Prep Page '00-01

Amherst, Mass. -- St. Sebastian's won its second consecutive NEPSIHA title with a 3-2 win over Taft here at the Mullins Center this afternoon.

St. Sebastian's scored all three of its goals in an eight-minute span of the first period, with Kenny Roche (1g,2a) and Mike Morris (1g,1a) leading the attack.

Junior Kevin Regan kicked out 25 shots for the winners. For Taft, junior Travis Russell had 15 saves.

In a game that was wide open from the start, Taft broke to an early lead when St. Sebastian's forward Tom Maregni, just inside his own blue line, was stripped of the puck by Taft's Casey Ftorek. The junior, who had both goals in Taft's semifinal win over Cushing yesterday, broke in alone and, with a move similar to the one that won it in OT last night, put a move on St. Sebastian's junior goaltender Kevin Regan, depositing and puck behind him at the 3:31 mark.

A little over two minutes later the Arrows got it right back when Kenny Roche hit Mike Morris, who was streaking down the left side, with a perfect pass. Morris snapped it behind Taft's Russell at the 5:43 mark. Senior Mike Aylward also picked up an assist on the play.

St. Sebastian's went ahead 2-1 off a great individual effort by Roche, who took a pass from Morris and then battled his way through a knot of Taft defenders in the low slot and got off a shot that beat Russell at the 10:29 mark. Sophomore defenseman Arthur Fritch also got an assist on the play.

Roche made another great play when, just as a hooking penalty to Taft's Todd O'Hara expired, he fed the puck out of the corner to Sean Sullivan at the left point. Sullivan snapped off a wrister at 13:16 to put the Arrows ahead 3-1 after one period.

The second period was a different matter, as St. Seb's took four penalties and Taft wound up carrying the play, outshooting the Arrows, 16-4. Regan withstood the assault however, allowing just one goal, that coming at the 8:17 mark when Taft sophomore forward Todd Johnson jammed home the a rebound of a Scott Seney shot at the 8:17 mark.

After that goal Taft upped the pressure -- Alex Meintel and Ben Driver had particularly nice chances -- but Regan held the fort.

Taft had a golden opportunity to tie up the game when they went on a 5-on-3 powerplay late the period, but didn't get the high-quality shots on net they were looking for in that situation.

The third period was scoreless, though there were some nice opportunities, the best coming when Ftorek was stoned by Regan on a breakaway five minutes in.

In the final minute, Taft pulled Russell, but, despite a brief flurry, was unable to get a clean shot at net.

Amherst, Mass. -- The Tilton School won its third straight Div. II New England prep title with a 3-2 overtime win over the Hebron School here today.

The winning goal came off a faceoff play in the Hebron end. Senior center Brain Cawley won the draw, stepped to the net and snapped off a shot. Junior defensemen Matt Hutchins jumped up and deposited the rebound over Hebron goalie Kyle Van Dingstee for the gamewinner at 3:25.

Tilton's two goals in regulation both came off the stick of PG Mike Mullen, a Pittsburgh native and the son of hockey Hall of Famer Joe Mullen. The younger Mullen, playing with a strained MCL today, was the standout of the Div. II playoffs. In Tilton's three games Mullen figured in nine of his teams 12 goals.

Amherst, Mass. -- St. Sebastian's goaltender Kevin Regan kicked out 21 shots and Brian Boyle (2g), Seamus Young (2a), Mike Morris (1g,1a) and Kenny Roche (2a) each had two-point nights as the Arrows, the defending prep school champions, rolled past Berkshire 5-1 and into tomorrow's title game against Taft.

The first period started fairly evenly, but St. Sebastian's, deeper and more talented than Berkshire, began to take command about halfway through, finally striking for a goal when Mike Aylward, in the corner, fed Kenny Roche behind the Berkshire net. Roche found Morris cutting down the slot, fed him a pass, and Morris fired it past Pietrasiak, stick side, at 10:10.

In the second period, right off the bat, Joe Rooney took a pass from Brian Keane, slipped past a defenseman, went to his backhand, and roofed a beauty over Pietrasiak to put St. Sebastian's up 2-0 at the 34 second mark.

Berkshire cut the lead to 2-1 off a rare turnover by St. Sebastian's defenseman Sean Sullivan when, out of a scramble, a loose puck deflected off the skate of senior Jamie Carroll and past Regan at 2:49.

St. Sebastian's went up 3-1 at the 7:07 mark when, with both teams skating four-on-four, Boyle took a pass from Seamus Young, stepped over the blue line and blasted a 55-footer over a screened Pietrasiak's glovehand.

Shots were 17-17 after two, though St. Sebastian's had by far the better opportunities.

In the third period, the Arrows went up 4-1 at 2:33 when Rick Baker, stationed at the corner of the crease, tipped home Seamus Young's slapshot from the blue line.

St. Sebastian's made it 5-1 when Boyle, who was a force all night, set up below the dot to Pietrasiak's left, took a pass from Roche, and had an open side of the net to shoot at. He didn't miss. The goal, Boyle's second of the night, came at 7:56, exactly four seconds after a Berkshire penalty had expired. At that point St. Sebastian's, which had taken six unanswered shots to start the period, rolled on to the decisive win.

Amherst, Mass. � Junior forward Casey Ftorek scored a sudden death goal 3:49 into overtime today, giving Taft a 2-1 upset victory over Cushing Academy, and a berth in the New England Prep championship tomorrow afternoon.

The winning goal came on a power play after Cushing forward Kevin Coughlin was sent off for high sticking at 2:38 of the overtime period. Taft worked the puck into the Cushing end, and Taft forward Scott Seney gained control of the puck in back of the Cushing goal and fed a pass to Ftorek at the left post. Ftorek deked Cushing goalie Mike Boudreau, then lofted the puck over Boudreau for the dramatic winning goal. It was Ftorek�s second goal of the game. The junior forward scored the opening goal in the first period, also on a power play.

The Taft victory was an upset in that Cushing was the top seed in the eastern division of the New England Prep School Ice Hockey Association. Taft was seeded No. 2 in the west division and had gained the semi-finals with a win earlier in the week with a 4-2 victory over Salisbury. Cushing had beaten Tabor, 4-0 to make it to the semi-finals.

Today, both teams got off to a slow start, but Taft clearly was the hungrier team as they kept the puck in the Cushing end for much of the first period.

Ftorek put Taft on the board in the closing minute of the first period on a power play after Cushing forward James Solon was sent off for boarding. Center Ben Driver took control of the puck deep in the Cushing corner and rifled a perfect pass to Ftorek who was stationed directly in front of the goal. Ftorek took the pass and whipped it by Boudreau at 14:05. Shots on goal in the period were 7-4 in favor of Taft.

Cushing bounced right back in the second period, taking the game to Taft. At 3:32 of the period, the Penguins tied the game on a neat pass combination in front of the Taft goal. Junior Kevin Coughlin took a pass from Chris Bourque to the right of the Taft goal. Coughlin whipped a long diagonal pass to defenseman Marvin Degon who was charging in from the left point. Degon took the pass and snapped a clean shot by Taft goalie Travis Russell from the top of the left faceoff circle.

Cushing outshot Taft 11-1 during the period and Russell was the main reason that Taft escaped the period with a 1-1 tie. Just after the one minute mark, Russell stopped a point-blank shot. At the 11 minute mark Cushing came charging into the Taft end, and Russell made a nice sliding save, again from point-blank range.

The third period was scoreless as the two teams battled each other on even terms, even though Cushing outshot Taft 7-3. The difference was again Taft goalie Russell. In the opening minute of the third Russell made two key saves on close-in shots, and at the 12 minute mark, he made a pad save on a shot from the right face-off circle as Cushing tried to work the puck deep in the Taft end. With four minutes left in the game, Taft scored, but the goal was disallowed when the net was knocked off its post.

The game went into overtime, Ftorek came though, and Taft moves on to the title game.

Deerfield, Mass. -- In a fast-paced, furious game before a packed house, Berkshire knocked off host -- and #1 seed -- Deerfield, 3-2, here today. UNH-bound senior Jeff Pietrasiak came up with a big-time performance, and a good number of his 42 saves were of the unbelievable variety.

Last year, you may recall, Pietrasiak led Berkshire into the prep final four with a 2-0 shutout of host Taft in the quarterfinals.

In addition to the brilliance of the 6'1" senior from Shrewsbury, Mass., Berkshire got a solid team effort as the Bears played an aggressive, physical game, blocking shots, and minimizing defensive mistakes. For the rest, they counted on Pietrasiak, who was under fire all afternoon and did a remarkable job keeping his composure -- and making both the little and big saves.

As the 44-20 shot totals indicate, Deerfield controlled the play in this game. Early on, the puck rarely left the Berkshire end, but the visitors, playing very physically and exhibiting an opportunistic streak, drew first blood just 2:44 into the game when senior forward Jamie Carroll beat Deerfield goaltender Matt Hanson off a loose rebound to give Berkshire a 1-0 lead that would hold up through the first two periods.

