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Tues. 3/12/19 

USHR Awards, 2018-19

Girls’ Prep Player of the Year

Julia Nearis, Senior Forward, Kent (BU)

This was a close race between four or five talented hockey players. For us, what it came down to was Nearis’s performance in the postseason. Unlike the coaches’ awards, we wait until the playoffs are over before making our final selections. Since the best players can usually be found on teams that reach the playoffs, we think playoff performance should be considered. And Nearis put her team on her back and went out and dominated in all three of her playoff games, including back-to-back playoff hat tricks against St. Paul’s and Loomis. It was a remarkable performance that we feel moved her slightly ahead of a strong field.

Honorable Mention:

Jess Schryver, Senior forward, Loomis (Northeastern)
Kate Holmes, Senior forward, Williston (Northeastern)
Caroline Kukas, Senior goaltender, Brooks (St. Anselm College)
Sophia Merageas, Junior goaltender, Andover

***

Girls’ Prep Top Forward

Jess Schryver, Senior, Loomis Chaffee  (Northeastern)

We’ve been watching Jess Schryver play her entire four years at Loomis, leading the Pelicans to four straight NEPSAC semifinal appearances. She has scored well over 150 career points, which is a remarkable statistic considering the heavy D-I schedule Loomis plays. It’s a shame Schryver was injured in the first playoff game against Williston because she was nowhere near 100 percent in the Pelicans semifinal loss to Kent. There was no way Loomis was going to beat a red-hot Kent team without its best player.

Honorable Mention:

Anne Berry, Senior, Tabor
Kaitlyn O’Donohoe, Senior, Choate
Kate Holmes, Senior, Williston
Katie Pyne, Sophomore, Nobles
Kaitlin Shaughnessy, Senior, Rivers
Kristyna Kaltounkova, Junior, Vermont Academy

***

Girls’ Prep Top Defenseman

Lily Farden, Senior, Nobles (Harvard)

Farden is another player who had a tremendous four-year career, leading Nobles to two NEPSAC championships, one as a runner-up, and one semifinal finish. If Farden hadn’t missed a stretch of games with an injury, she could have been Player of the Year. In the Championship Game against Kent, Farden seemed to be on the ice the entire game, playing outstanding hockey at both ends of the ice.

Honorable Mention:

Deirdre Mullowney, Senior, Deerfield
Lauren Deblois, Senior, New Hampton
Caroline Cutter, Senior, Brooks
Mia Biotti, Sophomore BB&N
Julia Shaunessy, Junior, Tabor

***

Girls’ Prep Top Goalie

Caroline Kukas, Senior, Brooks (St. Anselm’s)

Brooks came up one game short in its quest for the D-II championship this year, losing to Rivers. But Kukas had another spectacular season. The St. Anselm’s commit is a bit on the small side, but is one of the most athletic goaltenders we have seen at this level. She gives her team a realistic chance to win every time it plays, and that’s the best compliment you can give a goalie. We think there will be many D-I schools looking back over the next four years, regretting not recruiting her.

Honorable Mention:

Sophia Merageas, Junior, Andover
Maddie Beck, Junior, St. Paul’s
Hope Walinski, Junior, Winchendon
Katie Desa, Freshman, St. George’s
Catie Boudiette, Senior, Kent

***

Girls' Prep Top Freshman

Kristina Allard, Defenseman, St. Paul’s (Northeastern)

We watched St. Paul’s play a number of times this season, becoming increasingly impressed with Allard’s game. Most notably, Allard is one of the best skating young defenseman we have seen at this level. Although not big, she is aggressive and strong on the puck. She also has an excellent stick. If Allard continues to improve at this rate, she should be a force in the league over the next three seasons.

Honorable Mention:

Lily Brazis, Cushing
Emerson O’Leary, Nobles
Sophia Kennedy, BB&N
Mia Langlois, Cushing
Kate Ham, Nobles

***

Girls’ Prep Coach of The Year

Corey Cooper, Hotchkiss

Of all the awards we give out, this might have been the easiest one to decide. In one of the best first-year coaching performances we can remember, Cooper came within one game of making the D-I playoffs this season, winning 14 games in total. What’s even more remarkable is that in its previous three seasons, Hotchkiss had only won four games in 2017-18, five games in 2016-17 and four games in 2015-16 -- and that was when the Bearcats had Lindsay Reed, the top goalie in prep hockey, between the pipes.

