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* * 🏒  HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT GUIDE  🏒 * *

Sun. 1/26/20

Prep Highlights of Sat. Jan. 25, 2020

Berkshire's Baliotti Blanks Avon
Nobles' Kenney Stuns Andover
Rocco Rescues L'ville
DeMers Shines for Mustangs
Hornets Lose Heartbreaker
Gorman Sparks St. Seb's 

Salisbury @ Kent -- Postponed due to the flu at Kent. Makeup date to be determined. 

@ Kents Hill 3, Winchendon 2 (OT) -- PG Graham Hassan scored his second goal of the game at 2:02 of OT to give Kents Hill the win. Since enduring a 7-game losing streak, Kents Hill has gone 2-1-2, with the sole loss being a 3-2 OT decision at Berwick. Winchendon outshot Kents Hill, 29-20, but senior goalie Max Macchioni stopped 27 shots to earn the win.  

Wyoming Seminary 5 @ Portsmouth Abbey 2 -- Wyoming junior Kyle Folkerson scored two goals and added an assist, and sophomore goalie Tatu Kryönlahti (23/25) picked up the win. A tip of the hat to PA junior goalie Nate Hopkins (51/56).

@ Belmont Hill 3, Tabor 1 -- Zephan Kraus, Luke Khozozian, and Ryan McGuire each scored in a 3-goal second period, and D Will Killoran had a pair of assists to help lead Bel Hill to its 4th win in 5 games. Junior Michael Hauswirth stopped 21 of 22 for the win. Tabor senior Brandon Sherman (30/33) took the loss. Tabor has had a tough go of it, losing 10 of its last 11.

Brunswick 8 @ Hill 2 -- Eight different Wickians (sounds good -- or does it?) scored a goal, with six coming in the second period to blow this one wide open.

@ Lawrenceville 4, Albany Academy 2 -- L'ville was trailing 2-0 midway through the second, but senior Mike Rocco rode to the rescue, scoring 4 unanswered goals. Senior goalie TJ Semptimphelter (2.30/.926) stopped 30 of 32 for the win. AA junior G Andrew Palena (33/37) took the loss. 

@ Dexter 7, Brooks 0 -- Matt Copponi (2g,1a), Patrick Morrissey (3a), and Culin Wilson (3a) led the Dexter attack. Dexter sophomore G Ryan Kazmouz (10/10) has 4 shutouts in 5 games this season. His GAA is .60 and his save percentage is .973. Brooks senior G Jonathan Carafotes (41/48) took the loss.

@ Rivers 6, BB&N 1 -- Phil Tresca (1g,2a), Matt Cormier (2g), Pat Lawn (1g,1a), and Coleman Nee (1g,1a) led the attack. Rivers outshot BB&N, 56-10.  Rivers soph Conor Sullivan (9/10) picked up the win, while BB&N freshman David Mallio (50/56!) took the loss. BB&N is 0-for-January. Their second and third-leading scorers are both freshmen, so the future might be better.

@ Berkshire 2, Avon Old Farms 0 -- Berkshire junior G Jed Baliotti (2.05/.924) kicked out all 36 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season. (Balliotti has also had 7 games in which he has allowed one goal.) Nick Donaldson scored a PPG and Jake MacDonald notched a SHG. Since a 5-game losing streak earlier in the month, Berkshire has been unbeaten in its last 5 games (4-0-1).

Hotchkiss 5, Exeter 1 -- Scroll down for full game story. 

@ Milton 4, Pomfret 1 -- Goals from Milton's William Van der Veen and Jeffrey Lee, sandwiched around a goal from Pomfret's Tyler Bourque, gave Milton a 2-1 lead heading into the third. Milton added a pair of empty-netters in the final minutes. This was a goalies' blue plate special, with Milton junior Chris DeMers (36/37) besting Pomfret PG Andrew Shearson (32/34).

@ St. Sebastian's 7, Governor's 1 -- Soph Brendan Gorman scored a first-period PPG to make it a 1-1 game, and then, a couple of minutes later, scored a SHG to give the Arrrows a lead they would build on for the rest of the game. St. Seb's has bounced back from its two-game losing streak with 3 straight wins.

@ Taft 4, Canterbury 1 -- The Rhinos got goals from 4 different scorers, and sophomore goalie Mikey Roberts (26/27) got the win.

@ St. Paul's 7, Vermont Academy 0 -- Junior Owen Stadheim (2g,1a) led the St. Paul's attack and freshman goalie Rocco Bryant had a 9-save shutout (That is not a typo). SPS dumped 71 shots on VA junior G Mason Kucenski. What a miserable season this has been for Vermont Academy, now 1-16-0.

@ KUA 5, Stanstead College 3 -- Tomas Mazura (4a), Sullivan Mack (2g,1a), and Zach Whitehead (2g) led the Wildcats attack and senior G Veeti Kohvakka (32/35) got the win. Stanstead's Greg Orosz (35/40) took the loss. KUA is now 15-4-1 in NEPSIHA.

@ Groton 9, Middlesex 3 -- Marc Borghi and Max Knoll each had 2 goals and Luke Beckstein had 3 assists to lead Groton. Middlesex's leading scorer, junior Kyle Heath, scored all 3 of their goals.

@ Millbrook 6, Trinity-Pawling 2 -- Jake Percival (2g,2a), Nico Rexine (2g,2a) and Adam Jubran (1g,3a) led the scorers, and junior G Owen Hains 28/30) earned the win.

Nobles 3 @ Andover 2 -- Nobles, 8-1-1 over the last 10 games, continues to roll on, with senior G Marc Smith (24/26) besting Andover senior Charlie Archer (29/32). Andover held a 2-0 lead midway through the 3rd period, but Nobles struck for 3 goals in a span of 7:08 -- from Casey Severo, Roman Tacelli, and, for the GWG, senior D Peirce Kenney -- to stun their hosts.

@ Pingree 7, Berwick 2 -- The Highlanders won their third straight, as senior Brendan Driscoll (3g,4a) and younger brother Ian Driscoll (2g,4a) had huge days. Ditto for 6'3" sophomore goaltender Matt Cusolito (36/38).

@ New Hampton 10, Brewster 1 -- Marcus Joughin (1g,4a), Isaac MacLeod (3g,1a), and Jack Ring (3a) came up big for the Huskies, who are 7-1-0 over their last eight, with the only loss a 4-0 decision to Dexter. With the win, New Hampton (15-6-1) has already passed last year's win total.

@ Loomis 1, Cushing 1 -- In the second period, Thomas Costello scored for Loomis, and, 5 minutes later, junior D Lukas Gustafsson, a BC recruit, answered for the Penguins. But this was a goaltenders' battle, as Cushing freshman Jackson Irving (41/42) and Loomis junior Kyle Chauvette (27/28) battled to a draw. Loomis is now 10-2-3 in NEPSIHA play. Cushing is 11-6-2. 

@ St. Mark's 4, St. George's 2 -- St. Mark's led 3-2 after one, then added a single goal in the second -- and that was all the scoring in this one. Senior Will Bundy (18/20) got the win; St. George's junior Colin Freitas (26/30) took the loss. St. Mark's, 9-2-1 in NEPSIHA play, is 2-2-1 over its last five.