In the third, both teams came out and continued the physical play. With Berkshire down a man, Deerfield finally got on the board, tying the game at 1-1 when Yale-bound senior Joey Zappala, from the faceoff circle, buried the rebound of a Ben Lovejoy slapshot at the 1:54 mark.

The save of the game came shortly afterward when Pietrasiak rolled over on his back and put his glove behind his head to rob Deerfield of what looked like an easy chip-shot goal.

Zappala put Deerfield ahead, 2-1, at the 7:06 mark when he one-timed the puck in front of the net, and then put in the rebound after the initial save.

Berkshire, which, by the way, did a good job capitalizing on their odd-man rushes in the game, tied the game at 2-2 when 6'1" sophomore defenseman Ryan Klein scored on a slap shot through a screen at the10:06 mark.

Just a little over two minutes later, at the 12:45 mark, Berkshire got the game winner when, off a two-on-two rush, O'Rourke tipped in a pass while tied up by a Deerfield d-man.

Deerfield pulled the goalie and, with the extra attacker, unloaded a barrage of shots on Pietrasiak but couldn't get the equalizer.

Afterward, Deerfield fans and players appeared to be in total shock. As for Berkshire, they have another game: they'll be facing St. Sebastian's at 5:30 Saturday afternoon in the prep semis at the Mullins Center at UMass-Amherst.

Concord, NH -- Heading into this afternoon's New England quarterfinal match against St. Sebastian's, St. Paul's coach Tim Pratt knew that his team would have to solve goaltender Kevin Regan in order to have a chance at moving on in the tournament.

But Regan would not hear of it, stopping all 16 shots he faced en route to a 6-0 victory for St. Sebastian's. It was Regan's third shutout of St. Paul's since January 12. The Arrows' goaltender got plenty of help from Northeastern-bound forward Mike Morris, who beat St. Paul's junior goaltender Brad Shirley (30 saves) three times and set up two other scores for the visitors.

Morris struck for his first goal of the game at the 3:29 mark of the first, taking a feed from linemate Kenny Roche on a two-on-one down low and firing the puck over Shirley's left shoulder.

Less than two minutes later, Morris banged home the rebound of a Roche shot to make it 2-0, which is where things stood at the end of the first period. St. Sebastian's outshot St. Paul's 16-5 in the period, with Shirley making several outstanding stops, including a dazzling glove save with 4:02 left to keep Morris from notching a natural hat trick in the first period.

Each team took three penalties in a physical second period as St. Paul's tried to fight its way back into the contest. Met with constant resistance in the neutral zone, SPS senior forwards Adam Dann and Colin Koch tried to get the offense going. But it was St. Sebastian's again doing the damage on offense as Morris stole the puck at center ice and went in with Roche alone on Shirley. Morris fed Roche, who beat Shirley through the five hole at the 3:59 mark.

Morris and big centerman Brian Boyle set up senior Seamus Young with 5:08 left in the second to make it 4-0.

The game got chippy in the third period as the tight defense of St. Sebastian's continued to frustrate St. Paul's. Big Red senior forward Jon Landry took a major penalty for running into Regan with 10:31 remaining in regulation and Morris made SPS pay, one-timing a cross-the-crease pass from sophomore Joe Rooney to make it 5-0. That Morris strike prompted a shower of hats from the Arrows' faithful to celebrate the forward's third goal of the contest.

Defenseman Brian Foley closed out the scoring for St. Sebastian's with 4:32 to go in the third, firing a shot from just inside the blue line that blazed into the top right corner of the SPS net. Shirley had no time to react.

St. Paul's completes its season at 20-5-1 overall, having dropped three games to St. Sebastian's (24-4-1) in what was otherwise a stellar season.

St. Sebastian's will face Berkshire in a semifinal matchup Saturday at 5:30 at the Mullins Center at UMass-Amherst. -- J.B.

Ashburnham, Mass. -- As the second period wound down to the final few minutes here today, it looked as if things might get very interesting indeed. #1 ranked Cushing was skating, moving the puck well, and had the ice severely tipped in its favor. But the scoreboard read 0-0, in no small part because of the stellar netminding of Tabor senior Bill Petrucci.

Then, with Tabor's Jeff Vickers in the box for tripping, Cushing finally struck as Harvard-bound senior Danny Murphy buried a rebound of a shot that Petrucci had made the initial save on. It was a sparkling one, too, as the former Thayer goalie flashed his left pad and kicked out the shot. Unfortunately for Tabor, it went straight onto the stick of Murphy, who was driving toward the net. Murphy buried it with 3:43 left in the period.

While the home fans were still jumping with joy, the puck was dropped for the ensuing faceoff. Almost instantly, freshman Chris Bourque broke down the left side and unleashed a slapper from the top half of the faceoff circle that trickled through Petrucci's pads.

At the 1:32 mark of the third period, normally surehanded Tabor defenseman Chuck Tomes turned the puck over in his own end, right onto the stick of Murphy, who saw it coming, flew down the high slot, and buried the puck top shelf for his second goal of the game. Petrucci had no chance.

Once again, Cushing quickly followed up with another goal -- this time 1:10 later -- as junior Kevin Coughlin buried the rebound of a shot by junior Chris Fontas at the 2:42 mark.

Cushing scored all four of its goals within a span of 6:25 spread over the end of the second and the beginning of the third.

That was it. Tabor scrapped, but was unable to generate much of a challenge for Cushing senior goalie Michael Boudreau, who had a rocking chair shutout, kicking out 16 saves, ten in the third period, when Cushing had the game in the bag. Final shot totals were Cushing 39, Tabor 16.

Tabor competed hard, but the difference in skill level between the two teams was insurmountable.

Cushing moves down the road to Amherst on Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. semifinal matchup against Taft.

Watertown, Conn. -- Junior Casey Ftorek scored two goals and Travis Russell kicked out 19 shots to lead Taft to an impressive 4-2 victory over Salisbury in the quarterfinals of the New England Prep Hockey Tournament today.

The victory reversed Taft's two losses to Salisbury during regular season play and seemingly justified Taft's higher # 2 seeding in the West division of New England Prep School Ice Hockey Association (NEPSIHA). Salisbury was seeded #3 in the division.

The game was essentially over in the first period when Taft dominated the play over slow-starting Salisbury. Indeed, Salisbury didn't get a shot on the Taft goal until the 11:45 mark.

Taft, meanwhile, got on the board quickly, scoring at 3:54 when Ftorek poked in a rebound that Salisbury goalie Gabe Tash left in the crease after stopping a difficult angle shot from Rico Murtha below the right face-off circle.

Taft increased its lead to 2-0 at 11:36 when Scott Seney won a face-off and fired the puck to Ben Driver, 15 feet directly in front of the goal. Driver placed a low shot past Tash just inside the right post. Less than a minute later Taft increased its lead to 3-0 when Ftorek scored his second goal by lifting a second rebound over Tash at 13:39 of the period.

Salisbury bounced back into the game 13 seconds later, at 13:52, when TJ Fox took a pass from Brad McDonald and skated in on the Taft goal on a clean breakaway. Fox whipped a low shot past Russell. Shots on goal during the first period were 10-4 in favor of Taft.

In the second period both teams skated evenly and Salisbury was able to cut Taft's lead to 3-2 when defenseman Greg Cassista unleashed one of his patented slap shots from the left point. Russell apparently didn't see the puck as it made its way through at least five players in front of the net. Salisbury outshot Taft 7-6 in the period.

The play in the third period was furious, and the game was saved for Taft by goalie Russell who made several saves from point-blank range. But the save of the game came nine minutes into the frame when Salisbury's JR Paken skated down the left alley and slipped a clean pass across the Taft crease onto the stick of line-mate Vinny Rinaldi. Russell moved across the crease with the pass and used his quick glove to pick off Rinaldi's shot.

Taft iced its victory at 13:53 of the period when Ben Driver pounced on a puck left unattended by the Salisbury defense and rifled a pass in front of the crease to Seney, who deposited the puck into the net for the final 4-2 margin of victory. Total shots on goal were 24-21 in favor of Taft, according to unofficial stats.

Taft moves on to face Cushing Academy at 3 p.m. Saturday in the prep semis at UMass-Amherst's Mullins Center. -- T.M.

Andover, Mass. -- In one of the strangest games of a long, storied, rivalry Exeter defeated Andover 1-0 here tonight in a game that started on Andover's brand-new Harrison Rink, and, after the Zamboni damaged part of the boards, was completed on the old rink.

The delay came between the second and the third period when the back of the Zamboni collided with the opening in the boards, snagging the yellow plate running along the base of the boards, and yanking it out dangerously. Forty-five minutes of work failed to repair the problem, so teams and fans packed up and moved in the darkness to the old rink, which had not been used since the opening of the new Harrison Rink.

As for the game, the story was the goalies -- Andover sophomore Cory Schneider and Exeter junior Andrew Edge were outstanding.

