November

December

January

February

March

 

* * 🏒  HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT GUIDE  🏒 * *

Sat. 2/25/17 -- updated

Sat. Feb. 25 Highlights

Martin, Andover Beat Exeter, 5-2
Brunswick Wins Empire Cup
Proctor Wins Lakes Region Tournament

-- Host Berkshire got a 26-save shutout from senior Thomas Draper in a 3-0 win over Gunnery. Goals were scored by freshman Jack Whitney, and seniors Ryan Keelan and Matt Koopman, the latter an empty-netter. Gunnery junior G Cedrick Andree kicked out 35 of 37 in a losing cause. Berkshire finished the regular season with 4 straight wins and is 12-10-6. Gunnery finishes the regular season 20-9-0.

-- Seniors Philippe Gilmour (4g,2a) and Waltteri Rannisto (2g,4a), and junior Luke Grainger (1g,4a) led Hebron to a 9-6 road win at Kents Hill. Senior Louis Lemay (2g,2a) had four points for Kents Hill, and finished the season with 50 points in 25 games. Hebron's Gilmour was his team's leading scorer, finishing the season with 59 points in 30 games. Rannisto and Grainger came in 2nd and 3rd.

-- A goal from senior Steven Gower lifted Williston-Northampton to a 2-2 tie with Pomfret. Sophomore goalies Peyton Durand (Pomfret) nad Greg Iverson (Williston) each kicked out 37 of 39 shots. Pomfret finshes the regular season 13-8-4.

-- A John Hunt PPG early in the third broke a 2-2 tie and lifted host Westminster to a 3-1 win over Deerfield. Hunt added another goal late in the period for the final margin of victory. Sophomore Kai Edmonds picked up the win, allowing Westy, which went 6-2-1 in February, to finish the season at .500 (11-11-3). 

-- Cushing got a pair of goals from sophomore Cam Recchi -- his first two goals of the season -- in a 4-1 win at Governor's. Junior Vilho Saariluoma had an ENG and 2 assists. Freshman G Joey Sharib (19/20) picked up the win. Cushing has been hot, going 9-2-1 over their last 11, and 5-0-0 over the last five. They are now 13-13-2, which  positions head coach Rob Gagnon, with a good performance in the small-school tournament, to finish his 10-year Cushing career with 10 consecutive winning seasons.

-- Senior G Owen Zdunski (22/23) had another strong game in goal and senior Matthew Hayes, junior D Andrew Moynihan, and senior Ted Locke had one goal apiece as #1 Lawrence Academy topped the visitors from St. Paul's, 3-1. LA finishes the regular season 21-3-1.

-- Senior Jeremie Lavallée had two goals and classmate Chris Adamsons had a goal and two assists to lead host Taft to a 6-2 win over Hotchkiss. The Rhinos (15-7-1) finish the regular season with four straight wins and will be extending the Dan Murphy era at Taft into next week.

-- Andover stunned host -- and #6-ranked -- Exeter, 5-2. Andover, which got goals from 5 different scorers, was outshot 43-17, but PG Kyle Martin was on his game, kicking out 41 shots for the big win. Andover (15-9-2) finishes the regular season with wins in its final four. They are also 7-2-2 over the last 11. Exeter (22-6-1) was 1-1-1 in its last three games.

-- A Santeri Hartikainen goal at 4:58 of overtime gave host Groton a 5-4 win over St. Mark's. Hartikainen (1g,2a), Mark Gallant (1g,2a), led Groton scorers. Ethan Kimball (2g,1a) and Sean Farrell (3a) led the St. Mark's attack.

-- Kent, on the road at Choate, held a 2-1 lead late in the third on a pair of Andrew Rinaldi goals, but Choate junior Patrick Mullowney tied it up at 2-2 at 12:23 and junior Jack Hoey scored the game winner with 1:26 remaining in regulation to give the Wild Boars the 3-2 win. Junior Cal Stewart (32/33) got the win; Peter Negron (28/31) took the loss. Choate (7-14-3) won 3 of its last 5 games while Kent (12-9-3) stumbled at the end, losing 4 of its last 5.

-- In the championship game of the Lakes Region Tournament, #3 Proctor beat #4 Tilton, 7-3. Cole Joslin (2g,2a), Myles Abbate (1g,3a), Reilly Walsh (3g), and Tate Singleton (3a) led the Hornets' attack. Proctor has won 3 in a row. Tilton saw its 5-game win streak snapped. Both teams move on to the playoffs.

-- Hoosac junior G Patrick McGuane (25/26) led Hoosac to a 5-1 win over Berwick in the Holt Conference championship game played at UNH. Cullen Gustafson (1g,2a) and Andrew Lusignan (2g) led the Owls' attack.

-- Tabor sophomore Owen Rudicus broke a 2-2 tie with NMH at 9:08 of the third, with assists going to Hunter Brackett and Peter Lombardi. Rudicus, again from Brackett and Lombardi, added an ENG with 50 seconds left for the 4-2 final margin of victory. Tabor senior G Jeremie Forget (29/31) earned the win. This game was moved from NMH, where the ice was melting faster than in Antarctica (it reached 72 degrees in New England today) to Deerfield. Tabor finishes its season 13-10-3. NMH finishes 9-18-5.

-- Senior G Strauss Mann kicked out 45 of 47 shots to lead Brunswick to a 5-2 win over Millbrook in the championship game of the Empire Cup. Nick VanBelle, Jack Forrest, and Aaron Aboodi scored for Brunswick, and Charles Shaffer and Forrest added empty-netters. Millbrook outshot Brunswick, 47-21.

-- Salisbury got 2 goals from junior Tyce Thompson and single goals from Alex DiPaolo, Peter Liberatore, and Matt Holmes in a 5-2 win over the visitors from Canterbury. Salisbury senior Jonah Capriotti (25/27) got the win. Canterbury senior Dan Seitz (50/55) took the loss. Salisbury finished the regular season by winning 5 of its last 6.

-- St. George's knocked off host Middlesex, 4-1, behind senior forward Tyler Jones (1g,2a) and senior goaltender Shane Conlon (34/35). Middlesex sophomore Joe Stanizzi (36/40) took the hard-luck loss.

-- In the consolation game of the Empire Cup, Trinity-Pawling, which started the season poorly but finished with a much stronger February (3-2-3), topped Albany Academy, 5-2. Zach Mazur (3g,1a), Joey Musa (1g,1a), and Nick Charron (2a) led the T-P offense while senior G Evan Angotti (40/42) came up big in net. Albany PG goalie Brandon Collett (25/29) took the loss. Albany Academy finishes the regular season 18-7-4.

-- Host Brooks, behind junior Max Rand and senior Danny Philbrick (2g,1a apiece) edged BB&N, 4-3. The score of this one was 2-2 after two when Rand scored 51 seconds into the third period. Rand would add an insurance goal later in the period. Brooks senior Johnny Trotto (26/29) got the win; BB&N freshman Gavin FitzPatrick (27/31) took the loss.

-- KUA got goals from four different scorers -- three in the first period -- and topped New Hampton, 4-2, in the consolation game of the Lakes Region Tournament. KUA entered the tournament as the #1 seed, and New Hampton as the #2, but both lost their semifinal matchups to, respectively, #4 Tilton and #3 Proctor.

 

Mon. 2/27/17

2017 All-New England Teams

The NEPSIHA coaches vote annually for East and West Prep All-Star teams. Here are this year's teams. There are two repeaters from last year: Thayer F Casey Carreau and Proctor D Reilly Walsh, who are on the East's First Team this year, were also on the East's First team last year.


EAST

First Team
Casey Carreau, Sr. F, Thayer
Jay O'Brien, Jr. F, Thayer
Michael Lombardi, Sr. F, KUA
Jack Rathbone, Jr. D, Dexter
Reilly Walsh, Sr. D, Proctor
Logan Bateman, Sr. G, Holderness

Second Team
Christian O'Neill, Sr. F, Belmont Hill
Neil Shea, Jr. F, Lawrence
Timmy Kent, Jr. F, Lawrence
Eric Jeremiah, Sr. D, St. Sebastian's
Mike Young, Sr. D, Rivers
Aidan Murphy, Sr. G, Dexter


WEST

First Team
Chris Theodore, Sr. F, Hotchkiss
Tyler Madden, Jr. F, Avon Old Farms
Marshall Rifai, Sr. D, Hotchkiss
Nick Hale, Jr. D, Salisbury
Andrew Lucas, Jr. D, Loomis
Strauss Mann, Sr. G, Brunswick

Second Team
Tyce Thompson, Jr. F, Salisbury
Nick VanBelle, Sr. F, Brunswick
Joey Cipollone, Jr. F, Loomis
Justin Marler, Sr. D, Deerfield
Kyle Koopman, Sr. D, Berkshire
Andrew Farrier, Sr. G, Taft

Sat. 2/25/17- updated Sun. 2/26

NEPSIHA Tournament Schedule

The NEPSIHA quarterfinals are on tap for this coming Wednesday, March 1st. Here is the complete schedule. Note that games between schools more than 2 hours and 45 minutes apart will be played at neutral sites. Please check back occasionally, as late changes are always a possibility.


Wed. March 1, 2017
Quarterfinals

Elite 8:
#8 Exeter @ #1 LA, 5:30 pm
#7 Salisbury @ #2 Dexter, 4:30 pm
#6 Thayer @ #3 KUA, 4:30 pm
#5 Belmont Hill @ #4 Rivers, 4:30 pm

Large School:
#8 St. Sebastian's @ #1 Andover, 4:30 pm
#7 Milton @ #2 Brunswick, 4:30 pm (@ Choate)
#6 Proctor @ #3 Avon Old Farms, 4:00 pm (@ Williston)
#5 Albany Academy @ #4 Taft, 3:30 pm

Small School:
#8 Roxbury Latin @ #1 Gunnery, 4:00 pm
#7 Holderness @ #2 New Hampton, 5:15 pm
#6 Pomfret @ #3 Winchendon, 3:30 pm
#5 Cushing @ #4 Tilton, 3:30 pm

Sat. March 4, 2017
Semifinals

Elite 8:
LA/Exeter winner vs. Rivers/Belmont Hill winner
KUA/Thayer winner vs. Dexter/Salisbury winner

Large School:
Andover/St. Seb's winner vs. Taft/Albany winner
Avon/Proctor winner vs. Brunswick/Milton winner

Small School:
Gunnery/RL winner vs. Tilton/Cushing winner
Winchendon/Pomfret winner vs. New Hampton/Holderness winner


Sun. Mar. 5, 2017
Finals

Piatelli/Simmons (Small School) Championship, 12:00 pm
Martin/Earl (Large School) Championship, 2:30 pm
Stuart/Corkery (Elite 8) Championship, 5:00 pm

Sat. 2/25/17

Tate Singleton's Big Night

We don't know if you've had the chance to peruse all the box scores from last night, but Proctor's 7-6 OT win over New Hampton in the Lakes Region semifinals was one worthy of being placed in a time capsule and shot into outer space. It was pretty wild.

Box Score: Proctor-New Hampton Lakes Region semifinal

First, off, New Hampton had smoked Proctor, 9-1, just five days earlier. "We were down 4-0 after one and 7-0 after two," said Proctor coach Mike Walsh. "It was a horrible experience. So tonight, fueled by motivation and a sense of redemption we played them pretty even -- over the first 7-8 minutes."

Then the roof fell in. New Hampton scored four goals in a little over five minutes and took a 4-0 lead into the first intermission. Walsh switched goalies for the second, taking out Devin Barresi and putting in Ville Lassonen.

"We tried to regroup between periods," Walsh said. In Sunday's game, New Hampton had scored on the first shift of the second period. "We obviously couldn't let that happen again," said Walsh. "Instead, we took a penalty. And Tate Singleton scored a pair of short-handed goals -- 21 seconds apart -- on that one minor."

New Hampton took a time out. But it didn't help, as less than a minute later Singleton scored again, this time even strength. That's about as natural as a natural hat trick can be: two shorties and an even-strength goal -- and all in a span of 1:17. 

It gets crazier. A minute or so later, Proctor had a 5x3 -- and Cole Joslin scored to tie the game at 4-4. New Hampton got one skater back -- and 28 seconds later Proctor's Myles Abbate scored a 5x4 goal to give Proctor their first lead of the game at 5-4. It didn't last, though, as New Hampton's Chris Lemay tied it at 5-5 at the 11:10 mark. And that's how the period ended. Of the six goals in the frame, two were shorties, two were even-strength, one was on a 5x3 and one on a 5x4. And, of course, Tate Singleton pulled off a feat this typist can't recall seeing before.