Gunnery 4, Williston 3 (OT) -- A Cole Brennan goal at 1:40 of OT, from Dane Dowiak and Mark D'agostino, gave Gunnery a bounceback win after an OT loss to Millbrook on Wednesday. Gunnery junior G Dan Zajkowksi (17/20) got the win; Williston senior Trevor Corsello (39/43) took the hard-luck loss. 

@ Choate 2, Deerfield 2 -- Deerfield led, 2-0, after two periods, but host Choate came back with a pair of third period goals that allowed them to gain a tie with their rival. Wild Boars senior goaltender Tyler McDermott and Deerfield senior Justin Prete, each with 29 saves, battled to a draw as well.

Tilton 6 @ Proctor 5 -- The visitors from Tilton jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but Proctor came right back with 4 of their own to make it 4-4 midway through the third. Tilton answered, taking a 5-4 lead, but Proctor came right back and tied it at 5-5 with 50 seconds remaining. Seventeen seconds later, at 17:27, Tilton's Max Pineo won it for the visitors. A heartbreaker for Hornets fans. Proctor outshot Tilton, 49-17.

Worcester Academy 5, NYA 2 -- Worcester, down 2-1 midway through the second, bounced back with 4 unanswered goals, including 2 from junior Owen Hughes. Worcester junior G Jack Byrne (27/29) earned the win; NYA senior Stefan Kulhanek (30/35) took the loss.

Wed. 1/29/20

Prep Highlights of Wed. Jan. 29, 2020

Puskar, Wilder Lead #9 Hotchkiss
#5 Loomis Lays an Egg
Brooks Stuns Belmont Hill
#6 Seb's Lets #8 Nobles Off the Hook
Halliday Leads SPS

@ #9 Hotchkiss 2, Berkshire 0 -- Senior F Gavin Puskar has been a scoring machine since his natural hat trick last Wednesday. Before that game, he had scored 3 on the entire season (12 games). He's had 6 over his last three. Voodoo Child, for sure. For Hotchkiss, senior G Henry Wilder (1.89/.941) posted a 34-save shutout -- his third  -- and also picked up the second assist on Puskar's second goal. Hotchkiss is unbeaten in its last five (4-0-1), and put an end to Berkshire's 6-game unbeaten streak. Berkshire is now 5-1-1 over its last 7. Berkshire's top performer today -- not for the first time, either -- was 6'3" junior goalie Jed Baliotti (2.05/.927), who kicked out 40/42 in a losing effort.

#2 Avon Old Farms 7 @ #5 Loomis 0 -- Loomis laid an egg, and the Winged Beavers soared. Seven different Avon players scored a goal, and junior G Connor Callaghan (1.52/.936) posted a 33-save shutout, his fourth of the season. Junior Kyle Chauvette (28/35) took the loss for Loomis, but this correspondent felt that he was hung out to dry on several goals. A couple of Avon players were hurt: junior F Paul Davey, and freshman F Nick Capasso. Not seriously, we hope.

@ Brooks 3, Belmont Hill 1 -- An upset, and certainly the high spoint of what's been a down season for Brooks. Sophomore G Jake Inzirillo (2.45/.929) was the hero today, stopping 36 of 37 in his fifth start of the season. Belmont Hill started junior Charlie Lambert (15/18). Belmont Hill came into the game with a 4-1-0 record in its previous 5. Brooks had lost 9 in a row.

@ #1 Salisbury 6, Gunnery 5 -- This one was tied at 2-2 in the second, 3-3 early in the third, and 5-5 when Alex Jefferies scored with 41 seconds on the clock. Gunnery's joy was short-lived, though, as Salisbury's Cole Vallesse scored just 15 seconds later, at 17:34, to win it.  Salisbury junior Max Donoso (22/27) got the win and Gunnery senior Carmine Andranovich (31/37) took the loss.

Groton 6 @ BB&N 0 -- Groton sophomore G Tommy Giroux stopped all 15 shots he faced and Groton got its offense from a range of players. Roan Doherty (1g,2a) and Marc Borghi (2g) led the way. Groton outshot BB&N, 58-15. Groton is 9-2-0 in its last 11. BB&N is 1-13-0 on the season.

NMH 1 @ Cushing 1 -- The Hoggers, on Joe Solomine's 2nd period goal, carried a 1-0 lead into the game's final minute, but, with 41 seconds on the clock, the goalie out, and the extra attacker on, Cushing's sophomore D Jackson Dorrington tied it up, with assists going to Lukas Gustafsonn and Connor Wood. This was is the second 1-1 tie in the Penguins last three games. The Penguins are 4-0-2 over the last six. Cushing freshman G Jackson Irving (20/21) got the win; NMH 6'2" senior Connor Hasley (1.82/.947) was the tough luck loser, stopping 44 of 45.

@ Taft 3, Kent 2 -- Three different Rhinos scored a goal, and senior F Zack Tonelli had 2 assists. Sophomore Mikey Roberts (27/29) got the win; Kent junior Jeremy Siegel (28/31) took the loss. Kent has lost 4 in a row, and 5 of its last 6. They also had to postpone a couple of games due to the flu.

Proctor 5 @ Vermont Academy 2 -- Proctor got goals from 5 different players, and junior G Michael Gilerman (9/11) posted the win. VA junior Michael Kucenski (53/58) took the loss. Proctor's won 3 of 4. 

#7 KUA 4 @ Exeter 1 -- Sullivan Mack (1g, 2a), Paul Dore (2g), Tomas Mazura (1g,1a), and Zach Whitehead (2a) led the way offensively. Junior G Zak Brice (19/20) earned the win; Exeter senior Ryan Welch (21/24) took the loss.

Thayer 5 @ Tabor 1 -- Sasha Teleguine (2g,1a), Nick Roukounakis (1g,1a) and CJ Foley (2a) led the Tigers attack. Tigers senior Gavin FitzPatrick (15/15) got the win with relief from junior Connor Valios (2/3). It was Valios's first appearance this season. Seawolves soph Mathew Gover (43/48) took the loss.

St. Mark's 6 @ Middlesex 2 -- Danny Ciccarello (2g,2a), D Tucker Hartmann (1g,2a), Brendan Gibbons (3a), and Trevor O'Brien (2a) led the Lions' offense. Senior Will Bundy (29/31) got the win. St. Mark's outshot Middlesex, 46-31. Middlesex used all three of its goalies.

@ Millbrook 7, Williston 2 -- Niko Rexine (2g,1a), Jake Percival (1g,1a). Bauer Morrissey (1g,1a) led Millbrook's attack, and Owen Haines (18/20) got the win. For Williston, sophomore Connor Hagness had both of their goals. SOG favored Middlesex, 38-20, Millbrook has won 4 in a row.

Rivers 5 @ Roxbury Latin 2 -- Michael McEachern (1g,3a) and Matt Cormier (2g) led the scorers. This was really a 3-2 game, as Eachern's goal and Cormier's second goal were empty-netters. Casen Janko (23/25) got the win for Rivers and Mikey Jones (35/38) took the loss. Rivers has won four in a row for the first time this season.

@ #6 St. Sebastian's 4, #8 Nobles 4 -- Seb's, playing at home, had a 3-0 lead after one, and a 4-1 lead in the middle of the second. But they let it get away. Sophomore D Aidan Lyons (3a) led the Nobles' scorers; soph Brendan Gorman (2g) did the same for Seb's. Nobles, with a win and a tie vs. Seb's, takes the season's series.