Barely three minutes into the game, in the best scoring chance of the period, Andover senior forward Matthew Peltz took a shot that hit the outside of the post and bounced away.

Exeter had perhaps its best chance of regulation early in the second period when Will Bennett fed Luc Walker on a 2-on-1 break, but Walker�s shot slid wide of the net.

Once the game had moved over to the old Sumner Smith rink, it didn't take long to realize that there were more fans that the old rink could hold, so the canvas siding was removed to enable spectators to stand outside and watch through the chain link siding.

When the game resumed, Andover senior forward David Breen had the first golden chance of the period when he found himself wide open in the slot with the puck. His shot went wide of the net, though.

With over eight minutes left in the period, Exeter forward Rugo Santini broke past the Andover defense and slid the puck past Schneider, but the net had come off its pegs and the goal was disallowed. Andover�s best opportunity of the period came when defenseman Robert Howe ripped a shot from the faceoff circle, but Edge snatched the puck out of the air with his glove.

In overtime, off the first face-off, Exeter center Nate Jackson carried the puck into the Andover zone and dropped a pass back to Santini. Schneider stopped Santini's shot, but Exeter forward Steve Nelson one-time the rebound from the other circle back into the net for the game-winning goal at the thirteen second mark.

Exeter will have to wait until tomorrow to find out whether they will slip into the playoffs with the #4 seed in the east. -- B. MacP.

Concord, NH � St. Paul�s and Lawrence battled to a 1-1 tie in the regular-season finale for the two schools here today.

St. Paul�s, which has now played three straight overtime games, finishes at 19-4-1 and is guaranteed a berth in the NEPSAC playoffs starting Wednesday. Whether they play at home or on the road won�t be determined until tomorrow (Sun.) afternoon. We�ll have the playoff matchups for you here as soon as they are available.

Today�s game was scoreless until the final minute of the second period as both teams played a lot of up-and-down hockey and took a lot of shots, though not many were high quality.

But just when it looked like the two teams would be heading into the final period deadlocked at 0-0, Lawrence senior forward Cameron Finch toe-dragged his way around a St. Paul�s defenseman and snapped off a wrister slightly reminiscent of Keith Tkachuk�s goal against the Finns eight days ago. Jacob Schuster and Geragosian picked up assists on the play.

St. Paul�s would get their lone goal at 4:43 of the third period, when senior Mike Halitzki poked a loose puck to senior Jon Landry standing all alone in the slot. Landry beat Geragosian to make it 1-1.

Both teams had sporadic chances through the rest of regulation and through overtime, but were unable to finish.

St. Paul�s is going into the playoffs in the midst of a massive scoring drought. In the five games they have played since beating feckless BB&N 12-1 on Feb. 8, they have notched a total of seven goals (1.4 gpg). They are 3-1-1 in those games, though, indicating they�re not the only team unable to finish.

Needham, Mass. -- Lawrence Academy, behind a 25-save effort by senior Adam Geragosian and goals from defenseman Chris Murray and Jacob Schuster, toppled Keller Division champs St. Sebastian�s, 2-1, here today.

The game featured a scoreless first period, and it was beginning to look like the second would be the same when, with 2:55 left in the frame, and Arrows forward Brian Boyle in the box for holding, Lawrence�s Murray got the puck at the right point and fired it through a crowd, beating St. Sebastian�s goalie Kevin Regan to put the visitors up, 1-0.

Lawrence got their second goal 5:37 into the third when junior forward Jarod Gagnon got the puck to Schuster, who lofted a wrister from the left point that beat Regan to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.

The Arrows didn�t get on the board until, with Murray off for holding and under two minutes in regulation, St. Sebastian�s put together a nifty passing combination � Joe Rooney to Mike Morris to Boyle, who cashed in with just four seconds left on the power play and only 1:22 left in the game.

St. Sebastian�s called a time out, pulled Regan for the extra attacker, and put some good pressure on Geragosian. However, the North Andover native was up to the task, and skated off with the win.

St. Sebastian�s outshot Lawrence 26-19. There were only two penalties in the game, one to each team.

Afterward, Lawrence coach Charlie Corey was asked what the difference in the game was. "Adam (Geragosian) stood on his head," he said. "Also, I thought we were patient, and did a good job minimizing odd-man rushes."

St. Sebastian�s coach Steve Dagdigian also cited Geragosian�s play as the key to Lawrence�s success. As for his own players, he said, "If they weren�t working, I�d be worried, but they worked hard. We just couldn�t score."

It should also be added that Lawrence played a sound defensive game, and their d-men helped out in front, keeping the better-skating, more-skilled St. Sebastian�s forwards from putting together long periods of sustained pressure down low. The few rebounds Geragosian allowed � and he did a good job directing pucks out of harm�s way -- the defensemen helped clear.

Salisbury, Conn. -- Salisbury defenseman Greg Cassista uncorked a huge slap shot with one second left in the game to score a goal with no time left on the clock, allowing his team to salvage a 2-2 tie from what looked like an upset at the hands of Avon Old Farms here today.

The dramatic last-second score was Cassista's second goal of the game, and it was the result of a furious assault by Salisbury on Avon goalie AJ Bucchino who very nearly steered his team to an upset that could have boosted Avon into the New England playoffs. Avon, with a record of 10-7-1, needs one or more losses by Berkshire to sneak into the playoffs.

Salisbury, meanwhile, stands 17-3-2 and was able to avoid a loss that could have dropped them from their current #3 standing in the USHR poll -- and also possibly hurt them when playoff seedings are determined a week from tomorrow.

Avon was clearly going for an upset from the opening faceoff. However, both teams were scoreless in the first period and much of the second period. Finally, at 11:07 of the second period, Avon took a 1-0 lead when junior Matt Burto picked up a rebound 25 feet in front of the Salisbury goal and unleashed a hard wrist shot that bounced off Salisbury goalie Gabe Tash, and dribbled across the goal line.

From that point on, the game was in the hands of the goaltenders, with both Bucchino and Tash turning back several point-blank shots at their respective ends. Then, at 7:01 of the third period, Salisbury tied the game when the puck bounced out to Cassista at the left point. Cassista wound up and let go a tremendous slap shot that hit goalie Bucchino in the right arm and bounced into the goal.

But less than 30 seconds later Avon regained the lead when sophomore right wing Tobias Salmelainen took a hard shot at Tash, who momentarily stopped the shot, and then let go of the puck. It bounced off of center Craig Irwin into the goal to put Avon up 2-1.

Avon's one goal lead held up -- until the final second. With Tash out of the net, the extra attacker on and Salisbury deep in Avon's end, the puck bounced out to Cassista at the left point, from where he had scored his first goal. Cassista wound up once again and the puck ended up in the goal as the clock clicked over to 0:00.

In the five-minute overtime, both teams had several scoring chances but Bucchino and Tash were equal to the task. Salisbury had four shots in OT, while Avon had two. Total shots in the game were 26-22 in favor of Salisbury. -- T.M.

Exeter, NH -- A physical end-to-end battle between #1-ranked Deerfield and #8 Exeter ended in a 4-2 Deerfield win on the strength of a Joe Zappala hat trick and strong goaltending by senior Matt Hanson.

Deerfield broke a scoreless tie 2:38 into the second period when Zappala ripped a hard wrist shot from the faceoff circle just inside the far post to give the Big Green a 1-0 lead. Several end-to-end rushes produced chances for each team. Finally, Exeter post-graduate Rugo Santini took a long home-run pass from his own end, broke in alone, and slid the puck past a sprawling Hanson to tie the game up at 1-1 with 5:21 left in the period.

Deerfield moved ahead with 1:50 left in the second period when Chris Kelley took a shot from the blue line that deflected off a stick in front, bounced in the air, and landed in the net.

Barely three minutes into the third period, Exeter had a chance to tie the game when Santini and Steve Nelson broke in on a 2-on-1 with defenseman Jack Thompson trailing. Two quick passes left Hanson completely out of the net, but when Thompson unleashed a hard slapper, Hanson dove across the crease to make a phenomenal glove save.

Exeter evened the score only minutes later when senior defenseman Robbie Bergan took the puck at the top of the circle and ripped a wrist shot into the top of the net.

With 6:13 left in the third period, however, Zappala scored his second goal of the night when he redirected a pass from the side of the net and gave Deerfield a 3-2 lead. Zappala completed his hat trick when, with 22 seconds left in the game, he buried the puck into an empty net to secure the victory.

The loss dropped Exeter dangerously close to falling out of playoff contention, while the win further secured Deerfield�s place among the elite New England teams with postseason play set to begin in less than two weeks. -- B. MacP.

Holderness, NH -- Midway through the second period here tonight, unranked Holderness was down 2-0 to #2-ranked Cushing, but reeled off four straight goals en route for a 4-3 upset win.