In the third period, the two coaches sons, Proctor's Reilly Walsh and New Hampton's Michael Kesselring, scored three minutes apart late in the period to send the game to OT where Abbate scored his second of the game, putting one just under the bar off a 2-on-1 with Singleton, to send the fans who'd made the short trip from Proctor happily into the night. 

Walsh cited the play of goaltender Ville Lassonen, who kicked out 22 of 24 shots -- including a couple breakaways -- in his two periods as Proctor mounted its comeback.

"The rink was packed," Walsh said. "And the pace was unbelievable. Odd-man rushes both ways. Up and down. It was firewagon hockey. The officials were excellent, and both teams played hard."

And, of course, Tilton upset KUA in the other semifinal, a 6-5 win on Cam Weitzman's OT goal.

Today, the two top seeds -- #1 KUA and #2 New Hampton meet in the consolation game (@ KUA, 6:30 pm) while #3 Proctor hosts #4 Tilton in the championship game (5:30 pm).

Fri. 2/24/17

Thayer Blanks St. Seb's; Wins Valicenti Cup
Brighton, Mass. -- #7 Thayer, which had been in a 2-4-0 slump, played a textbook game, blanking St. Sebastian's 4-0 in the 20th Annual Valicenti Cup at the Warrior Ice Arena tonight.

Thayer junior goalie Jimmy Scannell was named game MVP.

Thayer, which has had a tendency this season to fall behind early and wind up either losing or storming back to win, was on its game from the opening faceoff, forcing the play, winning 50/50 puck battles, creating turnovers and, basically, being all over St. Sebastian's every time they touched the puck, not allowing them time or space to make plays or get many Grade A scoring opportunities. In short, the Arrows were never allowed to find their rhythm.

Thayer got on the board at 8:01 of the first on a Casey Carreau goal, with assists going to junior Jay O'Brien and sophomore Christian Hayes.

In the second, Thayer's O'Brien scored at 6:38 on a 2-on-1, off a nice pass from Christian Hayes. Carreau also got an assist on the goal.

At 3:16 of the third, seconds after St. Seb's senior goalie Alex Zafonte made a sparkling save on Mike Seoane, the puck wound up at the left point, where junior defenseman PJ Garrett fired a slapshot that beat Zafonte before the goaltender had a chance to get resettled in net. Sophomore D Jake Flynn had an assist on the play.

Less than four minutes later, at 7:12, junior Tristan Amonte carried the puck down the right side, but ran out of room and was unable to slide the puck behind Zafonte. The puck hit the side of the net, but was still in play and wound up back in the crease behind Zafonte, whereupon sophomore wing Reilly Moran knocked it home to make it 4-0. Junior defenseman Cam Lemanski also had an assist on the play.

"We kept it simple," Thayer head coach Tony Amonte said afterward. "We haven't been playing great the past couple of weeks. So we just to told them to try to have fun and not worry about mistakes. It's hockey. Mistakes happen. Our guys responded well."

Asked about the Tigers' recent habit of falling behind early, Amonte said, "That's happened way too many times. We needed to play with a lead. That's been a focus of ours lately. Hopefully, we can keep it going."

St. Sebastian's head coach Sean McCann said, "That was a one-sided game. They (Thayer) came out ready to play. They played a grittier, more-determined game. This game is not indicative of the way we've been playing."

Notes:

This was our first visit to the Warrior Ice Arena which houses the Bruins practice and training facilities, and it's a great place to watch hockey, perfect for an event like today's game. It's well-lit, with lots of glass, high ceilings, good sight lines and seats, most of which were filled for tonight's game. Check it out if you get a chance. Bruins practices are free and open to the public.

For those of you who missed the 1980s for any reason, Arthur Valicenti, who was at the game, was a longtime Thayer coach in football, hockey, and baseball as well as serving as the school's AD. Valicenti was the coach when Thayer, with a (very) high-scoring line of Tony Amonte, Jeremy Roenick, and Dan Green won back-to-back prep titles, going 28-3 in 1985-86 and beating Avon Old Farms (led by Brian Leetch) in the finals, and following up the next season, '86-87, by going 24-2 and beating New Hampton in the finals. Valicenti also coached football at Thayer for years. His 1964 team went 8-0-0 and was not only undefeated but didn't give up even a single point, outscoring their opponents, 272-0. We can't see anything like that happening again soon.
 

Thurs. 2/23/17

Which Games Are the Most Important?

Which games are the 'most important' this weekend? 

Wed. 2/22/17

Wed. Feb. 22 Highlights

LA tops Seb's in OT; Clinches Keller

Groton, Mass. -- An Austin Magera goal at 1:01 of overtime lifted #1-ranked Lawrence Academy to a hard-fought 3-2 win over St. Sebastian's here tonight.

With the win, Lawrence, which had lost 5-3 in the teams' previous meeting at St. Seb's on Feb. 10th, clinched the Keller Division crown.

On the winning goal, senior Sam Swanson drove down the right side, and cut hard left across the top of the crease. St. Sebastian's senior goalie Alex Zafonte, who was excellent all day, stopped the initial shot but Magera jumped on the rebound, and the Lawrence bench emptied in a millisecond as players raced to the corner, happily piling on top of each other. 

The game had been tight from the start.

In the first period, LA had more shots, the period's only power play, and an edge in play. Zafonte, though, stopped everything -- including a number of high-quality shots -- and his d-men did a good job in front limiting second opportunities. LA's best chance came when sophomore d-man Drew Bavaro sprung junior Neil Shea for a breakaway, but no dice. The period ended 0-0.

All four regulation goals came in the second period. St. Seb's started the period on the PK, as a Tommy Lyons' slashing penalty with 10 seconds left in the first carried over to the second. Being a man down didn't faze the Arrows however, as defenseman Blake Colman made a heads-up play on the offensive blue line and sent RJ Murphy in alone. Murphy put a nice deke on LA senior goalie Owen Zdunski for a short-handed goal that gave the visitors a 1-0 lead just 41 seconds in.

LA, however, was still on the power play and, less than a minute later, Spartans senior center Craig Needham, manning the right point, wristed a shot that found daylight glove side to tie it 1-1.

It stayed 1-1 until late in the period, when once again the two teams scored within a minute of each other. With 1:18 left in the period, St. Seb's freshman Liam Devlin spotted senior defenseman Eric Jeremiah pinching, made the perfect pass, and the Middlebury recruit wristed it past Zdunski to give the Arrows a 2-1 lead. The lead didn't last long, though. With 36.7 seconds left in the period, Lawrence's Shea, from the left corner, passed the puck out front where it deflected off a St. Sebastian's defenseman and into the net to tie it at 2-2.

The third period was scoreless, though Shea had a breakaway opportunity with a minute left in regulation that was foiled.

The game moved on to OT, where Swanson and Magera teamed up to give the Spartans the big win, and the Keller title.

Asked if he thought before the season that his team would be Keller champs, LA head coach Robbie Barker said, "Absolutely not. The league is just so tough top to bottom. But I saw a lot of hard work and commitment on the part of our players."

"Today," Barker added, "we followed our game plan, and slowed them in the neutral zone, got pucks in deep, and went to work. St. Sebastian's, with guys like Jeremiah, are tough defensively -- and their goalie was fantastic -- so we just wanted to get the puck to the net and get some greasy garbage goals. "

St. Sebastian's coach Sean McCann was pleased with his team's effort. "I thought we played a hell of a game," he said. "Our forwards played well. The D moved the puck effectively. Zafonte has been really good down the stretch. Both teams had opportunities in regulation and OT. We had a few unfortunate bounces, but that's part of the game. It was a good game by both teams."

Lawrence (20-3-1, and 8-1-1 over its last 10) faces St. Paul's Saturday at home in the regular-season finale.

St. Sebastian's (12-10-3) finishes their regular season with a Friday night tilt vs. Thayer at the Warrior Ice Center in Brighton.

***
-- Justin Grillo (1g,2a) and Joey Cipollone (3a) led the offense and Adin Farhat (27/28) got the win in net as host Loomis topped Choate, 4-1.

-- A Drew Pitcher goal from Matt Koopman broke a 2-2 tie at 11:29 of the third as Berkshire, which added an ENG with 4 seconds left, topped host Millbrook, 4-2.

-- Taft got goals from 4 different scorers and senior G Andrew Farrier (36/38) got the win as Taft went on the road and topped Trinity-Pawling, 4-2. Taft (14-7-1) has won three straight.

-- A penalty shot goal by Daniel Kerfoot lifted host Middlesex to a 2-1 win over Groton. The goalies came up big in this one. Middlesex sophomore Joe Stanizzi (49/50) came up with another big performance. Junior Thomas Steere (29/31) was the hard-luck loser.

-- Senior G Joey Halstrom kicked out 43 of 45 shots to lead Cushing Academy to a 4-2 win at New Hampton.

-- An OT goal from senior Ryan Moore lifted #6 Exeter (22-5-1) to a 5-4 win over Winchendon. Mike Hardman and Matt Fawcett each had two goals for Winchendon.

-- Host Andover (14-9-2) broke open a 1-1 game with three second period goals -- two from senior Brendan Ryan, one of which was a SHG -- to top NMH 4-2.

-- Albany Academy, trailing 2-1 entering the third period at Williston, got goals from Josh Chapman and, with 58 seconds left in regulation, the game winner from Justin Geary to take a 3-2 win and improve to 18-5-4.

-- Freshman sensation Sean Farrell (3g,2a) figured in all St. Mark's goals in a 5-1 win over St. George's; senior Ethan Kimball (2g,2a) had a big day as well. CJ McKennitt (26/27) got the win for the Lions.

-- In a neutral-site game played at Exeter, Pomfret (13-8-3) busted open a 2-2 game with three third period goals -- the final an empty-netter -- to top Kents Hill, 4-2.

-- #9 Salisbury (15-7-2) put an end to Hotchkiss's 8-game unbeaten streak with a 4-1 win. Salisbury got goals from four different scorers and senior Jonah Capriotti (18/19) picked up the win.

-- #8 Avon Old Farms (14-6-4) got a 22-save shutout from sophomore Spencer Knight in a 5-0 win at Canterbury. Will Christensen and Trevor Zegras each had 2 goals. Tyler Madden and Ryan Lanchbury each had 2 assists.

-- In the Mid-Atlantic Hockey League Championship Game, the Hill School topped host La Salle College Prep, 5-2. The Hill broke a 2-2 tie entering the third period with 3 unanswered goals, including 2 from junior David Hill (the second being an ENG). Hill also added an assist. Senior Brandon Picard (1g,2a) also had three points for the Hill. Senior G Drew Hutchinson (24/26) earned the win.

-- #5 Belmont Hill (19-5-4) topped the visitors from St. Paul's, 6-1. Defenseman Mike Armstrong (2g,1), and forwards Sam Hesler (1g,2a) and Andrew Holland (2g) led the scoring parade.

-- #10 Gunnery got second period goals from Jack Lippis and Marc Gatcomb to top Westminster, 2-0, and improve to 20-8-0. Junior G Cedrick Andree (24/24) earned the shutout win; Westy soph Kai Edmonds (36/38) was the hard-luck loser.

-- In a Holt Conference semifinal, host Berwick edged Pingree, 3-2. Berwick, down 2-1 entering the third, got a PPG from senior Derek Muse to tie it and then, with 35 seconds left in regulation, junior Greg Stohrer potted the game winner. Berwick junior G Rafe Gaughan (20/22) earned the win. Pingee senior Matt Suny (33/36) took the loss. Berwick will host Hoosac for the Holt Conference championship.

-- #2 Dexter (20-2-3) got a 5-point outing from senior John Femia (2g,3a) to top host Holderness, 9-2.

-- Host Kent (12-8-3) snapped a 3-game losing streak with a 5-1 win over Deerfield. Senior Jack Bloem and junior Adam Usinger (2g) led the Kent attack while senior G Peter Negron (25/26) held down the fort.

-- #4 Rivers (22-4-0) got goals from four different scorers in a 4-1 win over Brooks. Junior G Aidan Porter (13/14) picked up the win; senior Johnny Trotto (41/45) took the loss.