Tues. 3/5/19

NEPSGIHA 2018-2019 All-NEPSAC Teams

 
Division I
Player of the Year
Lily Farden — Noble and Greenough School — 2019

All-NEPSAC First Team

Forwards
Annie Berry — Tabor Academy — 2019
Kate Holmes — Williston Northampton School — 2019
Katie Pyne — Noble and Greenough School — 2021
Jessica Schryver — Loomis Chaffee School — 2019
Natalie Tulchinsky — St. Paul's School — 2020
Christina Vote — Williston Northampton School — 2021

Defense
Mia Biotti — Buckingham Browne & Nichols School — 2021
Lily Farden — Noble and Greenough School — 2019
Deirdre Mullowney — Deerfield Academy — 2019
Julia Shaunessy — Tabor Academy — 2020

Goaltenders
Maddie Beck — St. Paul's School — 2020
Hope Walinski — Winchendon School — 2021

All-NEPSAC Honorable Mention Team

Forwards
Anna Bargman — Phillips Academy Andover — 2021
Caroline DiFiore — Williston Northampton School — 2019
Mary Edmonds — Deerfield Academy — 2019
Julianna Gong — St. Mark's School — 2019
Molly Griffin — Buckingham Browne & Nichols School — 2020
Courtney Hyland — Noble and Greenough School — 2019
Skylar Irving — Tabor Academy — 2021
Julia Nearis — Kent School — 2019
Kaitlyn O'Donohoe — Choate — 2019

Defense
Bree Bergeron — Loomis Chaffee School — 2020
Claudia Capone — Williston Northampton School — 2019
Lauren DeBlois — New Hampton School — 2019
Claudia Vira — Taft School — 2019
Meghan Ward — Phillips Academy Andover — 2019

Goaltenders
Maggie Hatch — Hotchkiss School — 2021
Rieley Jessie-Gerelli — Pomfret School — 2020
Michaela O'Brien — Phillips Exeter Academy — 2019

_________________________________________________


NEPSGIHA 2018-2019 All-NEPSAC Teams

Division II
Player of the Year
Caroline Kukas — Brooks School — 2019

All-NEPSAC First Team

Forwards
Mikah Baptiste — Kimball Union Academy — 2019
Carley Daly — Worcester Academy — 2019
Lily Delaney — Groton School — 2019
Brittany Foster — Berwick Academy — 2020
Kristyna Kaltounkova — Vermont Academy — 2020
Kate Shaughnessy — Rivers School — 2019

Defense
Madi Aumann — St. George's School — 2019
Shannon Burke — Worcester Academy — 2021
Bridget Cornell — Groton School — 2019
Leslie Schwartz — Rivers School — 2019

Goaltenders
Kristen DiCicco — Holderness School — 2020
Caroline Kukas — Brooks School — 2019

All-NEPSAC Honorable Mention Team

Forwards
Isabelle Allieri — Middlesex School — 2021
Rachael DeLong — Canterbury School — 2019
Sydney Foster — Berwick Academy — 2020
Rylee Glennon — Rivers School — 2020
Quin Healy — Brooks School — 2020
Olivia Mastrangelo — St. George's School — 2019
Caroline O'Keefe — Brooks School — 2019
Bobbi Roca — Greenwich Academy — 2019
Claire Weber — Thayer Academy — 2020

Defense
Caroline Cutter — Brooks School — 2019
Tiffany Foster — Berwick Academy — 2020
Klára Jandušíková — Vermont Academy — 2020
Peyton Mulhern — St. George's School — 2019
Bella Parento — Kimball Union — 2020
Savannah Popick — The Gunnery — 2020

Goaltenders
Katie Broccoli — The Gunnery — 2019
Katie DeSa — St. George's School — 2022

Sun. 3/3/19

Kent Stuns Nobles Late; Wins First Div. I Title

Worcester, Mass. – Kent won its first-ever Division 1 NEPSAC Girls’ Hockey Championship with a resounding 4-1 win over a previously undefeated Nobles team. Senior Julia Nearis, who led Division 1 scoring in the playoffs with seven goals in three games, propelled the Lions to the championship and was named MVP. 

Nobles came out of the gates flying and was all over what looked to be an exhausted Kent squad. The first period ended 0-0, but Nobles had Kent on its heels for a majority of the period. Kent junior goalie Catie Boudiette made some key saves to keep the Bulldogs off the board. 

Nobles carried its momentum into the second. The Bulldogs were finally able to break the deadlock with 5:29 to go in the period on a power play goal as sophomore Katie Pyne launched a quick shot five-hole. Pyne was given the chance on an impressive pass from senior Lily Farden. Farden, it seemed, never really left the ice. She was anywhere and everywhere for Nobles. Boudiette of Kent made some more key saves to keep it at 1-0 Nobles heading into the final 16 minutes. 