A powerplay goal by sophomore Phillip Farrow 38 seconds into the third period broke a 2-2 tie, and then Farrow notched what would turn out to be the game winner less than two minutes later to give Holderness an insurmountable 4-2 lead. A late goal by Cushing senior defenseman Brian Yandle on a shot from the point cut the lead to one, but Holderness senior goalie Anthony Quesada came up with a big save with four seconds left and the extra attacker on to seal the win.

On the go-ahead goal, Farrow took a nifty no-look pass from junior Casey Carr and roofed it. The game winner came when Holderness, on the forecheck, caused a Cushing turnover. Sophomore Nathan Smith got it out of the corner to senior Aaron Kupperman, whose shot rebounded out to Ferraro, who roofed another.

Afterward, Holderness coach Patrick Dennehy said, "We just played a very good game. Our kids -- and we have a very young team -- never panicked. We won a lot of the 50-50 pucks. We got some bounces. Our kids just worked hard. They were blocking shots. They took advantage of chances."

Asked what the key to the game was, Dennehy said, "We did a contain forecheck, a trap, and made it as hard as possible for them to get out of the zone."

After a scoreless first period, Cushing got a shorthanded goal by senior James Solon early in the second. A little over two minutes after that, at the 5:30 mark, senior Steve Sanders put Cushing up 2-0. Holderness then came right back with two of their own, senior Dan Esposito scoring at 8:18 and Carr, who had a three-point game (1g,2a), tying things at 2-2 at 13:52 of the period.

And that, of course, set the stage for the two third-period goals by Farrow, a native of Amherst, Nova Scotia. In the third period, Holderness outshot Cushing, 8-4. For the game, they outshot the Penguins 31-29.

Holderness is now 9-9-0 in Div. I play. Three losses to EJHL teams and three wins over Div. II teams give them a 12-12-0 overall mark.

If there's a sense of d�j� vu surrounding all this, there should be. Two seasons ago, Cushing went up to Holderness right after the New Year's break and were upset, 6-2. Cushing, however, got their revenge on the last Saturday of the regular season, winning 10-3 in Ashburnham.

Cushing will get their chance to reenact that next Saturday, as Holderness again journeys down to Ashburnham for the final regular-season meeting of both teams.

Watertown, Conn. -- Taft upended #1-ranked Deerfield 2-0 today behind the stellar goaltending of junior Travis Russell, who shut down the Big Green Machine in emphatic fashion.

Taft, ranked #4, executed a perfect game plan, utilizing 30-second shifts to outskate, outhustle, and outplay the Big Green, which suffered only its second loss of the season.

Early on, it was clear that Deerfield was in for a battle. Even though, for the first half of the first period, the Big Green appeared to have the edge, quick changes by Taft coach Mike Maher kept his players fresh, allowing Taft to keep Deerfield from getting into a flow. The result was that Deerfield was unable to mount any serious offense, and when they did close in on the Taft goal, Russell maintained control. Shots in the scoreless first period were 5-4 in favor of Taft.

The pace of the game picked up in the second period. Early on, Taft had a power play, but Deerfield was able to dominate play and even keep the puck in the Taft end. Then, at 4:48 of the second period, junior Casey Ftorek picked up a rebound in front of the net, and whipped a clean wrist shot over Deerfield goalie Matt Hanson, who was sprawled on the ice from the initial save.

Russell, meanwhile, remained in control in the Taft goal. At one point in the period, the Essex Junction, Vermont native made three quick saves from near point-blank range to preserve his shutout. On two other occasions he was able to deflect passes from Deerfield players open in front of the net. Deerfield outshot Taft 10-9 in the period.

As the third period opened, Taft put Deerfield on notice that they would not brook a comeback when senior defenseman Jaime Sifers decked Deerfield captain Dennis Kim deep in the Taft end. Kim tried to get up after the bruising check, but stumbled back down on the ice, clearly stunned. It was a clear signal that Taft intended to control the pace of play in the final period.

At 9:11 of the final frame, Taft iced the upset victory when they mounted a three-on-one rush against Deerfield and junior Todd Ogiba picked up a rebound in front of Deerfield goalie Hanson -- who had gone down to make the initial save -- and neatly deposited the puck over him to make it 2-0. Taft remained in control of the game for the rest of the period, outshooting Deerfield 8-5, according to unofficial stats. For the entire game, Taft outshot Deerfield 23-18.

Taft coach Mike Maher said the key to the game was the quick shifts, allowing Taft to control the game, and shut down the Deerfield offense. "We didn't want to give them any opportunities, and we didn't," Maher said. "We planned on 30-second shifts. We wanted to limit their shots to 15 and we almost did." -- T.M.

Marion, Mass. -- Steve Sanders' 45-foot powerplay slapper from the right wing boards with 4:36 left gave #2-ranked Cushing a 3-3 tie with #7 Tabor in an exciting, hard-hitting contest on the frosty shores of Buzzards Bay.

Tabor jumped out to a quick lead at 3:42 of the first when Brian Swiniarski -- a standout all afternoon -- tapped in a rebound of Derek Kilduff's blast from the right point just seven seconds into a slashing penalty to Cushing's Phil Youngclaus.

That was all the scoring in the first. Tabor won most of the battles for loose pucks and had a slight edge in play. Cushing's Mike Boudreau made 14 saves; Tabor's Bill Petrucci made 12.

Cushing came out hard in the second and took the lead with two goals within 49 seconds. At 1:10, Dan Murphy took a feed from Sanders, curled out of the right corner, and snapped a 25-foot wrist shot into the top corner. Thirty-nine seconds later, Brian Yandle knifed through the slot from the right point and ripped a 35-footer over Petrucci's glove. Chris Bourque and Kevin Coughlin assisted.

From there, the play seesawed from one end to the other for several minutes, with each team having good chances denied by Petrucci and Boudreau. The momentum started to turn Tabor's way after Cushing was assessed a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty at 6:08.

While the Seawolves weren't able to cash in on the powerplay, at 8:41 defenseman Matt Windhol tied it at 2-2, sneaking in from the point and lifting a five-footer over the glove of Boudreau. Colby McVey and Matt McCarthy worked hard down low to dig out the puck for Windhol.

That goal energized Tabor and they took the lead at 15:01 when McVey collected a loose puck 10 feet out in the slot and wristed it past Boudreau.

The third period featured up-and-down action and fine goaltending. Tabor didn't sit on its one-goal lead, forechecking aggresively and outhitting the bigger Penguins.

The pivotal moment came at 11:50 when Cushing's Coughlin and Tabor goalie Petrucci scuffled at the side of the net. As the two separated, Coughlin brought the blade of his stick up under Petrucci's chin, setting off a scrum. When the referees sorted things out, Coughlin and Petrucci received matching minors, while Tabor's Jared Silver got a roughing minor.

Cushing got the goal to tie it up at 3-3 on the powerplay when Sanders, after taking a pass from Marvin Degon, teed up a slapshot that slipped between Petrucci's pads at 13:24.

In the two teams' previous meeting, on Jan. 9, Cushing came out on top, 6-1. -- M.D.

Watertown, Conn. -- Salisbury goaltender Gabe Tash turned back everything Taft threw at him Wednesday as #3-ranked Salisbury racked up a 2-0 win over #4 Taft in a battle of two top ten prep teams. Salisbury right wing Michael Picone scored both goals in the victory.

Salisbury got things going just three minutes into the first period when senior forward Michael Lionetti picked up a loose puck in the Taft end, and fed Picone 25 feet in front of the Taft goal. Picone took the pass and blew it by Taft goalie Travis Russell, who had no chance.

The single-goal lead by Salisbury held up for most of the game, as the match turned into a goaltender's duel between Tash and Russell. Both goalies stopped several point-blank shots as the game seesawed back and forth. Shots over the first two periods were nearly even (16 for Taft, 14 for Salisbury).

Midway through the third period, Picone picked up a loose puck at center ice and stickhandled his way down the right side through the Taft defense, closing in on the Taft goal and lifting the puck over Russell's shoulder for a very pretty goal.

As the third period drew to a close, Taft intensified its pressure -- they'd wind up outshooting Salisbury 13-5 in the period -- but Tash was able to preserve his shutout. It was a team effort, though. With four minutes left in the final stanza and Taft a man up, Salisbury forward Peter Veltman blocked all three shots Taft took during the power play by throwing himself at one shot after another. Tash made several crucial saves in the final minutes when Taft pulled Russell in favor of a sixth forward on the ice.

The Salisbury victory was their second of the season over Taft. Earlier, on January 7th, Salisbury beat Taft 5-3. In both games, Salisbury was significantly outshot, but in both games Tash and his teammates emerged with the win. -- T.M.

The St. Sebastian's at Lawrence game originally scheduled for this past Friday but postponed due to icy road conditions will be made up on Friday Feb. 15th at Lawrence Academy at 4:30 pm.

Ashburnham, MA -- Twice this season Cushing has tangled with Exeter and twice an intense, physical, fast-paced battle has been decided in the final minutes. This time, Cushing skated away with a 3-1 victory, thus avenging the only loss on their record, a 4-3 decision at Exeter on Dec. 8.