-- #7 Thayer (19-8-0) lost to Milton, 5-2, at the Canton SprtsPlex. Thayer is 2-4-0 over its last six.

-- Host Governor's took a 3-2 lead over Nobles early in the third period, but Nobles bounced back late in the period with a pair of goals less than 2 minutes apart -- from Ryan Heath to tie it at 3-3 and a PPG from Patrick Moynihan to win it, 4-3. Moynihan (2g,1a), Heath (1g,2a), and Jerry Harding (1g,2a) each had 3 points for Nobles. Freshman Robbie Fromm-DeLorme (1g,2a) had 3 points for Gov's.

-- Tilton (16-10-1) topped host Vermont Academy, 5-3. Seth Murray (3g,1a), Jason Bogacz (3a), and Cameron Weitzman (2a) led the Rams' attack.

-- A second period goal from senior F Bernie McGovern, assisted by junior Jack Studley turned out to be the GWG as visiting BB&N upset Roxbury Latin (16-7-1), 2-1. BB&N freshman Gavin FitzPatrick (29/30) earned win; RL senior Bryan McGrath (26/28) took the loss.

-- Waltteri Rannisto (1g,3a), Philippe Gilmour (2g,1a), Luke Grainger (3a) and Erik Friberg (2g) led host Hebron to a 7-1 win over Brewster Academy.

Tues. 2/21/17

Playoff Schedule

The 36th Annual New England Prep School Ice Hockey playoffs start a week from Wednesday. Here is the schedule. In four days we'll be able to fill in the quarterfinals bracket.

High seeds get home ice, of course.


Quarterfinals -- Wed. March 1, 2017
At campus sites

Stuart/Corkery Tournament (AKA Elite 8)
1 vs. 8
2 vs. 7
3 vs. 6
4 vs. 5

Martin/Earl Tournament (Large School)
1 vs. 8
2 vs. 7
3 vs. 6
4 vs. 5

Piatelli/Simmons Tournament (Small School)
1 vs. 8
2 vs. 7
3 vs. 6
4 vs. 5

***

Semifinals -- Sat. March 4, 2017
At campus sites

Stuart/Corkery Tournament (AKA Elite 8)
1/8 winner vs. 4/5 winner
3/6 winner vs. 2/7 winner

Martin/Earl Tournament (Large School)
1/8 winner vs. 4/5 winner
3/6 winner vs. 2/7 winner

Piatelli/Simmons Tournament (Small School)
1/8 winner vs. 4/5 winner
3/6 winner vs. 2/7 winner

***

Championship Games -- Sun. March 5, 2017
at St. Anselm College; Manchester, NH

Piatelli/Simmons Tournament (Small School), 12:00 pm
Martin/Earl Tournament (Large School), 2:30 pm
Stuart/Corkery Tournament (AKA Elite 8), 5:00 pm


***

Tues. 2/21/17

Large School/Small School Breakdown

Here is the 2016-17 NEPSAC large school/small school breakdown. The schools in the left-hand column are all large while the schools in the right-hand column are all small. The numbers refer to male enrollment.


2016-17 Large School/Small School Breakdown

Sun. 2/19/17-Updated Fri. 2/24

Prep Composite, Week of Feb. 20, 2017

-- Mon. Feb. 20
St. George's @ Groton, 4:30 pm
Westminster @ Kent, 4:45 pm
Holderness @ Proctor, 5:00 pm

Buddy Ferreira Classic (Day 2)
At the Falmouth Ice Arena; Falmouth, Mass.
Losers Bracket:
Austin Prep vs. Duxbury, 1:00 pm
Reading vs. Falmouth, 3:00 pm
Winners Bracket:
Hingham vs. BC High, 5:00 pm
Archbishop Williams vs. Arlington Catholic, 7:00 pm

-- Wed. Feb. 22
Berkshire @ Millbrook, 2:30 pm
Avon Old Farms @ Canterbury, 2:30 pm
Groton @ Middlesex, 3:00 pm
Taft @ Trinity-Pawling, 3:00 pm
Choate @ Loomis-Chaffee, 3:00 pm
Cushing @ New Hampton, 3:30 pm
Tilton @ Vermont Academy, 3:30 pm 4:15 pm is the correct starting time
Northfield - Mt. Hermon @ Andover, 3:30 pm
Winchendon @ Exeter, 3:30 pm
Milton @ Thayer, 4:00 pm
St. George's @ St. Mark's, 4:00 pm
Hotchkiss @ Salisbury, 4:00 pm
Pomfret vs. Kents Hill, 4:15 pm – at Phillips Exeter
Albany Academy @ Williston-Northampton, 4:15 pm
Deerfield @ Kent, 4:30 pm
Westminster @ Gunnery, 4:30 pm
St. Paul's @ Belmont Hill, 4:30 pm
Noble & Greenough @ Governor's, 5:00 pm
Dexter @ Holderness, 5:00 pm
St. Sebastian's @ Lawrence Academy, 5:30 pm
BB&N @ Roxbury Latin, 5:30 pm
Brewster Academy @ Hebron, 5:30 pm
Brooks @ Rivers, 6:00 pm

Holt Conference Tournament
Semifinals
Pingree @ Berwick, 4:30 pm -- at Dover, NH
NYA @ Hoosac, 4:00 pm -- at North Adams, Mass.

Mid-Atlantic Hockey League Tournament
Championship Game
The Hill School @ La Salle College, 4:00 pm -- at Hatfield Ice Rink

Cardinal Classic (Day 1)
Semifinals
At the Olympia; West Springfield, Mass.
Malden Catholic vs. Central Catholic, 6:00 pm
Pope Francis vs. St. Mary’s Lynn, 8:00 pm

-- Thurs. Feb. 23
Groton @ BB&N, 5:00 pm – makeup of Feb. 8

Cardinal Classic (Day 2)
At the Olympia; West Springfield, Mass.
Consolation: Malden Catholic vs. St. Mary’s Lynn, 4:00 pm
Championship Game: Pope Francis vs. Central Catholic, 6:00 pm

Buddy Ferreira Classic (Final Day)
At the Falmouth Ice Arena; Falmouth, Mass.
Consolation Game: Austin Prep vs. Reading, 5:00 pm
Championship Game: BC High vs. Arlington Catholic, 7:00 pm

-- Fri. Feb. 24
St. Mark's @ Cushing, 4:00 pm
Xaverian @ St. John's Prep, 4:00 pm
Williston-Northampton @ Winchendon, 5:30 pm
St. Sebastian's vs. Thayer, 6:00 pm – at Warrior Ice Center
Berwick @ Governor's, 6:30 pm
St. Paul's @ Dexter, 6:30 pm

Empire Cup Tournament (Day 1)
Semifinals
Game 1: Albany Academy @ Millbrook, 5:30 pm (@ Millbrook)
Game 2: Brunswick @ Trinity-Pawling, 7:00 pm (@ Trinity-Pawling)

Lakes Region Tournament (Day 1)
Semifinals
#3 Proctor @ #2 New Hampton, 6:00 pm
#4 Tilton @ #1 KUA, 6:00 pm

-- Sat. Feb. 25
Hebron @ Kents Hill, 1:00 pm
Deerfield @ Westminster, 2:15 pm
Tabor @ Northfield - Mt. Hermon, 2:30 pm -- new start time is 5:00 pm
Gunnery @ Berkshire, 2:30 pm
Pomfret @ Williston-Northampton, 3:00 pm
Canterbury @ Salisbury, 3:00 pm
St. George's @ Middlesex, 3:30 pm
BB&N @ Brooks, 4:00 pm
Milton @ Noble & Greenough, 4:00 pm
St. Mark's @ Groton, 4:00 pm
Cushing @ Governor's, 4:00 pm
Andover @ Exeter, 4:00 pm
Hotchkiss @ Taft, 4:30 pm
St. Paul's @ Lawrence Academy, 4:45 pm
Kent @ Choate, 5:00 pm
Avon Old Farms @ Loomis-Chaffee, 7:30 pm

Empire Cup Tournament
Consolation Game: Albany Academy vs. Trinity-Pawling, 4:30 pm (@ Millbrook)
Championship Game: Millbrook vs. Brunswick, 6:30 pm (@ Millbrook)

Lakes Region Tournament
Consolation Game: #2 New Hampton @ #1 KUA, 6:30 pm
Championship Game: #4 Tilton @ #3 Proctor, 5:30 pm

Holt Conference Tournament
Championship Game
Hoosac @ Berwick, 2:00 pm -- at UNH

END OF THE REGULAR SEASON

Sat. 2/18/17

Sat. Feb. 18 Highlights
Avon Holds Off #8 Salisbury

Avon, Conn. -- Avon Old Farms came out flying this afternoon, blitzed #8 Salisbury for four first-period goals and then, as the visitors mounted a third-period comeback attempt, held on and emerged 5-4 winners in a highly entertaining, up-tempo game before a lively crowd here this afternoon.

Avon wasted no time getting on the board in this one, as junior Will Christensen's high wrister from the slot beat Salisbury senior goalie Jonah Capriotti top shelf at the 1:55 mark.

Just 1:25 later, on the power play, junior Tyler Madden made a great pass, finding Trevor Zegras, his sophomore linemate, alone at the back door for a 2-0 lead.

Salisbury got on the board when junior Tyce Thompson drove down the right side, cut to the center and made a cross-crease pass to senior Matt Holmes. It looked like Avon's quick start would be slowed, but it didn't happen, at least not yet.

At 10:42 Zegras intercepted a Salisbury D-to-D pass between the faceoff circles and wristed it past Capriotti for a goal that looked like a back-breaker.

Less than 2 minutes later, Avon struck again, as senior John Giatrelis scored a sharp-angle shot from below the half wall to make it 4-1, which is how the first period ended.

In the second, Salisbury picked it up a bit, getting an early lift when Capriotti came up with a couple of big early saves, the first when junior center Nick Wildgoose sent Matt Allen in on a breakaway, and the second when Capriotti stoned Madden. But the period still belonged to Avon, just not as overwhelmingly as the first frame. Indeed, the Winged Beavers' extended their lead to 5-1 when Allen, stationed behind the net, found Wildgoose in front. Wildgoose put it top shelf.

Later in the period, Salisbury had some good chances on the PP, but Avon sophomore G Spencer Knight came up big.

In the third, Salisbury threw a scare into the Winged Beavers, who didn't help themselves by taking penalties.

With Christensen in the box for interference, and the penalty about to expire, Salisbury's Thompson, off a nice pass from senior D Ryan Verrier, beat Knight at the 4:08 mark.

A little over two minutes later, with Christensen again in the box, Thompson found Holmes alone in the slot. Suddenly, it was 5-3 Avon and the Salisbury rooting section, every bit as loud as Avon's, came to life. There was nearly 12 minutes remaining, and the momentum had shifted to Salisbury.

But Knight kept the Knights at bay.

Finally, with two minutes left on the clock, Capriotti was pulled for the extra attacker and it paid off within seconds, as big sophomore Johnny Beecher scored on a wraparound with 1:50 left.

Salisbury kept presing for the equalizer and Beecher and Thompson, set up in the slot, each had opportunties to tie it up, but were stymied by Knight, and Avon skated off with a 5-4 win, keeping their hopes for a spot in the Ellite 8 alive for another day.

"In the first period we had four goals and hit at least two posts, and in the second we had three or four breakaways," Avon coach John Gardner said. "And at the end we were holding on for dear life. Thank God we got a jump on them early."

"Too little, too late," said Salisbury coach Andrew Will. "We're proud that they were able to continue to battle, but for two periods we showed very little life, energy, and passion.That was our message between the second and third periods. We told them we didn't care what the final score was. We just wanted them to play our style of hockey. We just ran out of clock at the end."

"I give Jonah Capriotti credit," Will added. "We hung him out to dry in the first, but he hung in there, made saves, and allowed us to be there at the end."

Notes:

-- Shots in the game favored Avon, 39-36.

-- Avon was called for four penalties in the game to Avon's one, though that doesn't really tell the story. The officiating, though it didn't impinge on the entertainment factor, was simply not good in this one, with oddball calls and and a boatload of non-calls. And it went both ways.

-- Avon improves to 13-6-3 and travels to Pomfret Sunday for a 2:30 tilt. Pomfret, with three straight lossses, is no longer a team under consideration. Salisbury, 14-7-2, hosts Hotchkiss on Wednesday.