Kent would come out for the third period a completely renewed team. The line of Nearis and the Welcke twins skated around the Bulldogs and put on heavy pressure early, forcing a Nobles penalty. Finally, a little over five minutes into the period, Kent leveled the score at 1-1 on a power play goal off a brilliant series of passes from Luisa Welcke to Lilli Welcke to eventual goal scorer Millie Rose Sirum. A couple of minutes later, the Lions struck again, finding the back of the net on a similar sequence. This time, it was senior Kiersten Goode from fellow senior Cec Ehrhard to put Kent in the driver’s seat with a 2-1 lead. Nobles never gave themselves a chance to bring the game back to even. They appeared shocked at the heavy pressure they were under, and never had the chance to regroup. Plus, Nobles coach Tom Resor had already used his timeout in the second. Nobles did have one lengthy power play opportunity, but the Kent defense was composed and seemed determined that the title was heading back home to Western Connecticut with them. Senior Haley Uliasz would extend Kent’s lead to two with 3:44 remaining on the clock, firing a rocket from the point that Nobles’ goalie Taylor Hyland never saw coming. Nearis would then add an empty-netter late to give Kent the 4-1 win. 

Three years ago, when this year’s Kent seniors were freshmen, they met New Hampton in the NEPSAC Division I final. They gave up a late third-period lead and, with it, the championship that was right within their reach. We couldn’t help but think of how that day might have impacted this group of seniors and the way they came out for the third period. If the Lions had played the first period the way they did the third, the game would have been nowhere nearly as dramatic. They definitely showed today that they were the best team in New England girls’ prep hockey this season.

Kent 4, Nobles 1
D-I Championship Game
Sunday, March 3, 2019

(Goal times represent time remaining in the period.)

Period 1:
No scoring

Period 2:
5:29 Nobles -- Katie Pyne (Lily Farden)

Period 3:
10:51 Kent-- Millie Rose Sirum (Lilli Welcke, Luisa Welcke)
8:04 Kent -- Kiersten Goode (Cec Ehrhard)
3:44 Kent -- Haley Uliasz (Sirum, Julia DiNapoli)
1:48 Kent -- Julia Nearis (Catie Boudiette) ENG

Div. I Chuck Vernon MVP:
Kent senior forward Julia Nearis  

Sun. 3/3/19

Rivers Wins Div. II Championship

Worcester, Mass. – A Kaitlin Shaughnessy goal late in the second period turned out to be the game-winner as Rivers edged ISL rival Brooks, 3-1, to win the 2019 Div. II Championship Sunday at the Worcester Ice Center.

Midway through the first period, Rivers got on the board when junior Maggie Barrow snuck one by Brooks goalie Caroline Kukas on the power play. It was a shot we felt, given Kukas’s tremendous season, that she might have had. But Kukas did have her hands full, as it was all Rivers in the first frame.

In the second period, Brooks was given a handful of power play opportunities that they couldn’t capitalize on, as the Red Wings’ composure made it difficult for Brooks to gain traction. Rivers continued to dominate when at even strength, and finally Shaughnessy, who had been everywhere on the ice, found the back of the net, beating Kukas on a nearside shot with 1:13 left, giving Rivers what many thought would be a 2-0 lead heading into the final 16 minutes of the season. Brooks, however, would not go away and got one back less than a minute later – with just nine seconds left in the period -- to cut the Rivers lead to 2-1. On the play, Rivers freshman goalie Eve Stone, who played a remarkable game, had some miscommunication with her defense and let the puck loose. Brooks’s Carly Stefanini picked the puck up and slotted it home with a quick wrap-around to change the dynamic of the game heading into the third.

Rivers came out flying in the third period, making it difficult for Brooks to mount a comeback. The Red Wings controlled the pace of play and had numerous chances to go up by two, but Kukas stood on her head to keep that from happening. However, with 2:31 to go, a sloppy turnover from the Brooks defense allowed senior Camille Phelan to make it 3-1. The clock ran down, and Rivers had its big prize.

The senior leadership of the Red Wings really showed Sunday. Even senior Leslie Schwartz, who wasn’t able to play, was a loud force on the bench. This class showed tremendous composure and resilience. A year ago, we saw them lose in the finals. Sunday, on their second time around, they proved they had gained enough experience and knowledge to come out and win their crown.

Rivers 3, Brooks 1
D-II Championship Game
Sunday, March 3, 2019

(Goal times represent time remaining in the period.)

Period 1:
6:44 Rivers -- Margaret Barrow (Kaitlyn Nadeau)

Period 2:
1:13 Rivers -- Kaitlin Shaughnessy (Barrow)
0:09 Brooks -- Carly Stefanini (unassisted)

Period 3:
2:31 Rivers -- Camille Phelan (Zoe Brown, Lauren Glaser)

D-II Robert Rand MVP:
Rivers senior forward Kaitlin Shaughnessy

 Sun. 3/3/19

Championship Sunday Schedule
March 3rd, 2019

-- At Worcester Ice Center; Worcester, Mass.