@ Pomfret 10, Hoosac 3 -- Seniors Kyle Tomaso (1g,5a) and Tyler Bourque (4g,1a), and junior Cam Lowe (5a) led the Pomfret scoring parade.

@ St. Paul's 5, Berwick 3 -- Behind soph JT Halliday (1g,3a) and junior Joe Schubert (2g,1a), St. Paul's led from beginning to end. SPS outshot Berwick, 44-20.

New Hampton 1 @ Tilton 1 -- Tilton got a 1st period goal from senior Jack Seymour. New Hampton senior D Adam Shuchart answered in the third. The two goalies, Tilton senior Justin Lee and New Hampton's Lucas Brine both stopped 29 of 30. Sounds like an even game to me.

@ Andover 7, Winchendon 6 -- Andover led 4-2 after a goal-crazy first period, and added two more in the second  to take a 6-2 lead, but Winchendon would go on to to score 4 of the next 5 to make for a crazy finish. Andover outshot Winchendon, 46-34. Dapa Conneely (1g,3a) Mojmir Petras (2g), Drew Malatesta (1g,1a), and Will Hughes (1g,1a) led the Andover attack.

@ Westminster 6, Deerfield 3 -- Westy junior D Justin Louette scored two goals and a whole bunch of players scored one goal. In net, Westminster junior Bennett Ostern (26/29) got the win, and Deerfield senior Justin Prete took the loss. Prete had a rough day, giving up 5 goals on 22 shots in 28 minutes played. Freshman Justin Katz, in relief, stopped 14 of 15 and added an assist.

Tues. 1/28/20

Prep Poll Is Up; Who's #1?

The top four teams in last week's poll -- Salisbury, Dexter, Lawrence, and Avon -- were all saddled with their second loss of the season. The Dragon Killers of the Week were the Berkshire Bears. On Saturday, Berkshire's junior G Jed Baliotti blanked #4 Avon, and two days later, backstopped Berkshire to a 4-2 win over #1 Salisbury. Also #2 Dexter lost to Thayer, 4-3. And #3 Nobles lost to Nobles. 

With the two wins, Berkshire moved to 16th in RPI, and became a 'Team Under Consideration' which jumbled the RPI and JSPR, not to mention the USHR Weekly Prep Poll. Speaking of which, it's here.


USHR Prep Poll, Week of of Jan. 27, 2020

Mon. 1/27/20 -- Most recent update: Tues. 1/28. Please send any schedule changes to news@ushr.com.

Prep Composite Schedule, Jan. 27-Feb. 3, 2020

Most recent changes are in italics.

Mon. Jan. 27, 2020
Portledge @ Albany Academy, 3:30 pm
Princeton Day School @ Malvern Prep, 3:45 pm
Cushing @ Worcester Academy, 4:00 pm
Avon Old Farms @ Westminster, 4:15 pm 
Berkshire @ Salisbury, 4:45 pm
Millbrook @ Canterbury, 5:30 pm

Wed. Jan. 29, 2020
Holderness @ Brewster Academy, 2:30 pm
Berkshire @ Hotchkiss, 2:30 pm
Northfield Mt. Hermon @ Cushing, 2:45 pm
Avon Old Farms @ Loomis Chaffee, 3:00 pm
Gunnery @ Salisbury, 3:00 pm
Hill School @ Portledge, 3:15 pm
Trinity-Pawling @ Choate, 3:30 pm -- Flu (at T-P). Ppd. to Thurs. Feb. 6th, time TBD
Governor's @ Lawrence Academy, 3:30 pm
Belmont Hill @ Brooks, 3:30 pm
Groton @ BB&N, 3:45 pm
La Salle College HS @ Lawrenceville, 4:00 pm
Princeton Day School @ Wyoming Seminary, 4:00 pm
Proctor @ Vermont Academy, 4:00 pm
Pingree @ Worcester Academy, 4:00 pm
Bridgton Academy @ Hebron, 4:00 pm
Winchendon @ Andover, 4:15 pm
Kent @ Taft, 4:30 pm
Deerfield @ Westminster, 4:30 pm
Williston Northampton @ Millbrook, 4:30 pm
Kimball Union @ Exeter, 4:30 pm
Thayer @ Tabor, 5:00 pm
Rivers @ Roxbury Latin, 5:00 pm
Pope Francis @ Brunswick, 5:00 pm
Dexter @ St. George's, 5:00 pm
Noble & Greenough @ St. Sebastian's, 5:00 pm 
St. Mark's @ Middlesex, 5:00 pm
Hoosac @ Pomfret, 5:15 pm
New Hampton @ Tilton, 5:30 pm
Berwick @ St. Paul's, 5:45 pm

Thurs. Jan. 30, 2020
Proctor vs. St. Mark's, 5:00 pm -- at Warrior Ice Arena; Boston, Mass.
Delbarton @ Lawrenceville, 5:00 pm

Fri. Jan. 31, 2020
North Yarmouth Academy @ Kents Hill, 4:00 pm
Hebron @ Berwick, 4:00 pm
Seton Hall Prep @ Princeton Day School, 4:00 pm
New Hampton @ Holderness, 4:30 pm
Hill School @ Gunnery, 4:30 pm
Pingree @ Groton, 5:00 pm
Noble & Greenough @ Rivers, 5:00 pm
Taft @ Trinity-Pawling, 5:00 pm
Portsmouth Abbey @ Roxbury Latin, 5:30 pm
Worcester Academy @ Northfield Mt. Hermon, 6:00 pm
Tabor @ Lawrence Academy, 6:45 pm
Choate @ Avon Old Farms, 7:00 pm
Governor's @ BB&N, 7:00 pm
St. Sebastian's @ Thayer, 7:00 pm

Sat. Feb. 1, 2020
Milton @ Worcester Academy, 12:15 pm
Williston Northampton @ Brunswick, 1:00 pm
Kents Hill @ Holderness, 1:30 pm
Tabor @ St. Mark's, 2:00 pm
Brooks @ Governor's, 2:00 pm
Albany Academy @ Berkshire, 2:30 pm
Belmont Hill @ St. Paul's, 2:30 pm
Canterbury @ Pomfret, 3:00 pm
Hebron @ Winchendon, 3:00 pm
Tilton @ Kimball Union, 3:00 pm
Lawrence Academy @ Dexter, 3:00 pm
Rivers @ Middlesex, 3:30 pm
Cushing @ Exeter, 4:00 pm
Kent @ Westminster, 4:30 pm
Hotchkiss @ Deerfield, 5:30 pm
BB&N @ North Yarmouth Academy, 5:30 pm
Lawrenceville @ Portsmouth Abbey, 5:30 pm
Andover @ Loomis Chaffee, 6:00 pm
Roxbury Latin @ Groton, 6:15 pm
Vermont Academy @ Hoosac, 6:30 pm

Sun. Feb. 2, 2020
Rice Memorial @ Stanstead College, 12:30 pm
Canterbury @ Winchendon, 1:00 pm

Mon. Feb. 3, 2020
Twin City Thunder (18) @ Hebron, 4:30 pm
St. George's @ Portsmouth Abbey, 4:45 pm
Trinity-Pawling @ Hotchkiss, 4:45 pm
Westminster @ Williston Northampton, 5:30 pm

Sat. 1/25/20 

Hotchkiss Tops Exeter, 5-1

Ashburnham, Mass. -- Hotchkiss got goals from five different scorers and junior goaltender Cameron Smith, who lost his shutout bid with 39 seconds left in the game, stopped 25 of 26 shots en route to the Bearcats' 5-1 win over Exeter in their annual neutral site game.