***

Cushing Edges #2 KUA
Resurgent Hotchkiss Bombs T-P
Deerfield Ties Up #6 Exeter

-- Junior defenseman Andrew Lucas broke a 2-2 tie with 3:44 remaining to give host Loomis a 3-2 win over NMH. Loomis senior Adin Farhat (20/22) got the win, while 6'5" NMH junior Eric Green came up big in a losing cause, kicking out 44 of 47 shots. The win put a halt to Loomis's three-game losing streak.

-- Senior center Matt Koopman (2g,2a) figured in all four goals in Berkshire's 4-3 home win over Westminster. With the win, Berkshire improves to .500 at 10-10-5 and Westy drops a game under .500 at 9-10-3.

-- #4 Rivers got two goals from senior D Michael Young and an 18-save shutout from junior G Aidan Porter in a 4-0 blanking of Middlesex. Rivers outshot Middlesex, 67-18, but Middlesex soph Joe Stanizzi came up big, kicking out 64 shots. Stanizzi has a .926 save percentage on the season -- for a team that is 4-15-2. (He doesn't get much offensive support.)

-- Chris Theodore (8a), Alex Bourhas (3g,3a), and Jonathan Porreca (3g,2a) led Hotchkiss to a 9-5 win at T-P this afternoon. Hotchkiss, which lost 6 straight in January, has immediately followed that with an 8-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2). The Bearcats will try to make it nine at Salisbury on Wednesday .

-- Junior F Zach Taylor (2g,1a) and sophomore G Cam Fernandez (17/18) led host Millbrook to a 5-1 win vs. Pomfret.

-- Matthew Hayes (2g,1a), Sam Colangelo (1g,2a), and Timmy Kent  (1g,1a) led #3 Lawrence Academy to a 6-1 win at St. Mark's. Kent's goal came on a penalty shot. Senior Owen Zdunski (22/23) got the win for LA, now 19-3-1.

-- #7 Thayer got goals from four different scorers in a 4-3 win at St. Paul's today. Junior Ryan Peck had two goals for SPS.

-- A third period goal from senior Matteo Mangiardi broke a 2-2 tie and gave host Taft a 3-2 win over Choate. With the win, the Rhinos improve to 13-7-1.

-- Host St. Sebastian's crushed Governor's, 8-0, this afternoon. Sophomore Riley Hughes had a hat trick, and sophomore Wyatt Schlaht (1g,2a), freshman Liam Connors (1g,2a), and junior D Blake Colman (1g,2a) each had three points. Freshman G Drew Commesso (19 saves) had the shutout.

-- Host Brewster got two goals from PG Herbie Hazelton and single goals from six other players in an 8-6 win over Vermont Academy.

-- Cushing Academy went on the road and knocked off #2 KUA, 3-2, putting an end to the Wildcats' 11-game undefeated streak. Cushing jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two periods on goals from Matt McGrath, Patrick Keegan, and Joe Ansaldo before KUA came back with a pair in the third. Cushing senior Joey Halstrom (40/42) earned the win; KUA junior Sean Dynan (27/30) took the loss. Cushing improves to 10-13-2; KUA drops to 26-4-2.

-- Mark Gallant (1g,3a), Jonah Gold (2g,1a), Santeri Hartikainen (2g,1a) and Chris Brown (1g,2a) led the attack and 6'3" junior Thomas Steere posted an 18-save shutout as Groton, on the road, blanked St. George's, 6-0.

-- PG goalie Kyle Martin posted a 23-save shutout and five different scorers chipped in with a goal apiece as host Andover blanked Brooks, 5-0.

-- Senior Callahan Johnson and soph Brendan Sjostedt each had two goals to lead Tilton to an 8-4 win over visiting Hebron in a penalty-filled game (8 per team). Junior Luke Grainger had a pair of goals for Hebron. Tilton improves to 15-10-1.

-- #6 Exeter and host Deerfield battled to a 1-1 tie. PG Danny Farr scored for the Big Green in the first. Senior Collin Shapiro, on the PP, tied it up for Exeter at 10:38 of the third. Deerfield sophomore Thomas Gale (25/26) and Exeter freshman Ryan Welch (31/32) came up big in net.

-- Host Tabor got goals from 4 different scorers -- the final two ENGs -- in a 4-1 win over Holderness. The GWG was a short-handed effort by sophomore defenseman Cam Barbagallo at 2:12 of the third. Tabor senior G Jeremie Forget (29/30) got the win; Holderness senior Logan Bateman (29/30) took the hard-luck loss.

-- Canterbury snapped an 8-game winless stretch (0-7-1) with a 5-4 home win over #10 Kent tonight. The Saints, which got goals from 5 different scorers, broke open a 2-2 game in the second period with back-to-back goals from seniors Matthieu Gervais and Ben Affenito. For Affenito, it was his first of the season. Kent drops to 11-7-3 while Canterbury picked up its fifth win of the season.

Wed. 2/15/17

Wed. Feb. 15 Highlights

LeSueur OT Goal Lifts #9 Brunswick Past AA
Hotchkiss Blanks #10 Kent, 6-0
Choate Edges Avon, 3-2
#7 Thayer and #2 KUA Both Come Back From 3-0 Deficits to Win
Top 8 JSPR Teams All Pick Up Wins

--- Choate visited Avon's barn today and took a 3-0 lead midway through the second on goals from Sean Dennehy, Faisal Al-Saif and Chance Gorman. Avon came back with goals from Ben Pirko and Trevor Zegras to make things interesting, but too little, too late. The story of the day, though, was Wild Boars' junior G Cal Stewart, who kicked out 52 of 54 shots. Winged Beavers' sophomore G Spencer Knight (14/17) took the loss. With the win, Choate snaps a 6-game losing streak.

-- Host Millbrook held a 2-0 lead after two periods on a pair of goals from junior F Kevin Drevitch, but Trinity-Pawling came back in the third with a pair of goals from Brandon Lantieri and Zach Mazur, the latter coming with 3:08 remaining in regulation. Millbrook sophomore goaltender Cam Fernandez (23/25) and T-P senior Evan Angotti (20/22) were both solid. T-P (5-14-2) has a four-game unbeaten streak going, with wins over Salisbury and Canterbury and ties with Kent and, today, Millbrook. Not bad for team that started the season 1-12-0.

-- Senior Thomas McLarnon's 22-save shutout led host New Hampton to a 2-0 win over Vermont Academy. Vermont senior Guy Piccolo (41/43) was the hard-luck loser. New Hampton scored both of their goals in the third, a SHG from Zak Lanoue and an ENG from Michael Kane. New Hampton, winners of 10 of 12, improves to 16-9-3.

-- Seniors Chris Theodore, Conor Breen, and Marshall Rifai each had 3 points and senior goaltenders Nick Bolino (16/16) and Tyler Haywood (5/5) combined for a 6-0 shutout of #10 Kent, putting a hurt on the Lions' hopes of an Elite 8 berth. The Bearcats, who have undergone losing streaks of 4 and 6 games this season, are undefeated in their last 7 with a 5-0-2 record.

-- In a Mid-Atlantic Hockey League semifinal at Kingston, PA, #3 seed Hill got goals from four different scorers and a strong performance from senior G Drew Hutchison (27/29) to top #2 seed Wyoming Seminary and advance to the MAHL championship game on Saturday against the winner of today's LaSalle-Princeton Day semifinal.

-- In the other MAHL semi, #1 seed LaSalle College High School edged #4 seed Princeton Day, 4-3, on a third period power play goal from senior D Tyler Pohlig. LaSalle junior G Will Affel (36/39) earned the win, while Princeton Day senior Logan Kramsky (34/38) took the loss. LaSalle will face the Hill School in the MAHL championship game on Saturday.

-- Host Cushing got a pair of goals from junior Vilho Saariluoma en route to a 4-2 win over Andover. Cushing freshman Joe Sharib (17/19) got the win, while Andover PG Kyle Martin (34/37) took the loss. The Penguins are 5-2-1 over their last 8 games.

-- Holderness, on the road, got a 49-save shutout from senior Logan Bateman and a goal in the final minute of the first period from sophomore D Beckham Bayreuther to edge Winchendon, 1-0. Winchendon senior Brandon Graf (15/16) took the loss. Winchendon, which came into the game with wins in 10 of its last 11, drops to 13-8-2 while Holderness improves to 15-9-1.

-- Kents Hill exploded for six third period goals en route to an 8-5 win at Hebron. Senior forwards Louis Lemay (2g,4a) and Nils Janson (3g,2a) led the Huskies attack.

-- Tilton, down 3-2 to the visitors from Brewster, took over with 4 goals in an 8-minute span in the second period to take charge en route to a 9-5 win. Gerard Marretta (1g,3a) and Seth Murray (3a) led the Rams' offense, while William Brochu (2g,1a) led Brewster. Tilton outshot Bewster, 63-21.

-- A goal at 7:27 of the third period goal from junior Jesse Lycan broke a 2-2 tie and lifted host Berkshire to a 3-2 win over Pomfret. Berkshire junior goalie Thomas Draper (25/27) earned the win; Pomfret soph Peyton Durand (27/30) took the loss. After an 8-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) Pomfret has lost two consecutive one-goal decisions. The Griffins are now 12-7-2. With the win, Berkshire breaks a 7-game winless streak (0-4-3) and are one game under .500 at 9-10-5.

-- Host Exeter got goals from Kyle Jadatz, Paddy Bogart, Graham Rutledge, and Gray Betts in a 4-2 win over NMH. Exeter freshman G Ryan Welch (20/21 in 44 minutes) got the win, while Eric Green (34/38) took the loss for the Hoggers. #6 Exeter has won five in a row and improves to 21-5-0.

-- A goal from junior Christian LeSueur with 25 seconds left in OT lifted #9 Brunswick to a 2-1 win at Albany Academy. The game-winner, LeSueur's second goal of the game, came a minute after Albany thought they had won the game in OT, partially empyting their bench to celebrate. Alas, the ref waived it off, signaling that the puck had been kicked into the goal. Brunswick senior G Strauss Mann (34/35) improved his prep-leading .943 GAA. Albany PG Brandon Collett took a hard-luck loss for the Cadets, who drop to 16-5-3. AA plays at St. George's Friday. Brunswick, which won its second straight OT game and is 5-0-1 over its last 6 NEPSIHA games (including a Feb. 3rd 2-1 win over Albany) improves to 14-6-3 and will be on the road at Gunnery Friday.

-- A second period goal from junior Ryan Peck turned out to be the game-winner as host St. Paul's edged St. Sebastian's, 2-1. SPS junior G Carson McKinnon (18/19) earned the win, while Seb's senior Alex Zafonte (25/27) took a tough loss. St. Paul's is 3-1-1 over its last 5 games and playing its best hockey of the season. The Arrows are 2-4-1 over their last 7 games.

-- An OT 4x4 goal from junior Cam Scott lifted host Westminster to a 2-1 win over Loomis. Loomis senior Adin Farhat (30/32) and Westy soph Kai Edmonds (28/29) were both very good. Loomis, 2-6-0 over its last 8 games, slips to 11-9-1. Westy, which has a 5-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1) going, reached the .500 mark (9-9-3).

-- Three straight second period goals and the goaltending of junior Xander Rogers (38/40) led Williston-Northampton to a 4-2 road win at Canterbury, whose sophomore goaltender, Connor Cherry, in his first start of the season, kicked out 22 of 25 shots in a losing effort. Williston, 5-1-1 over its last 7 games, improves to 12-11-1.

-- Andrew Lusignan (4g), Alex Demin (2g,2a), and Dannick Breton (1g,3a) each had 4 points for Hoosac in a 10-4 win at Kingswood-Oxford. Senior Drew Nemirow scored 4 goals for K-O (0-12-0 in NEPSIHA play and 0-14-0 overall). K-O has given up 10 or more goals in nine consecutive games. They were outshot 64-21 by Hoosac today. Definitely a season from hell.

-- Host Gunnery topped Lawrenceville, 11-1. And outshot them, 57-20. Gunnery improves to 18-8-0.

-- #3 Lawrence Academy got goals from five different scorers en route to topping visiting Governor's, 5-1. Owen Zdunski (21/22) got the win for LA; Sam Best (33/38) took the loss. The Spartans improve to 17-3-1 and face Brewster and St. Mark's this weekend.

