris Warner
U.S. Hockey Report
Cambridge, Mass.

Wed. 11/29/17

Nobles Edges Defending Champs New Hampton, 2-1

Dedham, Mass. -- In a game that lived up to the pre-season hype, senior Katie Tresca, a Harvard commit, scored both goals as Nobles held off defending champion New Hampton, 2-1, to kick off the girls prep season in a thrilling back-and-forth game.

Tresca put the Bulldogs up 1-0 in the first, with the goal coming off a scramble in front of the New Hampton net.

In the second period, New Hampton started to take over the play as their strong first line of Savannah Norcross and McKenzie Haberl both had quality chances with a lot of offensive zone time. Nobles Senior goaltender Kelly Pickreign, a BC recruit, was solid all night.

At the start of the third period, New Hampton defenseman Lauren DeBlois scored a goal from the point that Pickreign never saw, tying the game at 1-1. Both teams traded quality chances until Nobles star freshman Katie Pyne made a terrific play on a 2-on-1 with Tresca to give the Bulldogs the lead for good. New Hampton had chances in the third period, but Nobles’ strong defense was the difference down the stretch.

As for Nobles, many observers felt they would be down a bit this year after losing star forwards Becca Gilmore and Casey O’Brien. That, however, is clearly not the case. The Bulldogs have a lot of young players and impressive newcomers. We were very impressed with the dynamic Pyne as well as Ellie Bayard and Kaley MacDonald. Clearly the strength of Nobles this year will be their defense, which is led by Lily Farden, Rose O’Connor, Nicki Lutschaunig – all Harvard commits – and Steph Nomicos, an Amherst recruit. For now, Nobles is without star defenseman Jenna MacDonald, who is out with an injury. In net, Pickreign has been a trusted presence for the last several years. We expect her to have another strong season. And we expect Nobles will be in the hunt for another NEPSAC Championship.

New Hampton is also as good as advertised. Despite losing the dynamic Cayla Barnes to the Olympic Team, New Hampton is loaded with D-I talent. Lauren DuBlois and Maddie Crowley looked solid on the back end and freshman Courtney Colarullo was very impressive. New Hampton will rely on Norcross and Haberl for point production, but their second line of Anna Sheldon, Kelly Mathews and Lily Humphrey had some good offensive zone time against Nobles’ second line. New Hampton goalie Liv Sollows played very well all night. We expect New Hampton will also be there at the end of the season, defending their title.

This was a great start. Make sure you are plugged in to the USHR girls section all season. We have never seen so many quality teams and we expect the race to come right down to the wire.

Sun. 11/26/17

Girls' Prep Composite, Week of Nov. 27, 2017

Monday, Nov. 27, 2017
East Coast Wizards @ Southfield, 6:00 pm (S)
Lewiston HS @ Hebron, 7:30 pm (S)

Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017
Mid-Fairfield @ Choate, 7:30 pm (S)

Mon. 11/20/17

Girls' Prep Composite, Week of Nov. 20, 2017

Friday, Nov. 24, 2017
Union College Jamboree (Day 1 of 3)
Schenectady, NY
All games at Union's Achilles Rink, except where noted
Note: SCRF is the Schenectady County Recreational Facility
It's 15 minutes north of the Union Campus at 5 Tower Rd.; Scotia, NY 12302

1:00 pm      Union      Brewster v Syracuse
2:30 pm      Union      CP Dynamo v Gunnery
5:15 pm      SCRF      Kents Hill v Hoosac

Saturday, Nov. 25, 2017
Union College Jamboree (Day 2 of 3)

Mon. 11/20/17

Welcome to 2017-18!

The 2017-18 Girls’ Prep Pages are now officially open.

All of last season’s news, rosters, schedules, and stats have been archived, and new material will start going into this season’s pages right shortly.

All schedules have been posted, and we’ll have the first composite schedule up tonight.

We’ve done a lot of work on the back end, mostly behind-the-scenes stuff that you probably won’t notice beyond the fact that the site will be running more smoothly than ever.

One major change this year is that we will have to charge for the service. For the past 13 years the USHR Girls Prep site has been free, and we’ve lost money each season as a result. The problem? We need writers, and writers need to be paid, especially those who know their way around the girls game. We have the writers, and coaches have shown increasing interest in uploading their box scores and rosters, something we're excited about. We believe there are enough fans of girls hockey for us to start building a first class website devoted solely to the girls prep game. As for price, we’re taking a conservative route and will be charging only half of what a USHR boys’ subscription would cost. The site will be free of charge through Sat. Dec. 2nd, in order that readers can get a feel for what we'll be doing this season.

We will also be posting jamboree and holiday tournament schedules. Look for those to start going up shortly. Note to coaches: send 'em along, please! The email address is: cwarner(at)ushr.com

Welcome to the new season. We're glad to be here. We’re glad you’re here. And we thank you for your support.

Chris Warner
Publisher/Editor
US Hockey Report
Cambridge, Mass.