The Penguins opened the game by putting a barrage of shots on the Exeter net, breaking through when senior center James Solon split the Exeter D and beat junior goaltender Andrew Edge with a hard wrist shot at the 2:25 mark. Senior defenseman Marvin Degon picked up the assist on the play.

Cushing didn't let up, and by the end of the period had a 17-4 advantage in shots, but only a 1-0 advantage on the scoreboard, with Edge coming up with some big saves. For example, late in the period, Edge took one shot that deflected off his face mask and then, shortly afterward, stoned junior Kevin Coughlin on a clean breakaway.

The second period was scoreless, but more even, too, as Exeter began to take back some of the ice. However, the visitors also took several penalties, and at one point wound up having to kill off a 5-on-3 powerplay, which was huge at the time.

Late in the third period, Exeter tied it up at 1-1 when, with Cushing senior defenseman Phil Youngclaus in the box for holding, Exeter senior center Nate Jackson carried the puck from behind the net for a shot, and Luc Walker poked in the rebound to tie the game. Rugo Santini also picked up an assist on the goal, which came with 5:53 remaining in regulation -- and one second left on the powerplay.

But Cushing came back and, with 58 seconds remaining in regulation, senior LW Marc Zwicky, stationed at the corner of the net, took a pass from Degon and banked the puck off Edge's right pad and over the line for the game-winner.

With five seconds remaining and Exeter having pulled its goalie , Cushing notched an empty-netter for the final 3-1 margin of victory.

At the conclusion of the game -- a tense affair from beginning to end -- there was heated conversation between Exeter coaches Dana Barbin and Bill Dennehy and Cushing coach Steve Jacobs. One of the referees and Cushing assistant coach/AD Bill Troy served as peacemakers. The argument was a reprise of a second-period shouting match between Barbin and Jacobs after some artful stickwork between Exeter's Jack Thompson and Cushing's Brian Yandle heated up proceedings.

Never a dull moment in this rivalry, huh? It's early to say this, but there's a chance these two teams could meet for a third time in the New England Prep quarterfinals. -- B. McP.

Icy conditions across interior New England affected prep games across New England today, rubbing out today's St. Sebastian's at Lawrence and Andover at Holderness tilts.

The St. Seb's-Lawrence game will likely be made up on the Feb. 11th or 15th. We'll let you know.

Note: Neither Thayer coach Jack Foley nor Nobles coach Brian Day will ever let the box score of Wednesday's 4-2 Thayer win over Nobles (or any game, for that matter) see the light of day, but when all was tallied up there were 23 penalties called, with 15 of them going against Nobles. Reportedly, the nadir came when, with less than a minute left, and Thayer down by a man, Nobles senior center Pat Noonan shoved Thayer junior center Joe Fernald to the ice, and, when Fernald's helmet came off, cross checked him in the face, opening a bloody gash over the Thayer center's nose. Noonan, a tri-captain for Nobles, has been disqualified for Saturday's game at St. Paul's.

Kent, CT -- No. 6 ranked Taft took on a hustling Kent team today and skated off with a 3-1 win that was not quite as easy as Taft may have expected.

Kent, which was on the short end of a 3-0 score against Taft a week ago, appeared anxious to redeem itself from the opening face-off and held Taft scoreless for most of the first period. At 11:01 of the opening frame, however, Casey Ftorek stole the puck at Kent's blue-line and broke in on Kent goalie Jerod Condon, who came up with a sprawling save only to see Todd Ogiba pick up the rebound and tuck the puck past him for a 1-0 Taft lead.

At 6:12 of the second period, Taft's Todd Johnson scored a power play goal when he swept up a rebound from a pile-up in front of the Kent goal and put the puck into the net past Condon, who was caught out of position.

Late in the third period, Kent used aggressive forechecking to steal the puck deep in the Taft end, enabling Brian Liamero to score on passes from Josh Egan and Brendan Ray.

Kent pulled its goalie with just over a minute left in the game, and applied some heavy pressure in the Taft end, but Ben Driver intercepted an errant Kent pass at the blue line and scored an empty net goal with six seconds left in the game. Taft had 36 shots on goal versus Kent's 15 shots on goal, according to unofficial stats. --T.M.

Wallingford, CT -- Senior forward T.J. Fox scored a solo powerplay goal and added an assist as #5 Salisbury scored three unanswered second period goals en route to a 5-2 win over host Choate today.

Salisbury goaltender Gabe Tash kicked out 35 of the 37 shots he faced to pick up the win.

A dust-up in Berkshire's 7-2 home win over Winchendon on Saturday will leave both teams shorthanded for their next outing, although 14-6-0 Berkshire, very much in the hunt for the fourth playoff spot from the west, has far more to lose from it than Winchendon.

Tempers flared in the second period when a Winchendon forward bumped Berkshire goalie Jeff Pietrasiak, and one of Pietrasiak's teammates took exception. Things got out of hand when Winchendon defenseman Peter Watson rushed in from the point, thus becoming the the third man in. When it was all sorted out, five players from each team were given the gate. Watson, cited as the instigator, received a double DQ. Other Winchendon players tossed were James Cashins, Dan Butcher, Chris Matacunas, and Alex Lussier. For Berkshire, Jeff Saibil, Alex Watts, David Norton, Ryan Klein, and Nick Shackford got the gate and will miss Berkshire's home game vs. Canterbury on Wednesday.

On Sat. Feb. 9, Berkshire and Winchendon are scheduled to meet again, this time at Winchendon.

Dedham, MA -- St. Sebastian's, behind a hat trick from junior forward Kenny Roche, knocked off host Noble & Greenough here today.

Roche scored a powerplay goal in the first, then added two more in the second, the first coming off a nifty passing play started by linemates Mike Morris and Mike Aylward, and the second, at 6:28, coming off a beautiful pass from Morris.

In the third period, Nobles' talented sophomore defenseman Dan McGoff cut the lead to 3-1 when he nailed a slapper from the right faceoff circle with his team on a 5x3 powerplay.

With 1:38 remaining and Nobles goalie Rory Walsh pulled, Morris, on the forecheck, stripped the puck from Nobles defenseman Phillip McDavitt and got it to Brian Keane, who fired it into the empty net for the final 4-1 margin of victory.

Milton, MA -- 5'8" Lawrence Academy senior Jamas LaFreniere scored four goals in Lawrence Academy's 7-1 win over Milton Academy here today.

Two of LaFreniere's goals were even strength, one was on the powerplay, and one was shorthanded.

The second goal, a bullet from the right face-off circle at 4:04 of the second, was a beauty, as was the fourth, which came off a perfect pass from sophomore forward Walter Wright, who also added a goal.

Junior defenseman Chris Murray had three assists for Lawrence; senior forward Cameron Finch had a goal and an assist; and sophomore defenseman Jacob Schuster had two assists.

Belmont, Mass. -- St. Paul's School senior Adam Dann scored a hat trick and added an assist to lead St. Paul's to a 7-1 win over Belmont Hill here today.

In the first minute of the second period, Dann scored twice, the first at the 18 second mark, and the second, on a solo breakaway, just 31 seconds later. The second tally made it 4-0 St. Paul's and took away any hopes Belmont Hill may have harbored concerning a comeback.

In the third, Dann, a Burlington, Vermont native who was the MVP of the Avon Old Farms Christmas tournament a month ago, added an unassisted goal to give him the hat trick.

However, perhaps Dann's biggest play of the day came early in the first, when it was still a 0-0 game. Dann and linemate Jon Landry broke in alone on Belmont Hill freshman goaltender Chris Mannix and worked a nifty give-and-go, with Landry feeding Dann on his right. As Mannix slid across for the shot, Dann proceeded to give it right back, putting it on Landry's stick for an easy tap-in to make it 1-0. After that, the game belonged to St. . Paul's.

Landry, a big senior LW from Beaconsfield, Quebec, had a three-point afternoon (1g,2a), and Mike Halitzki, the line's center, added a pair of assists.

St. Paul's is now 13-1. In those 14 games, they have given up only 20 goals, a testament to their team defense -- and the fact that they've gotten some nice play from junior goalie Brad Shirley, who really wasn't tested much today, but came up with a nice pad save at one point early on. St. Paul's has only given up three goals in a game twice this year, and they've been especially potent in the third period, outscoring their opponents 22-3.

With 21 seconds left in today's Avon-Berkshire game, played at Sheffield, Mass., Avon junior center Craig Irwin blocked a shot and took off on a breakaway with his team down 1-0.

However, Irwin was pulled down from behind, was awarded a penalty shot -- and nailed it, firing the puck over Berkshire goaltender Jeff Pietrasiak's shoulder -- and sending the game into overtime, where Berkshire senior defenseman Nick Dancey scored on a blast from the point at the 1:53 mark to give the home team the 2-1 win.

Shots on goal were 34-19 in favor of Salisbury, according to unofficial stats. -- T.M.