-- Host Tabor blew a 3-0 second period lead to #7 Thayer, allowing the Tigers to tie it up at 4-4 by the second intermission. A third period goal from junior center Jay O'Brien was the game-winner and Casey Carreau added an empty-netter for the final 6-4 margin of victory. Aidan McDonough (1g,2a), D Jayson Dobay (3a), Evan Googins (2g), and O'Brien (2g) led the Tigers' attack.Thayer outshot Tabor, 38-22. Thayer snaps a two-game losing streak and improves to 18-6-0. Tabor drops to 11-9-3.

-- An overtime goal from senior Christian O'Neill gave #5 Belmont Hill a 3-2 win over the visitors from Milton Academy. Connor Hopkins (33/35) earned the win while Ethan Domokos (26/29) took the loss. Belmont Hill (17-5-4) has a 5-game winning streak and a 7-game undefeated streak going.

-- Junior Jack Nisbet (2g,1a) and senior Tommy Giandomenico (3a) each had three points and senior G Aidan Murphy kicked out 17 of 18 to lead #1 Dexter to a 4-1 win over visiting Berwick. Dexter, now 19-2-2, is 10-0-2 over its last 12. Matt Boldy and Jack Rathbone also had goals for Dexter.

-- Daniel Kerfoot (2g,3a), Tyler Hughey (3g,1a), Brian Cloherty (2g,1a), Dylan Fields (2g,1a), and Cole Nye (1g,2a) led the attack as host Middlesex crushed Portsmouth Abbey, 12-1.

-- Junior G Matt Lane kicked out 24 of 25 shots, sophomore F Patrick Moynihan (2g,2a) figured in all four goals, and freshman D Jayden Struble added two assists as Nobles topped host BB&N, 4-1. Nobles scored three consecutive PPGs in the second period -- all within four minutes -- to blow the game open.

-- #4 Rivers got goals from five different scorers en route to a 5-1 win at St. Mark's. Rivers' junior G Aidan Porter (19/20) got the win; C.J. McKenitt (40/45) took the loss. Rivers improves to 20-4-0.

--- #2 Kimball Union spotted visiting Proctor a 3-0 lead, but midway through the second period the Wildcats got to work and scored five unanswered goals from five different players -- three on the PP -- to take a 5-3 win. KUA, which outshot Proctor 27-24, is 26-3-2 and hosts Cushing on Saturday. Proctor drops to 12-9-1.

-- Senior Jeremie Lavallée and PG Mischa Mrotchek broke a 2-2 tie with a pair of third period power play goals to lead Taft to a 4-2 road win at Deerfield. Taft senior Andrew Farrier (33/35) earned the win; Deerfield soph Thomas Gale (36/40) took the loss. Taft improves to 12-7-1; Deerfield, which has lost five in a row, drops to 9-11-1.

-- Pingree edged host Worcester Academy, 1-0, on a goal by junior Brendan Parent with 3:25 left in regulation. Senior Matt Suny had a 24-save shutout.

Wed. 2/15/17

The Playoff Chase

With ten days left in the regular season, RPI and JSPR become increasingly important. With that in mind, here are a few thoughts.

Mon. 1/13/17

Dexter #1 in USHR Weekly Prep Poll

Dexter, which has been in every USHR poll this season, at positions ranging from #6 to #2, has reached the top of the hill, unseating KUA, which has held the top spot for 4 of the last 5 weeks.

There are also 3 new teams in the poll, which means that 3 have gotten the heave-ho.

Next week's poll will be the last of the season. After that, it all gets settled on the ice.


USHR Prep Poll, Week of Feb. 13, 2017

Sun. 2/12/17-- Wed. 2/15 Update: the weather forecast for northern New England, primarily New Hampshire and Maine, doesn't look good for Wednesday. If there are cancellations/postponements, changes to starting times, etc. please let us know at staff@ushr.com

Prep Composite, Week of Feb. 13, 2017

Mon. Feb. 13
Billerica HS @ Central Catholic, 3:45 pm
The Hun School @ Portledge, 4:00 pm
Holy Ghost @ Princeton Day School, 4:15 pm
Albany Academy @ Berkshire, 4:30 pm  -- postponed to Mon. 2/20 at 4:30 pm
Canterbury @ Gunnery, 5:00 pm
Middlesex @ BB&N, 5:30 pm -- postponed to Tues. 2/14 at 5:00 pm
Kent @ Loomis-Chaffee, 5:45 pm
Proctor @ Vermont Academy, 6:00 pm -- rescheduled to Thurs. 2/16 at 4:30 pm
Worcester Academy @ Groton, 6:00 pm -- rescheduled to Tues. 2/14 at 5:15 pm
Framingham HS @ St. John's Prep, 7:00 pm

Tues. Feb. 14
Middlesex @ BB&N, 5:00 pm -- makeup of 2/13 game
Worcester Academy @ Groton, 5:15 pm -- makeup of 2/13 game

Wed. Feb. 15
Brewster Academy @ Tilton, 2:30 pm
Trinity-Pawling @ Millbrook, 2:30 pm
Kent @ Hotchkiss, 2:30 pm
Choate @ Avon Old Farms, 2:45 pm
Vermont Academy @ New Hampton, 3:00 pm
Hoosac @ Kingswood-Oxford, 3:00 pm
North Yarmouth Academy @ Bridgton Academy, 3:30 pm
Andover @ Cushing, 3:30 pm
Kents Hill @ Hebron, 3:30 pm
St. Sebastian's @ St. Paul's, 3:30 pm
Northfield - Mt. Hermon @ Exeter, 4:00 pm
Brunswick @ Albany Academy, 4:00 pm
Holderness @ Winchendon, 4:00 pm
Lawrenceville @ Gunnery, 4:00 pm
Taft @ Deerfield, 4:00 pm
Belmont Hill @ Milton, 4:30 pm 4:00 pm
Pomfret @ Berkshire, 4:15 pm
Proctor @ Kimball Union, 4:30 pm
Rivers @ St. Mark's, 4:30 pm
Governor's @ Lawrence Academy, 4:30 pm
Groton @ Brooks, 4:30 pm  
Williston-Northampton @ Canterbury, 4:30 pm
Loomis-Chaffee @ Westminster, 4:30 pm
Roxbury Latin @ St. George's, 4:30 pm
Thayer @ Tabor, 4:45 pm
Berwick @ Dexter, 4:45 pm
Portsmouth Abbey @ Middlesex, 5:00 pm
Noble & Greenough @ BB&N, 5:15 pm
Pingree @ Worcester Academy, 5:30 pm
BC High @ St. Mary's Lynn, 6:00 pm
Pope Francis @ Austin Prep, 7:45 pm

MAHL Semifinals:
#4 Princeton Day @ #1 LaSalle, 4:00 pm -- Hatfield Ice Rink
#3 Hill School @ #2 Wyoming Seminary, 3:00 pm -- Toyota SportsPlex

Thurs. Feb. 16
Proctor @ Vermont Academy, 4:45 pm 4:30 pm – makeup of 2/13/17

Fri. Feb. 17
Dexter @ Winchendon, 4:00 pm
Noble & Greenough @ Belmont Hill, 5:00 pm
Berwick @ St. Mark's, 5:00 pm
Brewster @ Lawrence Academy, 5:30 pm -- makeup of 1/7/17 -- cancelled, LA wins by forfeit, 1-0
BB&N @ St. Paul's, 5:30 pm
Albany Academy @ St. George's, 5:30 pm
Brunswick @ Gunnery, 5:30 pm
Deerfield @ Williston-Northampton, 6:00 pm
Brooks @ Roxbury Latin, 6:00 pm
Tabor @ Andover, 6:30 pm
Thayer @ Milton, 7:00 pm
Ulysse Prep @ Bridgton Academy, 7:00 pm

Sat. Feb. 18
Northwood Junior @ Brunswick, 1:00 pm
Governor's @ St. Sebastian's, 1:30 pm
Lawrence Academy @ St. Mark's, 2:00 pm
Northfield - Mt. Hermon @ Loomis-Chaffee, 2:00 pm
Ulysse Prep @ Bridgton Academy, 2:00 pm
Middlesex Black Bears @ Lawrenceville, 2:00 pm
Rivers @ Middlesex, 2:30 pm
Westminster @ Berkshire, 2:30 pm
Pomfret @ Millbrook, 2:45 pm
Groton @ St. George's, 3:00 pm
Salisbury @ Avon Old Farms, 3:00 pm
Hotchkiss @ Trinity-Pawling, 3:00 pm
Vermont Academy @ Brewster Academy, 3:00 pm
Holderness @ Tabor, 4:00 pm
Exeter @ Deerfield, 4:00 pm
Chelmsford HS @ Central Catholic, 4:00 pm
Choate @ Taft, 4:00 pm
Cushing @ Kimball Union, 4:30 pm
Thayer @ St. Paul's, 4:45 pm
Hebron @ Tilton, 5:00 pm
Brooks @ Andover, 5:30 pm
Pope Francis @ Mount St. Charles, 6:30 pm
Newburyport HS @ St. John's Prep, 6:45 pm
Kent @ Canterbury, 7:00 pm

Holt Conference Quarterfinals
#4-S Kingswood-Oxford @ #1-N Berwick, 3:00 pm
#3-N Pingree @ #2-S Moses Brown, 7:30 pm
#4-N Worcester Academy @ #1-S Hoosac, 4:00 pm
#3-S Portsmouth Abbey @ #2-N NYA, 3:20 pm

Buddy Ferreira Classic
At Falmouth Ice Arena; Falmouth, Mass.
Game #1 – Hingham vs. Austin Prep, 1:00 pm
Game #2 – Duxbury vs. BC High, 3:00 pm
Game #3 – Reading vs. Archbishop Williams, 5:00 pm
Game #4 – Falmouth vs. Arlington Catholic, 7:00 pm

Sun. Feb. 19
Northwood Junior @ Gunnery, 1:00 pm
Proctor @ New Hampton, 2:00 pm
Choate @ Northfield - Mt. Hermon, 2:00 pm
Avon Old Farms @ Pomfret, 2:30 pm
Middlesex Black Bears @ Hill School, 4:00 pm

Mon. Feb. 20
St. George's @ Groton, 4:30 pm
Westminster @ Kent, 4:45 pm
Holderness @ Proctor, 5:00 pm

Buddy Ferreira Classic
At Falmouth Ice Arena; Falmouth, Mass.
Game #5 – Losers Games 1 & 2, 1:00 pm
Game #6 – Losers Games 3 & 4, 3:00 pm
Game #7 – Winners Games 1 & 2, 5:00 pm
Game #8 – Winners Games 3 & 4, 7:00 pm

Sat. 2/11/17

Sat. Feb. 11 Highlights

Tabor Ties Up #3 Dexter
Brunswick's LeSueur Tops Berkshire in OT
Salibury Beats Loomis, 3-1
#1 KUA Blanks Holderness
Westy Stops Pomfret, 4-3

Brookline, Mass. -- A pair of third period goals by junior defenseman Jack Rathbone, the second with 17 seconds remaining in regulation, allowed #3 Dexter to pull out a 3-3 tie against Tabor this afternoon.

With his team down 2-1, and on the power play, Rathbone let one rip from the point that beat Tabor senior G Jeremie Forget low to the glove side, tying the game at 2-2 with 9:27 to go.

A little over two minutes later, Tabor senior Jay Cote forced a defensive-zone turnover by Dexter sophomore D Kevin MacKay, and quickly put it past goalie Aidan Murphy. It was the third point of the day for Cote (1g,2a), who was a consistent threat. Tabor suddenly had their one-goal lead back, and Dexter's 10-game unbeaten streak was in jeopardy.

But then Rathbone, who was on fire all day, stepped up and fired one from the left point that zipped through traffic and past Forget with 17.4 seconds on the clock.

In OT, Dexter had the single best scoring chance, but Forget, who faced a number of Grade A chances among his 32 saves, came up big once again, stopping Jack Nisbet on a short-side attempt. And that was it -- a 3-3 final, and a 'just' tie between two teams that never stopped skating on the Olympic sheet. For spectators, it was a treat.

And for Tabor, it was a big game, as the Seawolves had gone through a six-game stretch in which they were decimated by injuries and sickness. Today, only one Tabor player, Eric Pedro, missed the game (flu), but three others -- defensemen Ian Gindhart and Brendan Reynolds, and forward Alex Bower -- returned from injuries. 