Both teams came into the game hot, as Exeter had won five in a row, while Hotchkiss was 3-1-1 over its previous five, with their most recent win being Wednesday's 5-0 blanking of Kent -- the Gavin Puskar natural hat trick game.  Wednesday's game was also the first time all season the Bearcats had scored 5 goals in a game. Today would be the second.

They also got their top d-man, senior Nick Traggio, back after his being sidelined with an injury since the first week of the season.

After a scoreless first period in which Hotchkiss outshot and outchanced Exeter, things picked up in the second. After Exeter's top forward, junior Michael Young, rang a shot off the crossbar, Hotchkiss picked up the puck in their end and came back the other way to score just 20 seconds later, with sophomore Luke Johnson making it 1-0.

Halfway through the period, at 9:03, Puskar, a center, scored off the faceoff on a low wrister from the high slot.

With 1:50 left in the period, sophomore Karsen Dorwart, a big '02 left-shot center out of Portland, Oregon, and the San Jose Jr. Sharks U16s, tucked home a puck that ricocheted off the end boards, and right onto his stick. 3-0, Hotchkiss.

As in the first, Hotchkiss played smart hockey, moving the puck quickly and decisively, and setting up well in the offensive zone.

The third period featured some weird officiating. After whistling a total of three penalties over the first two periods, somehow they managed to call eight in the third. Twice they sent two teammates off together. It happened to Exeter first, and to Hotchkiss about six minutes later. Perhaps the officials enjoy watching 5x3s? Maybe they wanted the players to have a buddy to keep them company in the box. Possibly, they were precisely the right calls. Who knows?

Over the course of the game, Exeter was called for seven minors, and Hotchkiss for three.

On its 5x3 power play, Hotchkiss was able to cash in on its chance, at 7:59 of the third, with PG defenseman Jack Ferguson scoring on a hard one-timer from the top of the left faceoff circle to make it 4-0.

Exeter's chance came  when Hotchkiss junior Andrew Esposito and PG defenseman Nate Sidel were whistled off with 5:31 remaining. They couldn't convert, however.

With 4:16 left, Exeter's Michael Young was called for high sticking, negating about a minute of the two-man advantage.

Hotchkiss junior Jon Horn scored an empty-netter to make it 5-0, with 3:13 remaining. 

Exeter finally broke through with 39 seconds left, as Reese Ramirez saw open ice, took a pass from defenseman Michael Young, broke in alone, and scored.

"I like the way we're sharing pucks a little more, and getting more shots on net," Hotchkiss head coach Mike Traggio said. "I thought (Exeter) had some good chances too. But I thought we did a good job keeping them to the outside, and our goalie made saves when he had to. The game felt closer than what the scoreboard said."

"It looked pretty good from the bench," Traggio added. "The power plays helped a little bit."

We pointed out to Exeter head coach Dana Barbin that his team came in with a five-game winning streak (not that he needed reminding).

"Yes," he replied. "And you know something? The previous game that we lost was to St. Paul's. It was a 1-1 game late in the second and then we took two 'not smart' penalties and it cost us. Same thing today." 

 "If you're going to be in the Elite 8 or the Large School Playoffs, you have to play disciplined. I thought that got away from us today. We got a little frustrated and it hurt us."

"But I tip my hat to Hotchkiss. We got outplayed, and they beat us."  

NOTES:

-- Hotchkiss and Exeter have played each other in a neutral-site venue for about 15 years. Barbin and Damon White, Hotchkiss's coach at the time, came up with the idea and ever since they've played it somewhere else. Tonight's game was the first year they've played at Cushing. Previous locations have included UNH, Brown, Holy Cross, Amherst, Williams, UMass-Amherst, Yale, Eaglebrook School, and others.

-- There was no music at all blaring from the speakers and, for fans of a different generation, the silence was a refreshing throwback. In the breaks in action, you could actually converse with the person next to you without shouting, or being shouted at.

-- Two young players that we feel are loaded with potential are Exeter '04 sophomore F Kurt Gurkan, an excellent skater and smart playmaker; and Hotchkiss sophomore center Karsen Dorwart, who we mentioned above.

Fri. 1/24/20

#9 Nobles Hands #3 LA Its Second Loss Of the Season

Dedham, Mass. -- #9 Nobles, on a pair of goals from senior right wing Jack Cronin, edged #3 Lawrence Academy, 3-2, here tonight.

The Bulldogs, now 10-4-1, have won 6 of 7 since the Flood-Marr, with the sole loss coming at Lawrence -- a 5-4 decision -- just nine days ago.

Tonight, right from the opening faceoff, Nobles played with intensity --- and parlayed it into a dominating period.

With virtually all the sustained pressure in the LA end, Nobles got on the board 4:16 into the game, as Cronin, using the D as a screen, ripped a high shot that LA junior goaltender Thomas Pientka had no chance on.

Nobles kept the pressure on and, with 3:19 left in the period, senior center Casey Severo walked out of the left wing corner and whipped a wide-angle wrister, beating Pientka short side to make it 2-0. Sophomore defenseman Aidan Lyons had the assist.

Nobles carried all that momentum into the first intermission -- and then came out for the second and scored just 35 seconds in. Severo spotted Cronin, whose wrister from the top of the left faceoff circle was not only his second goal of the night but would turn out to be the game-winner.  

Down 3-0, the visitors soon began finding their way back into the game, getting more shots on net, though it was often a one-and-done deal, as the Bulldogs d-men did a nice job clearing the zone. 

Finally, with 1:41 remaining in the period, Lawrence right wing Riley Duran, a Providence recruit, flew down the right side and took a shot that rebounded to junior Blake Humphrey, also a PC recruit. Humphrey didn't miss, cutting Nobles' lead to 3-1.

LA continued working in the third period, and created more chances for themselves. Junior center Conor Lovett was foiled by Smith on a breakaway attempt, and Andrew Cafarelli was stopped on a partial breakaway. But time was not on their side. 

With 4:58 left in regulation, Nobles' sophomore right wing Roman Tacelli was called for tripping and, on the ensuing power play, Lawrence junior defenseman Damien Carfagna rotated down from the point and, from the top of the left faceoff circle, wristed a shot that beat Smith top shelf to cut the Nobles lead to 3-2. 

Suddenly, we had a tight game, but the clock was working against the visitors.

With 3:39 remaining, Nobles' senior center Owen O'Connor was whistled off for a slash. It was LA's last best chance to tie it up, but they couldn't capitalize. And that was it.

"You measure yourself by your competition," Nobles' head coach Brian Day said afterward, "and they (Lawrence) are certainly one of the better teams in New England -- and we like to think we're a good team, too."

"It was our turn tonight."

Asked about LA coming back and making it a one-goal game in the third, Day said, "I thought we got on our heels a bit at the beginning. I thought they were taking it to us. But after they got their powerplay goal, we kind of reestablished ourselves, and started winning puck races we weren't earlier in the period."

"I like the way we finished the game, killing that second penalty. And when they pulled their goaltender, I thought we did a good job with that as well."