Div. II Championship, 1:00 pm:
#1 Brooks vs. #2 Rivers

Div. I Championship, 4:00 pm:
#2 Nobles vs. #5 Kent

Sat. 3/2/19

Girls' Prep Hockey Finals Predictions

D-I Championship Game: 

#2 Nobles vs #5 Kent (Sun. 3/3, 4:00 pm @ the Worcester Ice Center)

If you had asked us about this potential matchup back in December, we would have said Nobles would win by three goals, but here we are three months later and we're not so sure. We saw Kent blank St. Paul's in Wednesday's quarterfinals and were blown away by the Lions' improvement. The Kent defense will be key in this game. Nobles' high-scoring offense relies heavily on its freshmen and sophomores to do much of the scoring, and they will have their hands full trying to get to the net against a big and physical Kent backend.

On the flip side, the Kent forwards are also highly skilled, with two lines that can be dominant at times. They won't be easy for Nobles to handle. Julia Nearis has back-to-back hat tricks in two playoff games and looks unstoppable. Nobles doesn’t give up many shots, but we expect they'll be challenged more Sunday than at any other time this season.

In sum, a heavyweight battle. 

Prediction:
Kent 3, Nobles 2 (OT)

D-II Championship Game:

#1 Brooks vs. #2 Rivers (Sun. 3/3, 1:00 pm @ the Worcester Ice Center)

This matchup between the two top teams in D-II is one nearly everyone has been expecting for months. The two team have met once before this season, as Rivers traveled to Brooks in the beginning of January for what turned out to be a very even game, with Brooks eventually winning, 3-2. We expect more of the same tomorrow, just on a bigger stage.

Unfortunately, Rivers is still missing its top defenseman, Leslie Schwartz, which won't help the Red Wings shut down the dynamic Brooks attack. Rivers has a few forwards -- led by red-hot Rylee Glennon and Kate Shaughnessy -- who are a threat to score every time they are on the ice. But the Brooks defense has been excellent all season, led by seniors Caroline Cutter and Ashley Houilihan. And if that isn’t enough, the Rivers forwards will have their hands full trying to find a way to score on Brooks's all-everything goalie, Caroline Kukas.

Prediction:
Brooks 4, Rivers 2

Fri. 3/1/19

Semifinal Predictions

D-I Semifinals:

#2 Nobles vs. #6 Andover (Sat. 3/2, 3:00 pm @ Nobles)

The Big Blue stunned #3 Tabor on Wednesday with some opportunistic scoring and a tremendous team defensive performance. Can they do it again against the defending champs and the most talented team in girls prep hockey? We don’t think so. It is really hard to score a goal against Nobles. Very few opportunities.

Prediction:
Nobles 3, Andover 0

#5 Kent vs. #8 Loomis (Sat. 3/2, 2:30 pm @ Kent)

Loomis picked itself up off the canvas and shocked #1 Williston at home on Wednesday. They better hope top scorer Jess Schryver is able to play after getting injured on Wednesday. Kent looks like a team on a mission.

Prediction:
Kent 3, Loomis 2
 

D-II Semifinals:

#1 Brooks vs. #4 Worcester (Fri. 3/1, 6:00 pm @ Brooks)

Brooks beat Worcester already this season, a 4-2 road win on January 23rd. But, after a few weeks of some lackluster play, the Hilltoppers have looked much better recently. Still , we don't think they'll have an answer for Brooks goaltender Caroline Kukas.

Prediction:
Brooks 2, Worcester 1

#2 Rivers vs. #3 St. George's (Sat. 3/2, 3:15 pm @ Rivers)

The Dragons shocked the girls' prep hockey world on January 9th when they traveled to Rivers and dismantled the Red Wings, 3-0, in their own building. Can they do it again? We think this might be the best game of the day. These two teams are very close.

Prediction:
Rivers 4, St. George's 3 (OT)

Fri. 3/1/19

Semifinals Schedule (Revised)

Due to Saturday's weather forecast calling for 3-6" of snow, tomorrow's scheduled #1 Brooks vs. #4 Worcester semifinal has been moved up to tonight (Friday) at 6:00 pm, at Brooks.

Check back because there may be others.

Saturday, March 2nd:

Div. I:
#8 Loomis vs. #5 Kent, 2:30 pm (@ Kent)
#2 Nobles vs. #6 Andover, 3:00 pm (@ Nobles)

Div. II
#1 Brooks vs. #4 Worcester, 3:00 pm (@ Brooks) -- Moved up to Friday 3/1 @ 6:00 pm
#2 Rivers vs. #3 St. George's, 3:15 pm (@ Rivers)


Sunday, March 3:

Championship Sunday

@ Worcester Ice Center; Worcester, Mass.

Div. II, 1:00 pm
Div. I, 4:00 pm

Printable Bracket