Forget, a 6'1" senior from Quebec who only started playing hockey six years ago, has a couple of years of junior eligibility in front of him.

"He played great," said Tabor coach Gerry Dineen.

As for the rest of the team, they, like Dexter, are young.

"Earlier in the season," Dineen said, "we relied more on speed and skill, but today we made an effort to play with more structure. I thought we did a good job in transition. The forwards helped eliminate odd-man rushes. All six of our D did a really good job. We had good back pressure and stick position which allowed us to pick up pucks in the neutral zone. I thought we were a little cute with the puck in the first period. We did a much better job getting pucks to the net in the second and third."

Dexter coach Dan Donato said, "We hadn't played in a couple of days, and came out flat. We gave up three breakaways -- and they capitalized."

"Tabor is one of the fastest teams we've played," Donato added. "Cote is someone to be reckoned with and Forget isn't flashy but he made a lot of big saves for them.

"As for us, Jack Rathbone had a really good game. We look to him in key moments and he found a way to tie the game with 17 seconds left. Without him we're hanging our heads."

Note: Dexter (18-2-2) hosts Berwick on Wednesday at 4:45 pm, while Tabor hosts Thayer at the same time.

***
-- #7 Belmont Hill got a 19-save shutout from junior Jack Eselius and three points -- all assists -- from senior Christian O'Neill. Max Fields, Michael Brown, and Peter O'Connell (empty-netter) scored the goals. BB&N freshman Gavin FitzPatrick (36/38) was the hard-luck loser.

-- Host Avon Old Farms edged Deerfield, 3-2. Avon sophomore Spencer Knight (35/37) got the win; Deerfield soph Thomas Gale (37/40) was the hard-luck loser. Avon (12-5-3) has won 4 out of 5. Deerfield (9-10-1) has lost 4 straight.

-- A Christian LeSueur goal 27 seconds into OT lifted host Brunswick to a 4-3 win over Berkshire. Brunswick, on goals by Jack Forrest, Ryan Carmichael, and LeSueur, held a 3-1 lead with under 8 minutes left in regulation. But Berkshire tied it up on a PPG from Jack Lloyd and an even-strength goal from Briggs Gammill. LeSueur (2g,1a) and Charles Shaffer (3a) each had 3 points for the 'Wick. Berkshire had the same from Jack Lloyd (1g,2a). Brunswick senior G Strauss Mann (38/41) continues his stellar goaltending. Brunswick (13-6-3) is 4-0-1 in its last 5 NEPSIHA games. Berkshire (8-10-5) has 4 losses and 3 ties since its last win Jan. 16th.

-- A Tao Ishizuka second period goal and a 32-save shutout performance from senior Sam Best led Governor's to a 1-0 win at St. Paul's. SPS senior Leo Saraceno kicked out 21 of 22 in the loss.

-- Senior D Michael Young (2g) and junior G Aidan Porter (16/17) led #5 Rivers to a 4-1 win over the visitors from Roxbury Latin. With the win, Rivers clinches the Eberhart Division, a foregone conclusion if there ever was one. (Rivers is 11-0-0 in the division and have outscored opponetns 59-5.)

-- Senior D Marshall Rifai had a pair of goals and junior G Carter Pearen stopped 25 of 27 shots to lead host Hotchkiss to a 3-2 win over #9 Taft, which has lost 2 in a row and drops to 11-7-1.

-- Freshman Sean Farrell (1g,1a) extended his scoring streak to 10 games in St. Mark's 4-1 win over host Middlesex. During his streak, Farrell has a 14-12-26 line. St. Mark's is 7-2-1 over its last 10 games. C.J. McKenitt (30/31) got the win, while Middlesex soph Corey Sarazin (48/52) took the loss. St. Mark's is now 10-11-1.

-- Host Salisbury got goals from three different scorers and Jonah Capriotti kicked out 18 of 19 in a 3-1 win over Loomis. Salisbury (13-6-2) outshot Loomis, 36-19. Loomis (11-7-1) has lost 4 of its last 6.

-- Westminster, with 3 straight goals, came back from being down 2-1 on the road and edged Pomfret, 4-3. Sophomore Kai Edmonds (34-37) earned the win. Pomfret saw its 8-game unbeaten streak, during which they were 6-0-2, come to an end. Pomfret is now 12-6-2.

-- Reilly Walsh, Tate Singleton, and Peter Laviolette each had a goal and two assists in Proctor's 7-1 win over the visitors from Kents Hill. Proctor improves to 12-8-1.

-- Nobles, which had lost 10 of its previous 11, beat host Milton, 4-1, on goals from junior Ben Rice and sophomore Patrick Moynihan, and a pair of ENGs in the final minute. Nobles junior Matt Lane (35/36) earned the win. Milton senior Ethan Domokos (24/26) took the loss.

-- Junior Viho Saariluoma (2g,1a) and freshman G Joe Sharib (33/36) led Cushing to a 4-3 win at Canterbury. Cushing, 4-1-1 over its last 6, improves to 8-12-2.

-- Junior F Bobby Murray had 4 goals and senior D Bradley Ingersoll had 3 assists to lead host Exeter to a 7-1 win over Choate. Freshman G Ryan Welch (24/25) picked up the win. #7 Exeter (20-5-0) has won 4 straght.

-- Williston-Northampton got goals from 7 different scorers in a 7-6 win at Millbrook and got back to .500 at 11-11-1. Millbrook, which squandered a 5-4 third period lead, got its offense from senior D Connor Cruickshank (1g,2a), junior F Richard Pichura (2g), and junior D Ryan Malota (2a). Millbrook has lost 3 in a row and 4 of 5, and has dropped to 10-11-3.

-- #1 KUA got a pair of goals from senior Roope Hirvonen and a 25-save shutout from junior Sean Dynan in a 4-0 win over Holderness. KUA, 8-0-2 over its last 10, improves to 25-3-2. Holderness, which has lost 3 in a row and 4 of its last 5, drops to 14-10-1.

-- In a game played at Trinity College, NMH 6'5" junior G Eric Green kicked out 32 of 33 shots to lead the Hoggers to a 2-1 win over the Hill School.

-- Pingree's Sean O'Connell, Vito Visconti and Zack Mitchell each had two goals in a 10-1 win at Kingswood-Oxford.

-- Senior G Johnny Trotto posted a 26-save shutout to lead host Brooks to a 3-0 win over St. George's.

-- Host Worcester Academy got goals from 4 different scorers in a 4-1 win over Rye Country Day. Senior G Olof Djurberg (21/22) picked up the win.

-- Host Kent and Trinity-Pawling swapped goals in the second period, with T-P twice answering Kent in what finished as a 2-2 tie. 6'1" Kent sophomore G Alex Contey (27/29) and T-P senior Justin Lampert (32/34) had strong games. T-P is undefeated in its last 3, with wins over Salisbury, Canterbury, and tonight's tie with Kent.

Wed. 2/8/17-updated Thurs. 2/9 @ 8:45 pm.

Wed. Feb. 8 Highlights

#2 Lawrence Tops #4 Thayer, 4-2

Groton, Mass. -- #4 Thayer entered the day riding a seven-game winning streak, their last loss coming on their home ice to #2-ranked Lawrence Academy, a 5-0 decision back on Sat. Jan. 14th. Beating Lawrence on the road would have evened up the season's series.

But it didn't happen. Thayer came out flat, and trailed 1-0 after one period, and 2-0 after two, before coming to life in the third and cutting the Lawrence lead to 3-2 before an empty-netter sealed the deal in the final minute.

The key goal of the game came on a great individual effort by LA junior wing Neil Shea late in the first period. With Thayer on the powerplay -- and they have a potent one -- and pressing for the game's first goal. Shea angled toward the boards by the hash marks, intercepted a puck, and turned up ice, banking it off the boards past Casey Carreau, a forward who mans the point on Thayer's top PP unit, picking it up again in the neutral zone before cutting in alone toward the net. Shea put a deke on Thayer goalie Jimmy Scannell, sliding the puck behind him and giving LA a 1-0 lead with 3:32 left in the period.

In the second, Lawrence made it 2-0 just 1:39 in on a Timmy Kent backhander from in tight. Less than three minutes later, LA made it 3-0 when Craig Needham found sophomore D Drew Bavaro back door with a perfect pass.

Thayer played more like themselves in the third period, and finally got rewarded at the 9:04 mark when sophomore Christian Hayes took a nice pass from classmate Reilly Moran and beat LA senior goalie Owen Zdunski on a shot from the slot.

Roughly four minutes later, with Thayer on the PP, junior Jay O'Brien, with a little fake and a cutback behind the net, curled around and tucked one short side past Zdunski to cut the lead to 3-2 with 4:27 remaining in regulation. But time ran out on Thayer's comeback attempt and, with 59 seconds left, Kent scored an empty-netter, his second goal of the game.

"The first ten minutes of the game is so important," said Lawrence coach Robbie Barker. "We wanted to set the tone there and play smart, because Thayer is a great team and they will capitalize on mistakes. You have to get it out of the zone cleanly. The key is to keep them off the scoreboard early, because once they get rolling, like at the end, they can really buzz."

"I thought our defensive zone coverage was very good. We did a good job blocking shots and playing physically. We also worked to match their speed in the neutral zone."

Thayer coach Tony Amonte said, "We got off to a slow start -- that first goal deflated us -- and we really didn't get going until the third. We had a good period there, but fell a little short."

"Lawrence is the toughest team we've played all year," added Amonte.

We learned before the game that Thayer had a number of kids who were playing sick, and that at Tuesday's practice there were only seven players in attendance. We asked Amonte about it, but he was having none of it.

"No, no. We don't make excuses," he said, adding, "A lot of teams have players who are sick or hurt this time of the season. It is what it is."

Thayer (17-5-0) will host Belmont Hill on Friday (4:00 pm), while Lawrence (16-2-1) also has a Friday game, at St. Seb's (5:30 pm).

***

-- After host Gunnery went up 1-0 on a Zach Pellegrino first period goal, Avon came back with two in the second -- from Tevor Zegras and Matt Allen -- and one in the third, a Matt Kirwan PPG. Gunnery's Lucas Prestamo scored midway through the third to cut the Winged Beavers' lead to 3-2, but the Highlanders couldn't get the equalizer. Spencer Knight (30/32) earned the win, and Cedrick Andree (36/39) took the loss. Avon improves to 11-5-3. #6-ranked Gunnery falls to 16-7-0.

-- Senior G Evan Angotti kicked out 34 of 36 shots to lead host Trinity-Pawling to a 3-2 win over Canterbury. T-P trailed 2-1 midway through the second but junior AJ Bella tied it up at 2-2 and then, five minutes later, junior Scot Lawson scored the game-winner.

-- PG defenseman Seth Murray scored a PPG at 1:24 of OT to lift Tilton to a 4-3 win over Holderness. Tilton senior Zach McWhinnie (29/32) earned the win while Holderness senior Logan Bateman (47/51) was the hard-luck loser. Tilton improves to 13-10-1 while Holderenss drops to 14-8-1.

-- Salisbury got two goals from junior Kevin Wall and five players scored one goal apiece as Salisbury went on the road and trounced Taft, 7-3. Salisbury is now 12-6-2; Taft is 11-6-1.

-- Pomfret went on the road and edged Choate, 3-2. Pomfret scored all three of their goals in the first. Choate came back with two goals in the first three minutes of the second, but that was it. Pomfret sophomore goalie Peyton Durand (26/28) earned the win; Choate junior Cal Stewart (30/33) took the loss. With the win, Pomfret, 3-0-2 over their last five, moves to 12-5-2. 

-- Westminster and host Hotchkiss played to a 0-0 tie. Hotchkiss senior Tyler Haywood (36/36) and Westy soph Kai Edmonds (27/27) posted shutouts.

-- A third period goal from Williston sophomore D Tim Rego lifted his team to a 1-1 tie with host NMH. Earlier, in the first period, junior Kyle Valiquette scored the Hoggers' goal. NMH junior Eric Green and Williston sophomore Greg Iverson were mirror images of each other, each kicking out 32 of 33 shots.