Asked about the play of Marc Smith in net -- 28 shots, 26 saves -- Day said, "Smitty's our guy. We know we're going to get a great job from our goaltender. And that just allows us to play a little more freer, maybe make a couple more mistakes here and there, play a little looser, try to be more creative. I think it allows the kids to play a little more to their potential knowing that he's back there. And, as a coach, it's a great comfort knowing he's there."

"One thing that I think is an identifying characteristic of our team is that our kids really care about each other. They're playing hard for their buddies more than themselves. And I think that's a big part of our success."

Nobles, with four losses on the season, has to keep winning in order to reach the Elite 8. They get right back at it  tomorrow (Sat. 1/25), heading north to Andover. Faceoff is at 5:30 pm.

***

Meanwhile, as this game was coming to an end, word from five miles away was that #2-ranked Dexter, which carried a 3-2 lead into the third period, had given up two goals to Thayer -- and, like Lawrence, lost for just the second time this season. Tonight was also the first time this season LA and Dexter lost to any team other than each other.

Wed. 1/22/20 -- updated Thurs. @ noon

Prep Highlights of Wed. Jan. 22, 2020

HAT TRICK MANIA! EIGHT NINE IN ONE DAY!
Bears' Gammill & Thompson Score Natural Hat Tricks
Bearcats Puskar Also Scores a Natural Hat Trick
Salisbury's DeBoer Notches Hat Trick in 2nd Period
Westy's Louette Also Scores Hat Trick in 2nd Period
Exeter's Ramirez Scores Hat Trick, Adds 3 Assists
Worcester's White Wears the Hat; Ditto for Pingree's Ian Driscoll
LA's Duran Notches Hattie


Exeter 9 @ Tabor 4 -- Exeter senior Reese Ramirez (3g,3a) had a six-point day. Senior Danny Colon (2g,3a) had a five-point outing, And junior Michael Young (1g,2a) had three points. Also, PG defenseman Luke Mix had a SHG and three assists. For Tabor, big sophomore Shane LaChance (1g,2a) figured in 3 of Tabor's 4 goals. Exeter outshot Tabor, 36-22.

These are two teams going in opposite directions. Exeter has won 5 in a row, and 7 of its last 8. Tabor has lost 5 in a row, and 9 of its last 10. 

@ Hotchkiss 5, #10 Kent 0 -- Senior Gavin Puskar doubled his season's goal output with a natural hat trick in the second period, and senior goaltender --and BC recruit -- Henry Wilder (23/23) posted his second shutout of the season.

Hotchkiss is sneaking up the charts. They've played a tough schedule, beating the teams they should beat and losing only to good teams, i.e. Teams Under Consideration (Top 16 in RPI).  Going by opponents' winning percentage, the four teams who have played the toughest schedule thus far are Deerfield, Taft, Hotchkiss, and Kent. All four Hotchkiss losses have come to TUCs -- Gunnery, Salisbury (2x), and Avon.

Kent, flying high after winning the Avon Xmas Classic Tournament, has taken January off, losing 4 of 5 since coming back from the Holidays, mostly to TUCs. They've been shut out in three of their last five games.

#1 Salisbury 7 @ Trinity-Pawling 0 -- Senior Matt DeBoer had a hat trick, all in the second period, and added an assist in the third. Classmate Lucas Mercuri (2g,2a) also had a 4-point day.  Junior G Max Donoso posted a 20-save shutout. The Crimson Knights outshot T-P, 40-20.

@ Williston 8, Vermont Academy 4 -- Matt Pimental (2g,2a), Alex Latkovsi (2g,1a), Connor Hagness (3a) and Brandon Barrett (2g) led Williston's attack. Cody White , Andrew Peloso, Reilly O'Connor and Jack Luzzi were VA's scorers. Williston outshot VA, 64-20.

@ Berkshire 9, Choate 1 -- Berkshire's top two scorers, seniors Briggs Gammill and Aidan Thompson, had natural hat tricks in the same game, something you can be sure those who were there will never forget. Gammill's came in the first period, in a span of 3:20. Thompson started off the second period with a SHG at 0:45 and added two more before the period reached the halfway point. For Gammill, today's natural hat trick was his second  this season. A week ago, vs. NMH, he had one in the second period of a 5-1 win.

Berkshire started the season well, but then fell into a six-game losing streak (at least 4 losses came against TUCs). Lately, the Bears have gotten back on the winning track (3-0-1 over the last 4).

@ #8 Brunswick 4, Hoosac 3 -- Brunswick took a comfortable 4-1 lead into the third period, but almost gave it away as Hoosac scored twice to make it a one-goal game. Hoosac 6'2" PG goaltender Kevin Chandler (3.02/.922) stopped 41 of the 45 shots that came his way. But it was Brunswick's Brendan Holahan (10/13) who got the W.

@ #6 Loomis 5, Taft 1 -- Roy Andriole had two goals; and Cody Hoban, Oliver Flynn, and Ben Ritter had one each. In net, Loomis junior Kyle Chauvette (30/31) earned the win. Taft senior James Donaldson (37/42) took the loss.

@ Millbrook 5, Gunnery 4 (OT) -- Millbrook took a 4-3 lead into the third, but Gunnery's Alex Jefferies tied it up on a PPG  to send the game to OT where Millbrook senior Andrew Kimball, from defenseman Bauer Morrissey,  scored the game-winner with two seconds remaining. Earlier, Millbrook junior F Jake Percival scored his 12th and 13th goal of the season. Millbrook improves to 12-7-0 with the win and are just outside the Top 16 in RPI.

Groton 3 @ Governor's 0 -- Senior goalie Kevin Clark (37/37) picked up his second shutout of the season, and Gov's 6'4" junior Tristan Mecenas (20/23) took the loss. Luke Beckstein, Eamon McNamara, and Marc Borghi scored Groton's goals. Groton is 6-2-0 over their last 8 games.

@ Rivers 3, Brooks 1 -- Matt Cormier, Ryan Bell, and Sam Amato each had a goal. Senior goalie Casen Janko (16/17) got the win; Brooks soph Jake Inzirillo stopped 34 of 36 shots in a hard-luck loss. 

@ #3 Lawrence Academy 7, Milton 5 -- Box score not submitted. Check again in the morning. Morning update: Box score is up and we see yet another hat trick, this time from LA soph RW Riley Duran, a Providence recruit. For LA, Blake Humphre , also a Providence recruit, added a goal and and two assists. And Conor Lovett had 2 goals. Big Milton junior D William Van der Veen had a pair of goals. LA outshot Milton, 47-25.

@ Berwick 3, Kents Hill 2 (OT) -- Junior F Mason Alderson-Biddulph scored his second goal of the game at 3:41 of OT. Senior netminder Alex Ramsay (30/32) earned the win. For Kents Hill, junior goalie Xavier Lapierre (2.21/.933) took the loss, stopping 24 of 27. Berwick is 7-1-1 in its last 9.

#7 St. Sebastian's 3 @ Andover 1 -- Liam Connors, Nolan Joyce, and Timmy Delay each had a goal, and senior goalie Luke Garrity (25/26) earned the win. Andover senior goalie Charlie Archer (39/42) took the loss.

@ Proctor 5, St. Paul's 1 -- Junior Grant Porter and senior Ronan Walsh each had 2 goals to lead the Hornets. At the other end, senior Cole Chingris (25/26) earned the win.