Wallingford, CT - In a game featuring strong goaltending on both sides, Choate upset #8-ranked Berkshire 2-1 here today.

Berkshire, on their first shot of the game, opened the scoring at 1:15 of the first when senior center Devon O'Rourke took a pass from winger Rick Ferroni and fired a bullet past Choate PG goalie Geordan Murphy.

It would be the only goal Murphy would allow all day, as he'd stop the next 28 shots he faced.

In a tightly-contested second period, Choate tied it up on the power play when junior wing Simon Dionne fired a blast from the blue line that beat Berkshire's Jeff Pietrasiak at the 7:15 mark. Assists went to Evan Jones and Greg Gamarco.

With the score tied, 1-1, in the third, Choate generated three or four excellent scoring opportunities only to be stymied by Pietrasiak. Finally, with Choate again on the power play, defenseman Camarco fired a puck that deflected off a Berkshire defenseman past a stunned Pietrasiak with 2:34 remaining in regulation.

If Salisbury thought T-P was going to throw in the towel, however, they were mistaken, as Trinity-Pawling battled through the rest of the period, trying to tie up the game. In the final minute, T-P pulled goalie Murphy, but the move backfired when Pakan scored his second goal into an open net with 44 seconds remaining. --T.M.

For the rest of the first period and through the second period Hotchkiss put the pressure on Berkshire, outshooting the visitors 9-8 in the first period and 11-5 in the second period, according to unofficial stats. But Berkshire goalie Jeff Pietrasiak preserved his team's tenuous lead, especially in the latter half of the second period when he stopped several point-blank shots.

Total shots were 26-16 in favor of Hotchkiss, but Berkshire's playmaking kept them in overall control of the game. -- T.M.

Concord, NH -- St. Sebastian's junior goaltender Kevin Regan kicked out all 24 shots he faced to lead the Arrows to a 2-0 win over previously undefeated St. Paul's here this afternoon.

Regan was given an early lead to work with when a Tom Maregni shot off a nice Kenny Roche feed rebounded off St. Paul's junior goalie Brad Shirley. Arrows junior defenseman Sean Sullivan raced in from the point to snap home the shot from the right faceoff circle. For Sullivan it was his first game back after breaking his ankle in a Dec. 20 game vs. Catholic Memorial -- just 23 days ago.

It remained 1-0 game until, with 3:49 remaining in the game, Roche stripped a St. Paul's d-man on the forecheck, got the puck to teammate Mike Aylward who passed it to Mike Morris in front to make it 2-0, the final margin of victory.

St. Paul's outshot St. Sebastian's 24-22, and played a strong team game, forechecking hard and making St. Seb's work for everything they got. In the end, however, the Arrows, with more skill up and down the lineup than their hosts, were able to take advantage of mistakes, while St. Paul's couldn't -- in no small part because of Regan.

Salisbury, CT -- A faster, stronger, harder-hitting Salisbury took on a smaller, slower but plucky Westminster hockey team Saturday afternoon, but only won by a slim 2-1 margin.

The narrow win over Westminster came on the heels of Salisbury's wins earlier in the week over both #1-ranked Deerfield and #5-ranked Taft.

Goalie Phil Lauderdale proved to be the backbone of the Westminster effort, stopping all but two of Salisbury's 36 shots on goal. By contrast, Salisbury goalie Gabe Tash only faced nine shots on goal, according to unofficial stats.

There was never any doubt that Salisbury was the better team as it dominated play. But it was only at 8:16 of the second period that Salisbury was able to register its first goal on a screened slap shot from the left point by defenseman Michael Gershon. Salisbury's second goal came at 7:03 of the third period when T.J. Fox rammed home a goal from a melee in front of the Westminster goal.

Westminister finally got on the scoreboard at 13:12 of the final period when Adrien Melrose took a pass from Derick Dirmaer from behind the net and knocked the puck by Salisbury goalie Tash.

Westminster goalie Lauderdale was the star of the game, stopping numerous point blank shots by Salisbury. At one point his counterpart, Salisbury goalie Tash, set up a two man breakaway on Lauderdale by lofting a long pass during a Westminster line change, but Lauderdale was equal to the task, blocking the breakaway shot, and knocking the rebound out of harm's way into the corner. -- T.M.

Exeter, NH -- Senior Rugo Santini scored two goals and senior captain Nate Jackson added a goal and two assists as Exeter defeated Andover, 4-0 today.

At 7:19 of the first period, senior forward Alan Eberstein opened the scoring from a scramble in front, sliding the puck past Andover sophomore goaltender Cory Schneider. Less than two minutes later, at the 9:18 mark, Santini extended the Exeter lead to 2-0 with an off-balance shot. And then, 18 seconds after that, Jackson made it 3-0 when he poked the puck over the goal line with Schneider on the ice.

Less than one minute into the third period, Santini took a smooth pass from Jackson and backhanded the puck into the net to put the game out of reach.

Exeter junior Andrew Edge turned away all fourteen Andover shots to earn a shutout, his first of the season. Schneider had a strong game in the Andover net, kicking out 29 of 33 shots. -- B. McP.

Kent, CT -- Kent eked out a 3-2 victory over Trinity-Pawling today in an even match where both teams demonstrated much improved play over their form earlier in the season.

Kent opened the scoring when Josh Egan converted a Brian Liamero pass out from behind the net at 6:26 of the first period. TP tied the game at 13:15 of the period when David Riley scored from the right face-off circle.

In the second period Kent junior Greg McConnell scored two goals, his first by ramming home his own rebound midway through the period. His second goal came three minutes later on a power play. TP's Riley picked up his second goal in the final minute of the second on a scramble in front of the Kent goal.

Neither team could score in the third period. Shots on goal were nearly even as Kent outshot TP 23-22, according to unofficial stats. Kent's record is now 3-5 (including two wins over TP): TP is 6-6.

In his effort to rebuild the Kent team, coach Paul Brown, now in his second year, has looked north of the border for talent. His roster shows 11 Canadians, five of them from his native Prince Edward Island. His players are clearly beginning to jell. -- T.M.

Salisbury, Conn. -- Salisbury knocked off another top ten prep team this evening, defeating Taft, 5-3, in a hard-fought game that was not without controversy.

defensive performance by goalie Gabe Tash, who turned back 28 shots by the fast skating Taft team. Salisbury scored its five goals with only 14 shots

Both teams skated hard in the fast-paced game, resulting in a total of 11 penalties being called, including a costly major and misconduct against Taft forward Ben Driver late in the second period. That penalty ultimately allowed Salisbury to tie the game early in the third on a power play goal.

Bob O'Hara took a long pass from Alex Meintel, skated down the right boards, behind the net and then tucked a wrap-around goal behind Salisbury goalie Tash, in what was his only real mistake in the game.

penalty, and Salisbury took advantage by knocking in a goal at 1:55 when Gershon scored his second goal of the game on another shot from the point.

Taft had one final chance on a final power play with 3:44 left. The Rhinos bombarded the Salisbury goal, but one Salisbury player after another

Cushing Academy traveled to Fredonia, NY, which is way out past Buffalo, and won the First Annual St. Francis Invitational Tournament with a 5-1 win over Wyoming Seminary today. Freshman forward Chris Bourque, of the Topsfield, Mass. Bourques, had a four-point afternoon (2g,2a). Chris Fontas, Kevin Coughlin, and Jamie Solon also scored for Cushing, who outshot the seminarians, 34-12.

On Saturday, Cushing beat St. Mike's (Toronto), 8-1, behind a pair of goals from senior Derek Evjenth. Bourque, Coughlin, Mark Yurkewecz, Marvin Degon, Kyle Koziara, and Steve Sanders also scored for the Penguins. The game featured -- close your eyes, Mike Maher and Kenny Martin -- a whopping 140 minutes in penalties.

Degon was named tournament MVP. The All-tournament Team consisted of forwards Coughlin (Cushing), Sean Ferguson (Northwood), Martin Moucha (Wyoming Seminary); defensemen Phil Youngclaus (Cushing), Ian Fazzi (Northwood); and goalie Jake Busch (Gilmour Academy).

#1 Deerfield fell from the ranks of the undefeated this afternoon, losing 4-3 at Salisbury. Junior forward T.J. Fox, an Oswego, NY native who played for the Syracuse Jr. Crunch (OPJHL) last season, led the way for Salisbury with two goals, the second of which turned out to be the game-winner. Senior goaltender Gabe Tash kicked out 19 shots for the win. (Salisbury, you may recall, played Deerfield tough at the Flood-Marr Tournament, losing 2-1 on Fri. Dec. 14.)

In a Keller Division upset, Belmont Hill, the champions of last week's Nichols Tournament, knocked off visiting St. Sebastian's, 4-2, as sophomore Chris Mannix kicked out 18 shots and four different scorers notched goals. The loss was the second in a row for St. Seb's, 1-0 losers to Governor Dummer in the 3rd place game at the Tabor Tournament last Sunday.

The New England Jr. Coyotes pumped home four third-period goals to break a 2-2 tie and roll to a 6-2 win over the Holderness School today.

