Thurs. 3/5/20
#4 Dexter Blitzes #5 Hotchkiss
Brookline, Mass. -- Whether it was a case of bus legs -- Hotchkiss is nearly three hours from Boston -- or just the immensity of the moment playing in the Elite 8 in front of a packed house, but #5 seed Hotchkiss was blitzed by #4 Dexter with three goals in the first half of the opening period en route to a 5-2 win here Wednesday.
It happened fast. Dexter went up, 1-0, just 2:17 into the game when junior Connor Blanchard on a developing 3-on-1, hit senior Ben Raymond with a great pass and Raymond, using his considerable speed, cut down the wing and took it straight to the net, bearing down on Hotchkiss goaltender Henry Wilder, in a flash. 1-0, Dexter.
A couple of minutes later, at 4:23, senior center Aidan Connolly took a stretch pass and broke in on a 2-on-1 with Jack Dempsey, who put it short-side past Wilder. Bing. 2-0, Dexter.
Less than three minutes later, at 7:20, Dempsey, from in front of the Hotchkiss bench and just inside the Hotchkiss blue line, spotted Connolly with a cross-ice pass. Connolly, off the cycle, beat Wilder stick-side to make it 3-0.
Dexter used its team speed, quick puck movement, and some terrific stretch passes from its ultra-mobile defensemen to send wave after wave into the Hotchkiss zone. It was, if we can borrow from Dustin Pedroia, a laser show.
But Hotchkiss, to its credit, and Wilder, pumped the brakes on Dexter. And anyway, Dexter wasn't going to play a full game vs. Hotchkiss at that tempo. They're not aerobic freaks.
Hotchkiss, settled down by now, got its first legit scoring opportunity halfway through the period -- a couple of good chances, actually. Dexter's freshman goaltender Dylan Silverstein, an '04, was up for them, though.
But with 6:29 left in the period, there was a little miscommunication between Silverstein and one of his defensemen. Silverstein, who should have covered the puck, instead played it and the puck wound up behind the goal line where sophomore Karsen Dorwart, Hotchkiss's big top-line center, put it right on the stick of senior linemate Gavin Puskar, whose shot from the slot beat Silverstein to cut the Dexter lead to 3-1.
With 3:08 left in the period, the Bearcats almost made it a one-goal game as the puck went in the Dexter net, but the goal was waved off because the net was off its mooring.
At the first intermission, down by two goals, Hotchkiss had a fighting chance -- if they got a few breaks.
But they didn't. Instead, Dexter went up, 4-1, at 3:40 of the second period on a goal that deflected off Wilder's skate and into the net. Clearly a goal, but for reasons unknown, was initially disallowed. There was a delayed penalty behind the play, against Hotchkiss. After the officials huddled (for too long), the call was reversed and the goal was awarded to Connolly, his second of the game, from Dempsey. The Bearcats killed off the ensuing penalty.
Then the refs, who called a poor game, called three consecutive penalties on Hotchkiss, each coming as soon as the previous penalty expired. For all practical purposes, Hotchkiss was on the penalty kill for a full six minutes. They did a good job killing it, but they also lost six minutes they could have used to create a scoring opportunity and get back into the game while there was still a reasonable amount of time left. But they were winded and, as the third penalty was about to expire, a Matt Fusco shot from the point rebounded off the end boards and right onto the stick of sophomore Culin Wilson, who made it 5-1.
The third period was anticlimactic. Hotchkiss junior Andrew Esposito, from the side of the net, took a bad-angle shot that deflected off Silverstein with 4:13 to play to cut it to 5-2. And that was it.
Shots were 26-20 in favor of Dexter, though it didn't feel that close.
Dexter will host #8 Berkshire in a Saturday semifinal at 3:00 pm.
"We came in thinking it would be very hard to score on Wilder," said Dexter coach Dan Donato. "He has a great reputation and he's going to BC. And BC doesn't miss on too many goaltenders. So we had that respect factor."