@ Cushing 4, Thayer 2 -- Connor Wood (2g) and Cody Sealey (3a) led the Penguins' attack. Cushing freshman goalie Jackson Irving (2.56/.912)  kicked out 25 of 27 to secure the win; Thayer senior Gavin FitzPatrick (38/41) took the tough loss. The Tigers have lost 6 in a row, all to winning teams.

Deerfield 3 @ #5 KUA 1 -- Last season, Deerfield beat KUA both times they met -- in the Flood-Marr and then again in mid-January. That represented two of the Wildcats' four losses en route to the Prep Elite 8 title. It's fair to say the Big Green was KUA's bête noire. This year, KUA topped Deerfield in the Flood-Marr but, just like last season, lost to the Big Green in mid-January. Today, Deerfield took a 2-0 lead early in the first on goals from Owen Clifford and, 40 seconds later, Drew Garzone. KUA junior D Luca Fantilli scored at 5:35 to cut the lead to 2-1 -- and that's where it stayed until an empty-netter late. This was a goalies' game. Deerfield senior Justin Prete (24/25) got the win; KUA senior Veeti Kohvakka (23/25) took the loss. Last year, KUA responded to its second loss to Deerfield by not losing another game the rest of the way. Can they repeat that? We'll see.

#4 Avon 4 @ NMH 1 -- Avon rolls on, winning its 8th in a row. Junior John Turner had two goals, and Timothy Heinke and Liam Verdoni one each.

Westminster 6 @ Canterbury 3 -- Junior defenseman Justin Louette had a hat trick in a five-goal second period, and senior F Quinn Armstrong (1g, 3a) and junior D Brandon Walker (1g,2a) also had big games for Westy.

@ Tilton 5, Brewster 1 -- The Rams got goals from 5 different scorers. In net, Tilton soph Gavin Kiley (17/18) got the win; Brewster junior Sam Livecchi (38/43) took the loss.

Worcester Academy 5, Pomfret 5 -- A tie is better than a loss, but this was a game in which Pomfret, playing in their own barn, held a 4-0 lead late in the second, but WA scored 5 of the next 6 goals, including a Rory White game-tying goal with 54 seconds remaining and the goalie pulled for the extra attacker. The goal gave Rory White, a senior, a hat trick. Pomfret outshot WA, 42-25

Pingree 6 @ Portsmouth Abbey 2 -- Junior Ian Driscoll had a hat trick for Pingree, and added an assist. Pingree junior goalie Cam Brown (31/33) got the win. Pingree outshot PA, 50-33.

Belmont Hill 7 @ St. Mark's 1 -- Junior Ryan McGuire had a pair of goals for Belmont Hill. St. Mark's (8-2-1) has lost 2 of its last  3, losing an 8-2 decision to Dexter, blanking Roxbury Latin, 6-0, then losing to Bel Hill today.

Holderness 3 @ NYA 0 -- Holderness freshman G Evan Plunkett (28/28) got his first prep shutout.  NYA senior Stefan Kulhanek (31/34) took the loss. Holderness junior Jake Waterman scored two goals for the Bulls, both assisted by PG Andrew Gotts.

Tues. 1/21/20

Salisbury Tops This Week's USHR Prep Poll

For the second week in a row, Salisbury, albeit by the slimmest of margins, holds the top spot in the USHR Prep Poll,  Basically, you can throw a tent over the top four teams, each of which has only one loss as we move into late January and the days become noticeably longer.

We recently crossed the season's midway point, as a total of 430 games have been played. (Last year, the full season, including playoffs, came out to 783 games.)

One other thing: polls from this point forward will be done on Tuesdays. It's simpler, as games on Tuesday are as rare as hens' teeth, and it allows more time to search out useful, or at least entertaining, nuggets of information.


USHR Prep Poll, Week of January 20, 2020

Sun. 1/19/20 -- last update Mon. a.m.

Prep Composite Schedule, Jan. 20-27, 2020

Recently updated games are in italics.

Mon. Jan. 20, 2020 (MLK Day)
Worcester Academy @ Hoosac, 1:00 pm
Holderness @ Tilton, 2:30 pm
Albany Academy @ Canterbury, 4:30 pm -- makeup of Saturday's snowout
Hotchkiss @ Berkshire, 4:30 pm
Gunnery @ Trinity-Pawling, 4:30 pm
Salisbury @ Choate, 5:15 pm
Berwick @ Exeter, 5:15 pm
Kent @ Avon Old Farms, 6:00 pm -- makeup of Saturday's snowout
Millbrook @ Brunswick, 6:00 pm

Wed. Jan. 22, 2020
Exeter @ Tabor, 2:30 pm
Kent @ Hotchkiss, 2:30 pm
Westminster @ Canterbury, 2:30 pm
Vermont Academy @ Williston Northampton, 2:30 pm
Hebron @ Bridgton Academy, 3:00 pm
Choate @ Berkshire, 3:15 pm
St. Sebastian's @ Andover, 3:45 pm
St. Paul's @ Proctor, 4:00 pm
Salisbury @ Trinity-Pawling, 4:15 pm
Thayer @ Cushing, 4:15 pm
Brooks @ Rivers, 4:30 pm
Avon Old Farms @ Northfield Mt. Hermon, 4:30 pm
Deerfield @ Kimball Union, 4:30 pm
Gunnery @ Millbrook, 4:30 pm
Kents Hill @ Berwick, 4:30 pm
Taft @ Loomis Chaffee, 4:30 pm
Hoosac @ Brunswick, 4:30 pm -- makeup of Saturday's snowout
Middlesex @ Roxbury Latin, 4:30 pm
Groton @ Governor's, 4:45 pm
Brewster Academy @ Tilton, 4:45 pm
Holderness @ North Yarmouth Academy, 4:45 pm
Pingree @ Portsmouth Abbey, 4:45 pm
Worcester Academy @ Pomfret, 5:00 pm
Belmont Hill @ St. Mark's, 5:00 pm
St. George's @ BB&N, 5:00 pm
Milton @ Lawrence Academy, 5:15 pm

Thurs. Jan. 23, 2020
Lawrenceville vs. Princeton Day School, 6:30 pm -- at Princeton University

Fri. Jan. 24, 2020
Hebron @ North Yarmouth Academy, 3:00 pm
Académie Saint-Louis @ Groton, 4:00 pm
New Hampton @ Vermont Academy, 4:00 pm
St. Mark's @ BB&N, 4:00 pm
Roxbury Latin @ Pingree, 5:00 pm
Thayer @ Dexter, 5:30 pm
Kimball Union @ Brewster Academy, 5:45 pm
Wyoming Seminary @ Portsmouth Abbey, 6:00 pm
Loomis Chaffee vs. Westminster, 6:00 pm -- at Webster Bank Arena; Bridgeport, Conn.
Governor's @ Holderness, 6:00 pm
Lawrence Academy @ Noble & Greenough, 6:15 pm
Deerfield @ Pomfret, 6:30 pm
Albany Academy @ Hill School, 7:15 pm