Leading the Coyotes' offensive charge was was Torry Gadja (1g,2a); James Pemberton (2g); Bryan Cirullo (1g,1a); Jody Hart (1g,1a); Keith Johnson (2a). Junior forward Colin McDonald scored the Coyotes' first goal.

In the tournament's four games, Gadja led the Coyotes with six goals and six assists, while linemate Matt Anderson followed with a 1-8-9 line. Right behind them were defensemen Pemberton (7-1-8) and Cirullo (1-7-8).

Senior LW Dan Esposito scored both Holderness goals. Junior forward Weston Lea was kept off the scoreboard, but also had a strong game. Despite giving up six goals, junior goaltender Matt Burzon stood out, too.

The more things change, the more they remain the same. Just like last year, when St. Sebastian's was kept from an undefeated season by Governor Dummer and goaltender Gabe Winer, the Arrows have suffered their first loss of the season, a 1-0 decision in today's third-place game. Without taking anything away from Winer or his teammates, it probably helped that the Arrows left everything they had on the ice last night, while GDA had nearly 24 hours of rest. Either that, or GDA just has the Arrows' number.

St. Sebastian's and the New England Junior Coyotes, the iron of the Tabor Tournament, met tonight in a battle for first place in their division and a chance to advance to Sunday's title game against Holderness.

The Coyotes won it in a shootout, with Mike Bordieri scoring the winning tally, but this game officially goes into the books as a 3-3 tie, which pretty much explains the game, a hard-hitting affair with numerous scoring chances and a lot of action at both ends of the ice. Both teams are well-coached, both teams feature numerous skilled players, and, as an added treat, the game meant something.

For St. Seb's, this was probably as physical a game as they will play all season, and it didn't faze them, as they matched the Coyotes hit for hit, all the while keeping their feet -- and the puck -- moving.

After first-period goals by St. Seb's Kenny Roche and the Coyotes' James Pemberton, and a scoreless second, the game entered the third at 1-1. But it wouldn't stay that way for long, as St. Seb's came out hard, pressuring the Coyotes in their end, and putting them back on their heels. Northeastern-bound RW Mike Morris, who was buzzing all night, ripped off a pair of goals 16 seconds apart, with the latter just squibbing under the pads of Coyotes goaltender Joe Wichowski, who was pulled in favor of Ben Conway at that point.

With 5:11 left in the period and St. Seb's on the powerplay, the opportunistic Morris, playing on a line with C Brian Boyle and LW Kenny Roche, intercepted a pass and almost nailed the hat trick. However, on the same shift, just seconds later, St. Seb's failed to keep the puck in at the blue line, leading to a breakaway by Bordieri and Torry Gajda, with Bordieri converting. Suddenly , it was a one-goal game.

And then -- poof! -- the lead was gone, as the Coyotes pulled their goalie with a little over a minute to go, and Pemberton blasted one from the blue line that sailed through a screen with 58 seconds remaining to tie it up at 3-3.

In OT, St. Seb's sophomore LW Joe Rooney had a nice chance, and then, with 12 seconds remaining, the Coyotes had a great opportunity off their own, but couldn't get it past Kevin Regan, who was solid all night in the St. Seb's net.

Note: Both teams were without the services of a couple of key players. The Coyotes were without center Bryan Horan, who recently suffered a reoccurrence of his early-season wrist injury and will be out of action for quite a while. St. Seb's was without junior defenseman Sean Sullivan, who injured his ankle in the Arrows win over CM on Dec. 20.

Cushing Academy senior RW Steve Jacobs broke open a 1-1 game with a pair of third-period goals to left the Penguins to a 3-1 win in the title game of the Edward G. Watkins Tournament today in Ashburnham.

In the first period, Cushing senior LW Mark Yurkewecz and Lawrence senior Jamas LaFreniere traded goals -- eight seconds apart.

Here's the All-Tournament Team, selected by the coaches, starting with MVP Mike Boudreau of Cushing. In three games played, the senior goaltender allowed just two goals, kicking out 46 of 48 shots (.958 save %). The rest of the team consists of goaltenders Ryan Walker (Gunnery) and Andrew Eaton (Canterbury); defensemen Phil McDavitt (Nobles), John Geverd (Lawrence), and Marvin Degon and Brian Yandle (both Cushing); and forwards Scott Brady (Pomfret), Jamie Carroll (Berkshire), Jason Wilson (NMH), Jamas LaFreniere (Lawrence), and Steve Sanders and Steve Jacobs (both Cushing). All are seniors except McDavitt, who's a sophomore, and Geverd, who's a junior.

Deerfield Academy proved too big, too strong, and too talented for a young Westminster squad to handle in this afternoon's Flood-Marr title game, skating off with a 6-1 win.

Junior Dan Travis got things going for Deerfield with a short-handed goal early in the first half. Travis later added a pair of assists to finish with a three point afternoon, as would junior Darwin Hunt (1g,2a). PG Brendan Timmins (2a), junior John Sales (1g,1a), freshman Chad Kolarik (2g), and senior Ben Lovejoy (2a) all had two point days.

Kolarik's two goals, both in the second half, were things of beauty, one coming on a snapshot from the high slot, the other coming when he split the D and tucked it under the crossbar behind Westminster goaltender Phil Lauderdale. Kolarik, an '86, has all the makings of a star -- speed, hands, vision. He's a finesse player, similar in style to Shattuck's Zach Paris�, though with better size.

Boston College-bound Ben Lovejoy had an excellent afternoon as well, and skated off with the tournament's MVP award.

Notes: Over the last seven years Deerfield has won five Flood-Marr title and Westminster two. Westminster went into the game as the defending champion. The last time a team other than those two won the tournament was Hotchkiss, in 1994.

Salisbury, which had battled Deerfield to a 2-1 win on Friday night, took third place with a 3-1 win over Hotchkiss. Founders League teams took the top four spots in the tournament, while the three Eastern Mass. schools and Kimball Union finished in the bottom four spots.

Senior Adam Dann scored twice in the second period Saturday to give St. Paul's School a 3-1 come-from-behind win over Avon Old Farms and the championship of the 2001 Avon Old Farms Christmas Tournament.

It's the first time since 1993 that a team other than host Avon has won the tournament. As a matter of fact, in the previous 18 years, going back to the tournament's beginning in 1983, only two teams have won the tournament, Avon (15 times) and Tabor (3 times).

An equally big win for St. Paul's, however, came Friday night, when they came from three goals behind to upset Berkshire, 4-3, and earn a spot in the Saturday's final.

St. Paul's also had to come behind in the final, as Avon, on a Mark Noble rebound goal, led 1-0 after the first period. In the second period, St. Paul's, which only mustered four shots in the first period, came alive, outshooting their hosts, 16-7, and scoring three times. In the third, with the 3-1 lead, St. Paul's put the clamps on Avon, holding the Winged Beavers to five shots and taking the tournament trophy back to Concord, NH.

Dann, from Stowe, Vt., was named tournament MVP, finishing with a 4-5-9 line in his team's four games.

St. Paul's went four-for-four on the penalty kill Saturday, lifting them to a perfect 32-for-32 on the season, with five shorthanded tallies.

The New England Junior Coyotes swept all three of their games this weekend to win the Lawrence-Groton Christmas Tournament.

The Coyotes opened the tournament with a Friday morning 4-2 win over perennial powerhouse Cushing Academy. Center Matt Anderson -- who would finish the weekend with a 2-6-8 line -- figured in every goal, scoring twice and adding a pair of assists. '85 goaltender Joe Wichowski, a junior from Unionville, Conn. picked up the win.

Friday night, the Coyotes topped Culver Military Academy, 3-2, on Keith Johnson's shorthanded goal with 22 seconds remaining in regulation. Tournament MVP Mark McCutcheon, the son of ex-Cornell coach Brian McCutcheon figured in all three goals (1g,2a). Ben Conway picked up the win in the Coyotes' net.

On Saturday, the Coyotes rolled past host Lawrence, 7-0, Wichowski picking up his first shutout of the year. McCutcheon, an '84 from Rochester, NY, was named tournament MVP, finishing the tourney with a 4-2-6 line in three games.

The Coyotes were sharp on the powerplay all weekend, going six for nine; and on the penalty kill, allowing three goals in 16 attempts

Avon, CT -- Joe Zappala turned in a hat trick today, and Deerfield demonstrated why it is ranked No. 1 in the USHR New England Prep Hockey Poll by scoring an impressive 6-1 win over No. 7 ranked Avon Old Farms.

Unofficial stats showed that Deerfield outshot Avon by 42-14, and only an impressive performance by Avon goalie A.J. Bucchino prevented Deerfield from running up an even higher score.

Indeed, Bucchino held Deerfield scoreless in the first period when he turned back 11 Deerfield shots.. Then, less than two minutes into the second period, Avon took the early lead when sophomore defenseman Matt Lashoff took a pinpoint pass from Matt Burto at the point and unleashed a clean slapshot by Deerfield goalie Matt Hanson.