"I thought it was really great to see our guys jump out to a 3-0 lead. And they were like 'OK. We can do this.'"
Down the hall, Hotchkiss head coach Mike Traggio said, "It wasn't quite our day."
They sure did have a great year, though. Going from 11-11-2 in '18-19 to a #5 seed in the Elite 8 is something to remember, even if it takes a while to sink in.
Sun. 3/8/20-- updated
Championship Sunday
Sunday, March 8th Finals
Nobles, SPS, and Cushing 2020 Champs
All games at the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center; Worcester, Mass.
Small Schools: #6 Cushing 2, #1 Rivers 0 (Final)
Large Schools: #1 St. Paul's 6, #2 Choate 0
Elite 8: #1 Nobles 5, #6 Andover 4
Sat. 3/7/20 -- We're missing a few scores. If you have them, please email info@ushr.com Thank you!
Saturday, March 7th Semifinals Scoreboard
Elite 8 (Chuck Vernon Tournament)
1. Nobles (29-0-1); 2. Tabor (23-2-0); 3. BB&N (22-5-1); 4. Kent (15-4-1); 5. Williston (18-5-2); 6. Andover; (16-7-1); 7. Loomis (18-6-1); 8. Westminster (18-6-1)
Saturday, March 7th Elite 8 Semifinal Schedule:
Winner of 1/8 vs. winner of 4/5 -- @ #1 Nobles 1, #5 Williston 0
Winner of 3/6 vs. winner of 2/7 -- @ #6 Andover 2, #7 Loomis Chaffee 0
Large School (Patsy Odden Tournament)
1. Bye -- St. Paul's (19-6-0); 2. Bye -- Choate (13-10-1); 3. Milton (9-12-3); 4. Worcester Academy (16-8-2); 5. Lawrence (11-17-1); 6. Thayer (11-12-2)
Saturday, March 7th Large School Semifinals Scoreboard:
#1 vs. winner of 4/5 -- @ #1 St. Paul's 8, #4 Worcester 0
#2 vs, winner of 3/6 -- @ #2 Choate 2, #3 Milton 0
Small School (Dorothy Howard Tournament)
1. Bye -- Rivers (17-5-2); 2. Bye -- Brooks (17-6-1); 3. St. Mark's (14-10-2); 4. New Hampton (17-9-1); 5. Vermont Academy (18-5-1); 6. Cushing (16-13-0)
Saturday, March 7th Small School Semifinals Scoreboard:
#1 vs. winner of 4/5 -- @ #1 Rivers 5, #4 New Hampton 1
#2 vs. winner of 3/6 -- #6 Cushing 4 @ #2 Brooks 3
Sunday, March 8th Finals Schedule:
All games at the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center; Worcester, Mass.
Small Schools: #1 Rivers vs. #6 Cushing, 1:00 pm
Large Schools: #1 St. Paul's vs. #2 Choate, 3:20 pm
Elite 8: #1 Nobles vs. #6 Andover, 5:20 pm
Wed. 3/4/20
Saturday's semifinal game times included.