-- PG David Cohen scored 38 seconds into OT to lift Albany Academy to a 5-4 win over Millbrook. Remy Parker (2g), Justin Geary (1g,1a), Casey Rhodes (2a), and Cooper Norton (2a) each had two points for AA. Zach Taylor (2g,1a) and Greg Koutsomitis (1g,2a) each had three points for Millbrook. Jake Gagnon had two assists. Albany Academy improves to 14-4-3. Millbrook drops to .500 at 10-10-3.

-- L'ville junior G Karl Szabo kicked out 36 of 37 shots and picked up an assist on his team's only goal to lead his team to a 1-1 tie at Brunswick. Brunswick soph Dan Dachille kicked out 18 of 19. Brunswick is now 11-6-3.

-- In a wild one at Proctor, Exeter emerged a 7-5 winner. Momentum shifts ruled the day, with Exeter going up 2-0, Proctor scoring 4 straight to take a 4-2 lead, Exeter coming back with 3 straight to regain the lead at 5-4. Ronan Walsh tied it up 5-5 for the Hornets late in the second period, but that was it for Proctor, as Exeter scored the last two goals, the GWG from Sam Stone with 1:42 left in the second -- there was a total of 7 goals in the period -- and an ENG in the final minute of the third. Proctor senior D Reilly Walsh (2g,1a) and Exeter's Michael Pitts (2g,1a) and d-man Brad Ingersoll (2g,1a) each had three points. #7-ranked Exeter is now 18-5-0; Proctor drops to 11-8-1.

-- Kent senior G Peter Negron, pulled from his last start, returned to form today, stopping 32 of 33 while Berkshire's Tom Draper (26/28) also had a good game. Kent improves to 10-5-2 while Berkshire (8-9-5) drops below .500.

-- Loomis got goals from three different scorers and a 26-save shutout from senior Adin Farhat to top Deerfield, 3-0. All of Loomis's goals -- all of the game's goals, actually -- came in the third period. An even-strength goal from Mark Ammatetti, a PPG from Joey Cipollone, and an ENG from Justin Grillo. Deerfield sophomore goalie Thomas Gale kicked out 28 of 30 in the loss. Loomis improves to 11-6-1 while Deerfield, which has lost three in a row, drops to .500 (9-9-1)

-- Dexter senior Tommy Giandomenico scored 30 seconds into OT to give #3-ranked Dexter a 6-5 win over #10-ranked New Hampton. It's the second time this season Dexter has beaten New Hampton, both times in OT. After the previous loss to Dexter, New Hampton went on an 8-game winning streak, only to be stopped today by... Dexter. Jack Rathbone had a goal and 4 assists in the game, while Jack Nisbet and Ian Murphy each had a goal and two assists. Junior D Michael Kesselring had three assists for the Huskies. Dexter improves to 18-2-1, and can boast of holding prep hockey's best winning percentage (.881). New Hampton is 14-8-3 and has gotten stronger as the season has moved along. You don't see this often: In a span of 8:04 in the third period, the two teams combined for 8 goals.

-- Senior F Roope Hirvonen's goal at 10:16 of the third period allowed #1-ranked KUA to escape Andover with a 3-3 tie. The hero of the game was Andover PG goalie Kyle Martin, who kicked out 53 of 56 shots. KUA outshot Andover by a better than 2-to-1 margin (56-26). KUA is 23-3-2 while Andover is 10-8-2.

-- A Peter O'Connell second period goal, from Christian O'Neill and Joe Goguen, was all the offense #8-ranked Belmont Hill needed in a 1-0 win over the visitors from St. Sebastian's. Sophomore Connor Hopkins posted a 29-save shutout, while Seb's senior Alex Zafonte (24/25) took the hard-luck loss.

-- #5 Rivers (18-4-0) got two goals from senior C Brendan Hamblet, the team's leading scorer, in a 5-0 win over visiting St. George's. Junior Aidan Porter (13/13) got the shutout. Dragons senior Shane Conlon (47/52) got a lot of work.

-- St. Mark's, on the road at Brooks, went ahead 3-0 on goals from freshman Sean Farrell, sophomore D Henry Thrun, and junior Justin Biela. Brooks made things interesting in the third with a PPG from junior Max Rand and a 6x4 goal from senior Lewis Evans with 23 seconds left. That was as closes as Brooks got, and St. Mark's held on for the 3-2 win. CJ McKenitt (24/26) earned the win; Johnny Trotto (25/28) took the loss. St. Mark's, which was  3-9-0 a few weeks ago, has gone 6-2-1 over its last 9 games and is now two games below .500 at 9-11-1. Also streaking is the Lions' Farrell, a Harvard recruit who has a 9-game scoring streak. During the streak he has a 13-11-24 line. Not bad for a freshman, not bad at all.

-- Host Portsmouth Abbey edged Worcester Acaademy 4-3 behind senior forward Dominick Cappadona (2g,1a) and junior goalie Joke Horoho (42/45). Junior Chris DelMastro had two goals for Worcester.

-- Host Pingree topped Moses Brown, 6-2. Senior Zack Mitchell (1g,4a), sophomore Connor Sweeney (4g), and junior Sean O'Connell (3a) led the Pingree attack. Senior G Matt Suny (33/35) earned the win.

-- Governor's went on the road and edged Nobles 1-0 on a 34-save shutout from senior Sam Best and a second period goal from Henry Norris, assisted by Ben Ginsberg and Andrew Brown. Nobles junior G Matt Lane kicked out 15 of 16 in a losing cause.

-- A TJ Brennan goal at 9:19 of the third period lifted Milton to a 4-4 tie at St. Paul's. Senior Bobby Beniers had two goals for the Mustangs, while SPS sophomore F Mikey MacKenzie (1g,2a) had three points. Milton outshot St. Paul's, 48-21.

-- Tabor, on the road, blanked Cushing, 4-0. Senior Ed Hannon (1g,2a) and junior Patrick Daly (1g,2a) each had three points, and senior Jeremie Forget posted a 35-save shutout. Tabor improves to 11-8-2, while Cushing falls to 7-12-2. Before the game Cushing coach Rob Gagnon, who is having his first losing season in 10 years, told his players he would not be returning as hockey coach next season as the school paves the way for the return of former head coach Steve Jacobs, who was behind the bench for 22 years, all winning seasons, before retiring in 2007.

-- Senior Philippe Gilmour (1g,2a), his team's leading scorer, led host Hebron to a 5-3 win over Berwick. Senior D Zak Barnes scored his first goal of the year and also added an assist. Hebron, which started the season 0-5-0, has gone 10-8-0 since.

-- Host RL topped Middlesex 2-0 on a third period goal from sophomore F Jack Luca, with an assist to junior D Mike Callahan. Joe Doherty added an ENG in the final minute. RL senior Bryan McGrath posted a 24-save shutout, while Middlesex soph Joe Stanizzi (33/34) was the hard-luck loser. Roxbury Latin improves to 14-5-0.

-- A Salamon Nicholas goal in the third period turned out to be the game-winner as visiting Stanstead College beat Vermont Academy, 4-2. VA outshot Stanstead 31-24, but junior G Jacob Hearne (29/31) came up big for Stanstead.

Mon. 2/6/17-- last update Sun. 2/12/17 @ 8:30 am. Note: Due to the ominous weather forecast, Sunday's Cushing @ Salisbury game has been moved up a couple of hours, to an 11:00 am start. NMH @ Winchendon has been postponed -- makeup date TBA. Kents Hill @ New Hampton is on but with an 11:30 am start.

Prep Composite, Week of Feb. 6, 2017

Sun. 2/5/17

KUA Holds #1 Slot in USHR Prep Poll
For the sixth time in eight weeks, Kimball Union Academy (23-3-1) sits atop the USHR Prep Poll.

There are seven teams in this week’s poll that were also in last week’s. There are also – as we value recent performance in the poll, and RPI or JSPR does not -- three teams that didn’t make the cut.

-- Salisbury, #6 last week, has had a poor stretch of five games, going 1-3-1, with losses to Kent, Brunswick, and Trinity-Pawling, and a tie vs. Berkshire. When was the last time Salisbury was not in a USHR poll? The first poll of the season, back on Dec. 12th, just before the Flood-Marr.

-- Albany Academy, #8 last week. The Cadets were 9-0-2 in their last 11 NEPSIHA games before the weekend, when a road trip to Brunswick and Winchendon yielded back-to-back losses.

-- Kent, #9 last week. Kent started the season 1-3, then went on an 8-1-2 run. But they lost to Taft on Wednesday, one week after beating the Rhinos at home. There is very little separating the two teams. This week it’s Taft’s turn. Next week? Who knows?

And, of course, there are three teams in the poll that were not in last week’s poll. And two are making their first appearances of the season. Check the full poll for more.

USHR Prep Poll, Week of Feb. 6, 2017

Sat. 2/4/17

Sat. Feb. 4 Highlights

Belmont Hill Comes Back, Stuns #4 Rivers in OT
Red-Hot Winchendon Ices #8 Albany Academy
Travis Roy Cup an 0-0 Deadlock

Belmont, Mass. -- A Mike Armstrong goal 56 seconds into overtime capped a big comeback and lifted Belmont Hill to a scintillating 5-4 win over #4 Rivers here this afternoon.

Rivers -- on a first period goal from Charlie Lawerence and second period tallies from Tyler Capello and Frank Ferrara-- held a 3-0 lead going into the final three minutes of the second period and looked to be on their way to extending their winning streak to 10 games. This was a high-tempo game and the Red Wings were flying, getting in hard and fast on the forecheck and getting right on top of any Belmont Hill player who touched the puck -- not easy to do on the big sheet.

But, with 2:58 left in the second, Belmont Hill senior center Christian O'Neill drove down the left side, curled behind the net, and made a perfect pass out front to 6'7" junior John Copeland, who beat Rivers goalie Aidan Porter short side.

Just 24 seconds later, with Bel Hill killing off a holding penalty to Brendan Rocha, senior center Sam Hesler scored a short-handed goal, off a pass from Copeland. Hesler's initial shot was blocked but he cashed in on the rebound, making it a one-goal game with 2:34 left in the period.

All of a sudden, a game that had all the earmarks of a blowout had swung quickly. Belmont Hill headed off for the second intermission energized; Rivers looked a little stunned.

Belmont Hill came out hard in the third period, bearing down and asserting themselves in all three zones.

The Hillies tied the game, 3-3, at the 12:52 mark of the third when sophomore D Mike Perullo was left uncovered at the point. Perullo stepped up and fired a wrist shot that beat Porter cleanly.

With the score still tied going into the final minute of play, the game looked to be heading to OT,  But suddenly senior wing Jonathan Folsom made a nice little head-man pass in the neutral zone, sending Hesler in on a breakaway. Hesler didn't miss, the home crowd went nuts, and Belmont Hill had a 4-3 lead with 59 seconds left in regulation.

But the lead was short-lived as Rivers' senior center Brendan Hamblet came back just 19 seconds later to tie it at 4-4, with assists going to seniors Matt Paul and Brett Rahbany, to send the game to OT.

Once in overtime, Belmont Hill didn't waste time. Senior Peter O'Connell got the puck to senior defenseman Mike Armstrong, who fired a high wrist shot that beat Porter just 56 seconds in, setting off quite a celebration from the home fans.

"That was a roller coaster," said Belmont Hill coach Jeremiah McCarthy afterward. "They really took it to us. They were by far the better team until the last three minutes of the second. But we found our legs and our senior captains -- O'Neill, Hesler, and Folsom -- stepped up and made huge plays to change the momentum. You need seniors and your best players to step up at times like that, and they did."

Rivers coach Shawn McEachern said, "We let down a bit. We made mistakes and let them back into it. We didn't push the pace and weren't working as hard in the second half of the game. I thought we played well at times, but we have to play a full 54-minutes, and we didn't do that. We didn't play well down the stretch."

Belmont Hill, now 13-5-4 in NEPSIHA play, is home Wednesday vs. St. Seb's before heading to Thayer Friday, hoping to avenge a 6-3 loss tothe Tigers on Jan. 20th.

Rivers, 17-4-0 in NEPSIHA play, hosts St. George's on Wednesday.


***

-- Senior Johnny Mulera (2g,2a), and junior Ben Thomas (1g,3a) each had four points, and juniors Justin Alves (1g,2a) and Matt Fawcett (1g,1a), and senior D Brian Scoville (2a) helped the cause as well as host Winchendon knocked off #8 Albany Academy. Senior G Brandon Graf (28/31) earned the win. Winchendon, 11-7-2, has won 8 of its last 9 after a slow start to the season. Albany Academy, now 13-4-3 in NEPSIHA play, has lost two in a row and will look to rebound when they host Millbrook Wednesday.