Sat. Jan. 25, 2020
St. Andrew's College @ Nichols, 12:00 pm
Albany Academy @ Lawrenceville, 12:45 pm
Wyoming Seminary @ Portsmouth Abbey, 1:30 pm
Tabor @ Belmont Hill, 2:00 pm
Brunswick @ Hill School, 2:00 pm
Pomfret @ Milton, 2:15 pm
BB&N @ Rivers, 2:15 pm
Middlesex @ Groton, 2:30 pm
Avon Old Farms @ Berkshire, 2:30 pm
North Yarmouth Academy @ Worcester Academy, 3:00 pm
Winchendon @ Kents Hill, 3:00 pm
Brooks @ Dexter, 3:00 pm
Governor's @ St. Sebastian's, 3:00 pm
Exeter vs. Hotchkiss, 3:30 pm -- at Cushing Academy
Canterbury @ Taft, 4:00 pm
Stanstead College @ Kimball Union, 4:00 pm
Berwick @ Pingree, 4:15 pm
Trinity-Pawling @ Millbrook, 4:30 pm
Vermont Academy @ St. Paul's, 4:30 pm
St. George's @ St. Mark's, 4:30 pm
Noble & Greenough @ Andover, 5:30 pm
Brewster Academy @ New Hampton, 6:00 pm
Tilton @ Proctor, 6:00 pm
Gunnery @ Williston Northampton, 6:00 pm
Cushing @ Loomis Chaffee, 6:00 pm
Deerfield @ Choate, 7:00 pm
Salisbury @ Kent, 7:00 pm

Sun. Jan. 26, 2020
Northfield Mt. Hermon @ Taft, 1:00 pm

Mon. Jan. 27, 2020
Portledge @ Albany Academy, 3:30 pm
Princeton Day School @ Malvern Prep, 3:45 pm
Cushing @ Worcester Academy, 4:00 pm
Avon Old Farms @ Westminster, 4:15 pm
Berkshire @ Salisbury, 4:45 pm
Millbrook @ Canterbury, 5:30 pm

Sat. 1/18/20

Prep Highlights of Sat. Jan. 18th, 2020

O'Leary's Goal Gives Gov's OT Win 
#7 KUA's Brice Shuts Out St. Paul's
Deerfield, Leading 5-1, Settles for 7-7 Tie
McElaney, Kazmouz Lead #3 Dexter
Gunnery Deploys Heavy Artillery

Berwick 4 @ Brewster 2 -- Berwick senior Carson James had a hat trick (SHG, PPG, SHG) and Alex Ramsay (2.56/.928) kicked out 40 of 42 shots to lead Berwick. The Bulldogs are 6-0-1 over their last 7 games. Brewster is having a difficult season, going 0-5-1 over its last 6 games.

@ Millbrook 3, Pomfret 1 -- A Jake Percival SHG in the second turned out to be the game-winner. Millbrook junior G Owen Hains (21/22) got the win. Pomfret senior Andrew Shearson (32/34) took the loss. Pomfret has lost 3 of its last 4. Millbrook has lost 2 of its last 3.

@ NMH 4, Lawrenceville 2 -- Reese Farrell (2g,1a), Chris Throndson (3a), and Mark McClure (2g) led NMH scorers. Connor Hasley (31/33) earned the win; TJ Semptimphelter (34/37) took the loss. A good win for the Hoggers, who had lost 4 of 5 entering today.

KUA 2 @ St. Paul's 0 -- Griffin Hatley and Zach Whitehead scored the goals, with Tomas Mazura getting an assist on both. KUA junior Zak Brice (42/42) earned the shutout; SPS senior Charlie Murphy (37/39) took the loss. #7-ranked KUA has won 6 in a row.

Trinity-Pawling 7 @ Deerfield 7 -- Host Deerfield squandered a 5-1 second-period lead, and had to settle for a tie. Alton Machen (3g), D Eamon Doheny (3a), Jarod Harrington (3a), Connor Guest (2g), and Slex Robert (2a) led the Big Green. T-P's top scorers were spread out as 7 players had a goal apiece. John Gelatt (4a), Jack Musa (1g,2a), and Stephen Willey (1g,1a) all had multiple points. 

@ Salisbury 5, Westminster 4 -- Michael Fairfax (1g,1a) and Calum Chau (2a) led the scorers for #1-ranked Salisbury. Jordy Nelson and Peter Sanger each had 2 goals for Westy.

Berkshire 7 @ Williston 1 -- Berkshire, which lost to Williston a week ago, avenged that yesterday with an offensive explosion. Aidan Thompson (1g,3a), Hayden Riva (3a), and Griffin Grise (2g) led the Bears' attack. Junior G Jed Balliotti (21/22) earned the win. Special note: Berkshire's victory gave head coach Dan Driscoll his 400th NEPSIHA win. This includes his days back in the '90s at Winchendon, then later at Pomfret. He's been head coach at Berkshire since 2006. Congratulations!

@ Dexter 4, New Hampton 0 -- John McElaney had a hat trick (the third goal was an empty-netter), and Matt Copponi had an assist on all three, to lead the #3-ranked Dexter scorers. Dexter soph Ryan Kazmouz (21/21) has had a shutout in 2 of his 3 starts. New Hampton junior Lucas Brine (42/45) took a tough loss.

@ Exeter 6, Andover 3 -- Exeter never trailed in this, the first of two games vs. its chief rival. Exeter had 5 players chip in with a goal and an assist. PG Colin Marks (1g,2a) and sophomore Will Hughes (2g) led Andover. The two teams meet again (at Andover) on Sat. Feb. 29th, the last day of the regular season.

@ Gunnery 11, Stanstead College 3 -- David Andreychuk (1g,7a), Alex Jefferies (2g,5a), Matteo Giampa (3g,1a) and Mark D'agostino (2g,2a) were too much for Stanstead to handle today. Senior Carmine Andranovich (35/38) got the win for Gunnery. Stanstead junior G William Dyke (46/57) had a long day.

@ Winchendon 4, Wyoming Seminary 3 -- No one scored more than one goal in this one. Winchendon PG goaltender Liam Kilgallen (22/25) got the win; Wyoming Seminary junior Christophe Beluse (40/44) took the loss.

@ St. George's 6, Groton 4 -- Groton had a 4-2 lead after 2 periods, but the Dragons scored 4 goals in the third to stun the visitors. Sophomore Colin Patterson and freshman Ben Buckley each had 2 goals for the Dragons. Senior Luke Beckstein had 2 for Groton.

Taft 3 @ Choate 3 -- Taft had a 3-0 lead after two periods, but Choate came back with three in the third to gain the tie. Junior Zach Vandale had two goals for Choate. Wild Boars PG Tomas Horak (33/36), and Taft soph Mikey Roberts (23/26) manned their respective nets.

@ Cushing 10, Hebron 1 -- The Penguins blew this one wide open with a 7-goal second period explosion. Jacob Banks (2g,1a), Connor Wood (1g,2a), Lukas Gustafsson (1g,2a), and Jake Hewitt (1g,2a) lead the Cushing attack. Cushing outshot Hebron, 47-18.

@ Proctor 5, Holderness 1 -- Proctor senior forward Kevin Urquhart (1g,2a) led all scorers. Hornets senior G Cole Chingris (27/28) earned the win.

Hill 6 @ Portsmouth Abbey 3 -- Owen McLaughlin (2g,1a) led Hill scorers, while Aidan McAvoy (1g,1a) led PA's scorers. 

Académie Saint-Louis 5 @ NYA 3 -- NYA outshot ASL, 36-25, and got goals from five different scorers. Julian Etauri had 2 goals for NYA.

@ Governor's 5, Belmont Hill 4 (OT) -- Shane O'Leary scored his second goal of the game in OT. O'Leary, a senior, also added an assist. Junior Owen Fowler, Gov's leading goal scorer, had a goal and an assist. For Belmont Hill, Tyler Rubin (3a) and Luke Khozozian (2g) led the scorers. 