Wednesday, March 4th Quarterfinals Scoreboard
Elite 8 (Chuck Vernon Tournament)
1. Nobles (29-0-1); 2. Tabor (23-2-0); 3. BB&N (22-5-1); 4. Kent (15-4-1); 5. Williston (18-5-2); 6. Andover; (16-7-1); 7. Loomis (18-6-1); 8. Westminster (18-6-1)
#8 Westminster @ #1 Nobles -- Nobles 3, Westminster 0
#7 Loomis Chaffee @ #2 Tabor -- Loomis 4, Tabor 3 (OT)
#6 Andover @ #3 BB&N -- Andover 5, BB&N 2
#5 Williston @ #4 Kent -- Williston 3, Kent 1
Saturday, March 7th Elite 8 Semifinal Schedule:
Winner of 1/8 vs. winner of 4/5 -- #5 Williston @ #1 Nobles, 2:30 pm
Winner of 3/6 vs. winner of 2/7 -- #7 Loomis Chaffee @ #6 Andover, 3:00 pm
Large School (Patsy Odden Tournament)
1. Bye -- St. Paul's (19-6-0); 2. Bye -- Choate (13-10-1); 3. Milton (9-12-3); 4. Worcester Academy (16-8-2); 5. Lawrence (11-17-1); 6. Thayer (11-12-2)
#1 Bye
#2 Bye
#6 Thayer @ #3 Milton -- Milton 3, Thayer 2 (OT)
#5 Lawrence @ #4 Worcester -- Worcester 2, Lawrence 1
Saturday, March 7th Large School Semifinal Schedule:
#1 vs. winner of 4/5 -- #4 Worcester @ #1 St. Paul's, 2:30 pm
#2 vs, winner of 3/6 -- #3 Milton @ #2 Choate, 2:00 pm
Small School (Dorothy Howard Tournament)
1. Bye -- Rivers (17-5-2); 2. Bye -- Brooks (17-6-1); 3. St. Mark's (14-10-2); 4. New Hampton (17-9-1); 5. Vermont Academy (18-5-1); 6. Cushing (16-13-0)
#1 Bye
#2 Bye
#6 Cushing @ #3 St. Mark's -- Cushing 6, St. Mark's 3
#5 Vermont Academy @ #4 New Hampton -- New Hampton 5, VA 3
Saturday, March 7th Small School Semifinal Schedule:
#1 vs. winner of 4/5 -- #4 New Hampton @ #1 Rivers, 2:00 pm
#2 vs. winner of 3/6 -- #6 Cushing @ #2 Brooks, 2:00 pm
Sunday, March 8th Finals Schedule:
All games at the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center; Worcester, Mass.
Small Schools, 1:00 pm
Large Schools, 3:20 pm
Elite 8, 5:20 pm
Tues. 3/3/20
Note to all schools planning on streaming playoff games: Please let us know the Internet address by writing info@ushr.com We will publish the list.
Tues. 3/3/20 -- Updated Wed. 3/4/20, 1:30 pm
Wednesday's Quarterfinals Schedule
There are no neutral-site games in the quarterfinals. (The boys had 5 in theirs!)
Elite 8 (Chuck Vernon Tournament)
1. Nobles (29-0-1)
2. Tabor (23-2-0)
3. BB&N (22-5-1)
4. Kent (15-4-1)
5. Williston (18-5-2)
6. Andover (16-7-1)
7. Loomis (18-6-1)
8. Westminster (18-6-1)
#8 Westminster @ #1 Nobles, 3:15 pm
#7 Loomis Chaffee @ #2 Tabor, 4:30 pm
#6 Andover @ #3 BB&N, 3:00 pm
#5 Williston @ #4 Kent, 3:30 pm
Large School (Patsy Odden Tournament)
1. Bye -- St. Paul's (19-6-0)
2. Bye -- Choate (13-10-1)
3. Milton (9-12-3)
4. Worcester (16-8-2)
5. Lawrence (11-17-1)
6. Thayer (11-12-2)
#1 Bye
#2 Bye
#6 Thayer @ #3 Milton, 3:45 pm
#5 Lawrence @ #4 Worcester, 4:00 pm
Small School (Dorothy Howard Tournament)
1. Bye -- Rivers (17-5-2)
2. Bye -- Brooks (17-6-1)
3. St. Mark's (14-10-2)
4. New Hampton (17-9-1)
5. Vermont Academy (18-5-1)
6. Cushing (16-13-0)
#1 Bye
#2 Bye
#6 Cushing @ #3 St. Mark's, 3:00 pm -- moved to NESC Rink 1 @ 4:00 pm
#5 Vermont Academy @ #4 New Hampton
Live streams:
Williston @ Kent:
https://www.kent-school.edu/athletics/live-streaming
New Hampton-Vermont Academy:
https://www.newhampton.org/nhs-today/nhs-live
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