February 19, 2018

New England Prep Hockey Rankings

Rank Record The Skinny
1
Salisbury		 21-1-1
(1) Salisbury was #1 in our first poll of the season, and they are #1 in our final poll. They are 2-0-1 vs. teams in the Top 10 (beat Milton and Cushing, tied KUA). In their last 8 games they have allowed a total of 11 goals. In that streak, no opponent has scored more than 2 goals against them. LAST WEEK: Beat Kent 4-2, beat Avon 2-1. THIS WEEK: @ Hotchkiss (Wed.), @ Canterbury (Sat.)
2
Rivers		 25-1-2
(2) Have allowed a total of 6 goals over the last 9 games. Have only allowed 4 goals in a game once this season; have only allowed 3 goals once. In all other games, they have given up 2 or fewer. Team GAA is 1.14. They are 3-1-0 vs Top 10 (beat Thayer, KUA, and Exeter). LAST WEEK: beat St. Mark's 4-1, beat Exeter 3-1, beat Middlesex 5-0. THIS WEEK: @ Brooks (Wed.)
3
Kimball Union		 23-5-1
(3) Outshot Shattuck 57-26 Sunday but had to settle for a 3-3 tie in a non-NEPSIHA game. Now 5-1-1 vs. Top 10 (beat Milton, Cushing 2x, Exeter and NMH, lost to Rivers, tied Salisbury). Have only 2 players averaging more than a point per game (Armstrong and Samuelsen) but there is balance and depth and the team GAA is 1.84. LAST WEEK: Beat Proctor 5-1, beat Cushing 4-1, tied SSM 3-3. THIS WEEK: Lake Region Playoffs (Fri. and Sat.)
4
Dexter		 19-4-2
(5) Except for sophomore D Ben Meehan, who is out for the season, everyone is healthy. And it shows as Dexter is on an 11-game win streak. They are also 4-1-1 vs. the Top 10 (beat Thayer 2x, beat Rivers, split with Cushing, and tied Exeter). John Farinacci is 17-9-26 over his last 10 games. Jack Rathbone is 8-14-22 in 12 games since returning from an injury Jan. 12th. LAST WEEK: Beat Berwick 4-1, beat Winchendon 5-3, beat Kents Hill 5-1, beat New Hampton 6-3. THIS WEEK: @ St. Paul's (Fri.)
5
Milton		 17-3-1
(4) Last week's loss to Thayer, after holding a 2-goal lead at the second intermission, was a tough pill, but they have another shot at the Tigers on the road Wednesday. The loss to Thayer was the Mustangs' first defeat in two months, since the Flood-Marr. They are 2-3-0 vs. Top 10 (beat Lawrence 2x, lost to Salisbury, KUA and Thayer). Have dropped to 5th in JSPR so need a big week to regain home ice for the playoffs. LAST WEEK: Beat Gov's 8-1, beat Bel Hill 2-1, lost to Thayer 6-3. THIS WEEK: @ Thayer (Wed.), vs. Nobles (Sat.)
6
Exeter		 24-4-1
(6) Have allowed 9 goals over last 8 games; team GAA for the season is 1.65. Defense has been surprisingly good. Gray Betts has more points as a D than he did as a forward last season. 1-3-1 vs. Top 10 (beat Thayer, lost to KUA, Cushing, and Rivers; tied Dexter). LAST WEEK: Beat NMH 2-1, lost to Rivers 3-1, beat Deerfield 4-0. THIS WEEK: @ Winchendon (Wed.), @ Andover (Sat.)
7
Thayer		 15-9-1
(10) The Tigers are hot, and could be a handful if they make the Elite 8. How hot are they? They are on a 9-game win streak and have scored 5 or more goals in 7 straight games. Jay O'Brien is hot. He has 3 or more points in each of his last 9 games (16-19-35). That is one less point than he had in his first 16 games. Goaltending has also been a key to this resurgence, with sophomore Gavin Fitzpatrick taking most of the starts. Against the Top 10, they are 2-5-0 (beat Cushing and Milton, lost to Dexter 2x, Exeter, NMH, and Cushing). LAST WEEK: Beat SPS 12-0, beat Milton 6-3, beat Tabor 8-3. THIS WEEK: vs. Milton (Wed.), @ St. Seb's (Fri.)
8
Northfield Mt. Hermon		 21-4-3
(7) In two of his last four games, Eric Green has allowed 3 goals. Before that he hadn't allowed 3 goals in a game since Jan. 6th. Still, he has a 1.50 GAA and a .948 save %. Has played more minutes than any other prep goalie -- and he's certainly not going to get any rest now. Devan Tongue (3-8-11 over his last 5 games) and Kyle Kazeroid (4-4-8 in the same span) are NMH's weapons up front, while Mike Kennedy runs the offense from the blue line. NMH is 2-3-1 vs. Top 10 teams (beat Thayer, split with Cushing, lost to KUA and Exeter; tied LA). LAST WEEK: Lost to Exeter 2-0, beat Loomis 2-1, beat Choate 4-3. THIS WEEK: @ Andover (Wed.), vs. SPS (Sat.)
9
Cushing		 19-8-1
(8) 4-7-1 vs. Top 10 (beat Exeter, split with LA, NMH, and Dexter; lost to Salisbury, Thayer, and KUA 2x). Vilho Saariluoma (11-10-21 over last 9) and his centerman, Matt Guerra (5-16-21 over last 9) are lighting it up. A big week could put Cushing in the Elite 8. LAST WEEK: Beat Andover 9-5, lost to KUA 4-1. THIS WEEK: vs. New Hampton (Wed.), @ St. Mark's (Fri.), vs. Gov's (Sat.)
10
Lawrence Academy		 17-9-1
(N/R) 10-2-0 over last 12, with losses to Thayer and, earlier tonight, St. Paul's. Have allowed 2 or fewer goals in 9 of those games. Neil Shea has been on fire (16-19-35 in the last 12 games). The Spartans are 1-5-1 vs. Top 10 (split with Cushing, lost to Milton 2x, lost to Thayer 2x, tied NMH). With the whole season taken into account, Westy and Winchendon have slightly better numbers, but they've sputtered a bit, and LA has come on lately. LAST WEEK: Beat Gov's 8-0, beat St. Mark's 5-1, lost to SPS 5-4.THIS WEEK: @ St. Seb's (Wed.), @ Tabor (Sat.)
* Note: Only games between NEPSIHA Div. I schools -- the principal factor in determining seedings for the playoffs -- are included in the won-lost records above.