But that was the high point for Avon as Deerfield cranked up its offense and got down to business.

Zappala scored his first goal at 7:11 in the second period on a Deerfield power play when Tom Walsh fed Chad Kolarik who in turn passed the puck to Zappala in the slot in front of the net. Six minutes later, Zappala scored again when Brendan Timmons fed him another pass in front of the net. In the final minute of the period, Darwin Hunt threaded a pinpoint pass from outside the left face off circle, across the front of the Avon goal, to the right post where Dan Travis slapped the puck in.

During the second period, Deerfield mounted 17 shots on Avon's Bucchino who made some fabulous saves. Three minutes into the second period Ben Lovejoy broke in on Bucchino who was able to make the breakaway save. Earlier, he had made several glove saves on point blank shots from the furious Deerfield offense.

The three powerful Deerfield lines continued their onslaught in the third period. Zappala got his third goal a little more than a minute into the period when Avon defenseman Lashoff made an uncharacteristically weak clearing pass. Zappala's linemate Dan Shribman jumped on it, setting up a two on one break. Shribman fed a clean pass to Zappala at the right post, leaving Bucchino little chance to make the save.

Less than three minutes later, Ben Lovejoy scored a nifty powerplay goal on a series of passes from Kolarik and Walsh. Tony Hack closed out the scoring when he knocked in a goal from a scramble in front of the goal with 1:32 left in the game.

While the Deerfield win was decisive, Avon at least made them fight for their goals in the hard fought match. The problem for Avon was that the three Deerfield lines are so strong, they leave their opponents little breathing room. Moreover, the Deerfield defensemen are just as strong, and they are able to prevent the opposing lines from mounting an effective offense. Indeed Deerfield goalie Hanson had a relatively easy time of it, having to make only 13 saves on the 14 shots he faced. -- T.M.

Kent, Conn. -- Millbrook's Matt Altieri stole a Kent clearing pass seconds after the opening faceoff and fed center Zach Harris who scored 16 seconds into the game Monday when Millbrook defeated Kent 5-2.

Millbrook's Ryan Mero added another goal less than four minutes later on a low shot from the slot in front of the goal. Kent's Jeff Nordaas cut Millbrook's lead to 2-1with a rebound shot past goalie Matt Silliker with just over five minutes to go in the first period.

In the second period, Millbrook scored two goals on breakaways. Jon Smith picked up a loose puck just as he stepped off the bench, at the end of a Kent powerplay, and broke in alone on Kent goalie Nick Caruso, tucking the goal past the spawling goalie. Less than 30 seconds later, Paul Cullen grabbed the puck off the boards and skated in alone on Caruso again, scoring Millbrook's fourth goal.

Kent dominated the third period, outshooting Millbrook 8-4. Kent closed the score to 4-2 five minutes into the final period when Josh Egan poked the puck into the net from a pileup in front of the Millbrook goal. Kent mounted several furious attacks, but was unable to finish off several other scoring chances. Kent pulled goalie Caruso with just over a minute left, but was unable to convert. Millbrook's Dan McLane closed out the scoring with a rink-long shot into Kent's empty net.

Exeter, NH -- 5'9", 160 lb. senior center Nate Jackson, in as dazzling an offensive performance as we're likely to see for quite awhile, scored all four goals in Exeter's 4-3 upset of Cushing here today.

Jackson opened the scoring 5:05 into the game. On a two-on-one, linemate Rugo Santini flipped a pass over a sprawling defenseman to Jackson, who snapped a shot over the left shoulder of Cushing goaltender Michael Boudreau. Two minutes later, Cushing freshman Chris Bourque lifted home a backhander to make it 1-1.

Cushing took the lead with 5:45 remaining in the period as senior James Solon ripped a shot that just trickled past Exeter junior goaltender Andrew Edge. Three minutes afterward, Jackson put a nifty move on Boudreau, deftly sliding the puck past the Penguins� senior goaltender to tie the score before intermission.

There was no scoring in the second. On Cushing�s best chance of the frame, Edge robbed Brian Yandle with a sparkling glove save on a shot from point-blank range.

"Edge was rock-solid," said Exeter coach Barbin afterward. "He came of age today."

Midway through the third period, Cushing took a 3-2 lead when Mark Zwicky fired a slapshot into the upper corner of the net. However, with Exeter on the powerplay and 5:39 left in regulation, Jackson fired a hard slapper that Boudreau lunged for and got a piece off, but the puck deflected off the fat part of the shaft and into the net to tie the game at 3-3.

Jackson scored the game-winner less than two minutes later when he picked off a Yandle clearing pass deep in the Cushing zone and beat Boudreau to give Exeter the 4-3 lead � the final margin of victory -- with 3:47 remaining.

Jackson almost had five, but rolled a shot wide with Boudreau pulled for the extra attacker.

"Nate Jackson played the game of his life," said Barbin. "And three of those four goals were beauties."

"To tell you the truth," said Jackson of his performance, "it was more exciting just to win the game."

With the way the Exeter players spilled off the bench and mobbed each other at the final buzzer, there could be no arguing that. -- B. McP.

Pawling, NY -- Avon fended off a pesky Trinity-Pawling Saturday afternoon to give A.J. Bucchino a 4-0 shutout win and hand T-P its first loss of the year.

Avon was clearly the better team throughout the game -- as indicated by shots on goal, 35-17 -- but Trinity-Pawling didn't let Avon walk all over them.

In the first period, T-P goalie John Murphy put a crimp in Avon's polished offense by turning back all 14 shots he faced. Avon got a grip on the game early in the second period, however, when Adam Blanchette scored on a slap shot from the left point, against T-P goalie Chris Dowd, the second of three goalies used by Trinity-Pawling. Less than three minutes later, Adam Swain scored on a breakaway to put the Winged Beavers up by two.

Avon added two more goals in the third period, both on power plays. Mark Noble scored midway through the period on a rebound from the right faceoff circle into an open net, then, less than three minutes later Matt Burto scored on another rebound from the same spot. There were a total of 15 penalties in the game. -- T.M.

Dedham, Mass -- Northeastern-bound captain Pat Noonan figured in all three goals in Nobles' 3-1 win over St. Mark's today.

Noonan opened the scoring on the powerplay at 10:17 of the first off a beautiful pass from sophomore Chris Poli. Poli then added his fourth goal in three games at 2:59. Noonan stretched the lead to three when he deflected home a Phil McDavitt slapper at 7:36. Nobles play slipped towards the end of the second and St. Mark's capitalized at 12:25 on a two-on-one, but that would be all the scoring in this one. Goaltending was impressive as St. Mark's captain Henry Breslin stopped 33 of 36 and Nobles junior Josh Fillman was good for 24 saves.

Salisbury .

The two northwest Connecticut prep schools battled each other from end

prevent either team from capitalizing on one scoring chance after another.

Salisbury scored its lone goal at 9:52 in the first period when Luke

minute of the game.

Unofficial stats showed that Tash had 38 saves. For Hotchkiss, Todd Sheridan, who played the first half, stopped 11 of 12, while Kalemba stopped all 15.

In the 5-minute overtime period, Salisbury had the edge , but Hotchkiss

could have won the game.

In regulation play, however, Tash and his quick glove proved to be near

balance. -- T.M.

For box scores of today's games, click here.

Jeff Pietrasiak put an early end to Taft's season last year, knocking them out of the NEPSAC playoffs with a 33-save shutout effort in Taft's barn in a quarterfinal meeting nine months ago.

Last night, Taft opened its 2001-02 season. Again the visitor was Berkshire, and there was the UNH-bound Pietrasiak working his voodoo again, this time making 29 saves to lead Berkshire past Taft, 3-1.

Defending NEPSAC title-holder St. Sebastian's opened its 2001-02 campaign with a 5-3 home win over Northfield-Mt.Hermon.

The Arrows took an early lead when senior captain Mike Morris knocked home a perfect pass by junior Kenny Roche at 3:17 of the first.

Early in the second, Mike Aylward tipped home an Alex DiPietro shot from the left point, then, 43 seconds later, freshman Nick Coskren scored his first varsity goal when his goalmouth shot squibbed past NMH junior goaltender James Kalec, giving St. Seb's a 3-0 lead.

Before the close of the second, NMH's Jason Wilson scored a powerplay goal to cut the lead to 3-1.

At 9:03 of the third, St. Seb's freshman RW Tom Maregni, off a Brian Boyle feed, scored to regain the three-goal cushion, which must have been too comfortable, for NMH quickly made things interesting, with Brian Bova and senior defenseman Stephen Roop scoring a pair of goals less than two minutes apart to make it 4-3 St. Seb's with 2:55 remaining in regulation..

NMH pulled Kalec in the final minute and St. Seb's potted an empty-netter for the 5-3 final.

Yesterday was sort of a quasi-opening day to the prep school season. For box scores click here. Everybody will be in action starting Saturday.

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