-- Senior Steve O'Connor (2g), senior D Buddy Mrowka (1g,1a), senior Bobby Beniers (2a), junior D Ryan Wilson (2a) and senior TJ Brennan (2a) each had two points and senior G Ethan Domokos (21/23) led Milton (9-7-2) to a 5-2 road win at Roxbury Latin, which has lost 3 of its last 4, and is now 13-5-0.

-- John Femia, Jack Rathbone, and Ian Murphy each had goals and senior G Aidan Murphy kicked out 26 of 28 shots to lead host -- and #3 ranked -- Dexter to a 3-2 win over Andover. Dexter, ranked #3, is now 17-2-1 and on a 9-game winning streak.

-- NMH went on the road and took a 4-1 decision over Albany Academy. Patrick Lundy (1g,2a), Devan Tongue (2g), Kyle Kazeroid (1g,1a), and D Mike Kennedy (2a) led the Hoggers' scoring. Junior G Eric Green (13/14) earned the win. NMH outshot VA 36-14.

-- Austin Magera had a hat trick and Timmy Kent (1g,3a) had four points to lead #2 Lawrence Academy to a 6-1 road win at BB&N. Sam Swanson, Craig Needham, and D Jack Cameron each had two points. LA, unbeaten in its last five, improves to 15-2-1 in NEPSIHA play.

-- Tyler King (2g,1a), Gunnarwolfe Fontaine (1g,2a), and Jacob Studley (1g,2a) led Moses Brown to a 12-2 win at Kingswood-Oxford. Moses Brown had a 62-24 edge in shots.

-- Brooks went on the road and salvaged a 2-2 with Middlesex on senior Jackson Allard's second period goal. Otherwise, the young goalies -- Brooks freshman Jonathan Carafotes (23/25) and Middlesex sophomore Joe Stanizzi (33/35) -- were the story.

-- #7 Exeter beat the visitors from Tilton 9-3 behind two goals from junior Hunter McCoy and one goal apiece from seven other scorers.

-- The 21st Annual Travis Roy Cup went to no one as Tabor and host St. Sebastian's battled to a 0-0 tie. Dualing shutouts went to St. Seb's senior Alex Zafonte (32/32) and Tabor senior Jeremie Forget (27/27). (We just want to know who gets to keep the cup for the next year.)

-- Freshman Sean Farrell's goal at 3:57 of OT lifted host St. Mark's to a 3-2 win over Groton. Farrell, a Harvard recruit, has an 18-19-37 line in 20 games played. St. Mark's is 5-2-1 over its last eight. Junior goaltender CJ McKenitt (28/30) earned the win.

-- #5 Thayer got goals from six different scorers en route to a 6-1 win at Governor's today. Sophomore Alex McMillan (21/22) got the win in the Thayer net. Thayer outshot Gov's 42-22. The Tigers, now 17-4-0 in NEPSIHA play, have won 7 in a row.

-- A goal at 4:58 of OT from junior D Max Thomson -- his second of the year -- lifted St. George's to a 4-3 road win at Berwick. Senior Shane Conlon (36/39) earned the win for the Dragons, who were outshot 39-19.

-- Freshman Reese Farrell notched a hat trick and senior goaltender Jeremy Thelven posted a 26-save shutout as North Yarmouth Academy blanked Worcester Academy 4-0 in a neutral-site game played at Cushing Academy.

Wed. 2/1/17

Wed. Feb. 1 Highlights

Taft Tops #9 Kent, 5-3
Musa, T-P Upset #6 Salisbury
Pomfret Ties Up #3 Dexter, 3-3
Holderness Edges #7 Exeter
Belmont Hill Ties #2 LA, 1-1

-- Last Wednesday, Taft came out on the short end of a 2-1 decision at #9 Kent. Today, a week later, the Rhinos turned the table, getting two goals apiece from Matteo Mangiardi and Ryan Colwell and a 33-save effort from Andrew Farrier to take a 5-3 decision at home.

Taft had the edge in play for the first two periods and held a 3-1 lead after two. Kent, which was flat, came awake in the third and got a break just 1:24 into the period when senior LD Kyle Delmaestro's weak wrister from the left side beat Farrier to make it a one-goal game. But the tension didn't last long as, less than two minutes later, Taft senior F Misha Mrotchek restored the two-goal lead. At 10:59 of the period, Taft's Colwell added an insurance goal to make it 5-2. At that point, Kent coach Dale Reinhardt pulled Negron and replaced him with soph Alex Contey for the duration.

"I thought our first two periods were really good," said Taft coach Dan Murphy. "We didn't give them a chance to get going. We got sloppy in the third, but Misha's goal was the difference."

Reinhardt said he felt Negron was "fighting the puck all day, but he's been the answer for us this year. I thought we played well in the third, but it was too little, too late."

Kent senior center Tommy Tanner, who, along with Jeremy Routh, leads Kent's scorers, was injured in a second period knee-on-knee collison with a teammate and was out for the remainder of the game. He will be getting an MRI. Taft, which finished last season at 9-15-1 has now, after starting the season 0-2, gone 11-3-1 since and is steadily moving up the rankings.                       

-- Senior F Jack Flanagan (1g,3a), who had been in a four-game scoring drought, figured in all of Westminster's goals in a 4-2 home win over Avon Old Farms. Avon held a 2-1 lead after one on a pair of goals from junior D Mac Wiseman. But Westy came back with goals from Tasso Housakos and Patrick Dawson in the second, and Flanagan in the third. Sophomore Kai Edmonds (20/22) picked up the win and sophomore Spencer Knight (25/29) absorbed the loss. Since its eight-game unbeaten streak ended on Jan. 14, Avon (10-5-3) has gone 3-3-1. Westy improves to 6-9-2.

-- PG Tyler Scott scored both the tying and go-ahead goals to lead #10 Gunnery to a 4-3 win at Millbrook. In addition, seniors Noah Williams and Lucas Prestamo added goals, the latter coming up with the game-winner. Junior goalie Cedrick Andree (29/32) earned the win. Gunnery improves to 16-6-0.

-- Berkshire held a 2-1 lead after two periods at Canterbury today, but Berkshire gave up three straight tallies to allow the Saints to take a one-goal lead into the game's final minutes. However, a Nick Botticelli PPG at 14:51 of the third allowed the Bears to escape town with a 3-3 tie. Senior Mike Perrone scored two goals for Canterbury, the second straight game -- and the third time in five games -- he has done so. Senior Dan Seitz kicked out 33 of 36 for Canterbury. Soph Andrew Buckley, in his first game of the year for the Bears, kicked out 22 of 25 shots.

-- Cushing won its third straight -- a 4-0 home win over Tilton --  as senior G Joey Halstrom (23 saves) picked up his second shutout in his last three games.

-- Senior G Bryan McGrath stopped 31 of 32 shots and freshman F Joey Ryan and senior D Joe Doherty notched the goals to lead host Roxbury Latin to a 2-1 win over St. Mark's. RL improves to 13-4-0.

-- Sophomore Joey Musa's second goal of the game broke a 2-2 midway through the second and host Trinity-Pawling, which never trailed in this game, took a 4-2 win over #6 Salisbury. Senior Ray Zimmerman also had two goals for T-P -- the second an empty-netter -- and added an assist. Senior G Evan Angotti (26/28) got the win for T-P. Salisbury, which has lost two in a row and is 1-3-1 over the last five, drops to 11-6-2.

-- #3 Dexter, on the road at Pomfret, held a 3-1 lead with under two minutes to go in the second period, but allowed a goal to PG Mike Pantera with 1:32 remaining, and then allowed Pomfret senior Jon Beniers to score the tying goal for Pomfret early in the third. And that's how it ended: a 3-3 deadlock. Soph Peyton Durand (28/31) was strong in net for Pomfret, which is undefeated in its last seven and is now 11-5-2 in NEPSIHA play.

-- Senior defensemen Reilly Walsh (2g,3a) and Matt Slick (1g,4a) each had five points in Proctor's 12-2 win at Brewster. Tate Singetlon, Peter Laviolette, and Nate Reilly each had two goals for the Hornets, now 11-7-1.

-- Ben Thomas (2g,4a), Connor Boyce (1g,3a), Mike Hardman (1g,3a), Johnny Mulera (3g), and Justin Alves (2g,1a) led host Winchendon to a 13-2 win over Hoosasc.

-- Bobby Young (2g), Mike Lombardi (1g,1a), and Roope Hirvonen (1g,1a) each had two points in #1 KUA's 4-1 win at NMH.

-- Kents Hill got goals from threee different scorers and senior G Alex Toueg kicked out 26 of 27 to lead his team to a 3-1 win at Berwick.

-- A goal from senior captain Elliott McGuire at 17:22 of the third broke a 2-2 tie and lifted host Holderness to a 3-2 upset of #7 Exeter. Holderness senior G David Nicholson (36/38) earned the win. Holderness, winners of three of its last four, improves to 14-6-1 in NEPSIHA play while Exeter, having lost two of three, drops to 16-5-0.

-- Senior F Charlie Parsons (2g,1a) led the attack and junior G Aidan Porter kicked out 17 of 18 to lead #4 Rivers to a 4-1 win at Groton. Groton junior G Thomas Steere (46/50) was the hard-luck loser.

-- Junior F Michael Gillis scored a pair of goals and junior goaltender Carter Pearan kicked out 20 of 21 to lead Hotchkiss to a 3-1road win over Choate.

-- PG F Jack Baron (2g,1a) led the attack and soph G Matt Sayles posted a 20-save shutout to lead host New Hampton to a 5-0 shutout of Stanstead College. New Hampton, 13-7-3, has won seven in a row since a 3-2 OT loss at Dexter on Jan. 13th. And junior defenseman Michael Kesselring, following in his father's footsteps, committed to Merrimack earlier this week.

-- Jake Hughes (4a), Peter Capone (1g,2a), Michael Pelletier (2g), and Patrick Lavin (1g,1a) each had multiple points in host Worcester Academy's 5-3 win over Portsmouth Abbey.

-- Belmont Hill went on the road and pulled out a 1-1 tie against #2 Lawrence Academy. Bel Hill sophomore Andrew Holland put his team up 1-0 at 4:50 of the second. LA's Drew Bavaro tied it up 2:39 later -- and that was the sum of the game's scoring. LA senior G Owen Zdunski (25/26) and Bel Hill soph Connor Hopkins (28/29) took care of business at their respective ends.

-- Loomis got goals from four different scorers and senior G Adin Farhat kicked out 17 of 19 as the Pelicans beat Williston-Northampton 4-2. Big senior Brendan White had a pair of goals for Williston.

-- PG goaltender Kyle Martin kicked out 30 of 31 shots and four different scorers chipped in with a goal to lead Andover to a 4-1 road win at Deerfield. Andover (10-7-1) has won four of its last five. Deerfield stays a game above .500 at 9-8-1.

-- St. Sebastian's senior G Alex Zafonte (39/40) led the host Arrows to a 2-1 win over Milton Academy. Senior d-man Eric Jeremiah's third period goal turned out to be the game-winner for the Arrows. Freshman Liam Devlin also scored for St. Seb's, which put a stop to a two-game losing streak.

-- #5 Thayer went on the road and topped Nobles, 5-1 behind the goaltending of junior Jimmy Scannell (20/21) and a show of power from the Tigers' top guns Casey Carreau (1g,3a), Jay O'Brien (1g,2a), Aidan McDonough (1g,1a), and D Jayson Dobay (2a). Thayer has won five in a row -- and eight of nine --- to improve to 15-4-0. Nobles has lost eight of nine and falls to 7-13-0.

-- Sean Kimura (4aq), Waltteri Rannisto (3g), Luke Grainger (1g,2a), and Philippe Gilmour (1g,2a) led Hebron's attack as the Lumberjacks went on the road and topped NYA, 6-2.

-- Junior Peter Lombardi (2g,2a), sophomore Hunter Brackett (2g,1a), senior Ed Hannon (1g,2a), and sophomore Owen Rudicus (1g,2a) led host Tabor to an 8-2 win over Moses Brown. Freshman Gunnarwolfe Fontaine scored both of the Quakers' goals. Fontaine has a 20-15-35 line in 19 GP for Moses Brown.