Sat. 1/18/20

#2 Lawrence Edges Thayer on Holt Oliphant Goal

Groton, Mass. -- In an up-and-down game that featured five lead changes, it was host -- and #2-ranked -- Lawrence Academy that struck last, as Holt Oliphant tipped home a low, hard Matt Connor shot from the left point with 3:20 to play. The goal gave LA a 5-4 lead. An empty-netter from Oliphant with 2 seconds left sealed the deal, accounting for the 6-4 final.

With the win, Lawrence moves to 11-1-0 on the season. Thayer drops to 6-6-0.  

The game had a fast pace right from the start, as Thayer came out of the gate hard. But it was LA striking first, just three minutes in, on sophomore LW Jack McLaughlin's third goal of the season. The lead was short-lived, however, as Thayer senior D David Romaine, at the right point, picked off an errant clearing attempt by a Lawrence d-man, and fired a low, hard shot through traffic, beating LA junior G Tomas Pientka stick side at the 6:10 mark, tying the game at 1-1.

A little over four minutes later, with Lawrence sophomore D Mack Oliphant in the box for interference, Thayer LW Joseph Kramer was credited with a powerplay goal on a shot that deflected off the stick of LA sophomore D Kyle Furey to give Thayer its first lead of the game, 2-1.

With a little over four minutes left in the period, LA junior center David Sacco, a UNH recruit, fired an Ovechkin-like laser from the left faceoff circle that beat Thayer senior goalie Gavin FitzPatrick, tying the game at 2-2. Riley Duran, a Providence recruit, got the primary assist.

All in all, the first was as even as the score indicated.

The second period was a different animal, as LA carried the play, outshooting Thayer, 16-5, but failing to beat FitzPatrick until the last minute of the period, when junior center Conor Lovett picked a puck out of a scramble in front, lifting it over a moshpit in front of Fitzpatrick, who had kept the game close with some sparkling saves, many of which came in bunches.

The third period was fairly even. At the 7:01 mark, Thayer's Joseph Kramer tied the game at 3-3 -- the third tie of the game. 

Lawrence took a pair of penalties -- to Mack Oliphant (holding) and Cole Telecki (slashing) -- 16 seconds apart to give Thayer 1:44 of 5x3. They didn't need much of it, as freshman RW Mike Stenberg sprung his linemate, Matt Sullivan, who shucked a Lawrence defender off his back, and beat Pientka to give Thayer a 4-3 lead with 6:02 remaining. 

But Lawrence wasn't done, and in less than two minutes tied it up yet again, at 4-4, as Lovett curled around the top of the Thayer end, then fired a shot that beat FitzPatrick cleanly with 4:00 left in regulation.

And that set up Holt Oliphant's game-winning goal.

After the game, Lawrence head coach Robbie Barker said, "I thought Thayer played really tough. They came at us hard. They are a great skating team. They played disciplined hockey. We made a few mistakes that we haven't made in the past, such as some unforced turnovers. Those are going to come back and bite us when when you play teams of that caliber."

Barker liked the game Conor Lovett played, emphasizing his speed and shot. He thought Holt Oliphant, David Sacco, Riley Duran, and Blake Humphrey also excelled. 

"I'm proud of the way they worked. I'm proud of the way they adjusted and battled back and didn't feel any pressure. They just kept playing their game."

Thayer head coach Tony Amonte said, "We worked hard, I had no problem with our effort at all. We're a hard-working team. We just need to be a smart hard-working team.I think that's going to be a key for us."

"Our goalies have been great for us," Amonte added, "but we've still been giving up 4 or 5 goals every game.And you're just not going to win if you can't defend. That's something we're trying to put an emphasis on. If we want to do something this year, we're going to have to figure it out quick. We've got a big week coming up. We have Cushing and Dexter. We are young team, but that's not an excuse. When you have a 4-3 lead with five minutes left, you've got to lock it down."

Fri. 1/17/20 -- Updated 12:00 pm

Saturday, January 18th Revised Schedule (Snow)

Send any changes to news@ushr.com, and check back in the morning. Thank you.

Lawrenceville @ Northfield Mt. Hermon, 1:00 pm  -- moved up to 12:15 pm
Pomfret @ Millbrook, 1:00 pm
Académie Saint-Louis @ North Yarmouth Academy, 2:00 pm
Kent @ Avon Old Farms, 2:30 pm -- postponed to Mon. Jan. 20th @ 6:00 pm
Trinity-Pawling @ Deerfield, 2:30 pm
Berwick @ Brewster Academy, 2:30 pm -- moved up to 1:00 pm
Holderness @ Proctor, 2:30 pm
Westminster @ Salisbury, 2:45 pm -- moved up to 1:45 pm
St. Sebastian's @ Tabor, 3:00 pm
New Hampton @ Dexter, 3:00 pm -- moved up to 2:00 pm
Hoosac @ Brunswick, 3:00 pm -- postponed to Wed. Jan. 22nd, start time TBA
Kimball Union @ St. Paul's, 3:00 pm -- moved up to 2:00 pm
Thayer @ Lawrence Academy, 3:00 pm
Hebron @ Cushing, 3:00 pm -- moved up to 1:30 pm
Groton @ St. George's, 3:30 pm
Belmont Hill @ Governor's, 3:45 pm
Albany Academy @ Canterbury, 4:00 pm
Tilton @ Vermont Academy, 4:00 pm -- cancelled; makeup date TBD
Stanstead College @ Gunnery, 4:00 pm
Wyoming Seminary @ Winchendon, 4:00 pm
Rivers @ St. Mark's, 4:30 pm -- postponed; makeup date TBA
Andover @ Exeter, 4:30 pm -- moved up 3:30 pm
Berkshire @ Williston Northampton, 4:45 pm -- moved up to 12:00 pm
Middlesex @ Pingree, 4:45 pm -- moved up to 2:40 pm
Hill School @ Portsmouth Abbey, 5:30 pm 
Taft @ Choate, 6:00 pm -- moved up to 4:00 pm
Loomis Chaffee @ Hotchkiss, 6:00 pm -- moved up to 3:00 pm

Wed. 1/15/20

Prep Highlights of Wed. Jan. 15, 2020

T-P KOs #6 Kent in OT 
#4 Avon Tops Hotchkiss, 4-1
New Hampton Stays Hot
#1 Salisbury Routs Cushing
Berkshire's Gammill Has Natural Hat Trick
#2 LA Edges #9 Nobles
Deerfield's Katz Stymies #5 Loomis
VA Forfeits to KUA

Trinity-Pawling 5 @ Kent 4 (OT) -- A goal from T-P senior John Gelatt 24 seconds into OT, assisted by sophomore Jack Musa and senior Taylor Ewing, gave T-P a stirring come-from behind road win over #6-ranked Kent. Midway through the third, Kent held a 4-2 lead, but T-P got a goal from senior D Frank Djurasevic to cut the lead to 4-3. Then, with 54 seconds left in regulation, sophomore Jack Musa tied the game at 4-4, sending it to overtime. This is not the first time T-P upset a ranked team. They edged #5 Loomis in the Avon Xmas Classic, 7-6, on a late Ewing goal, the assists going to Gelatt and Musa. That trio has combined to score 20 goals in T-P's 10 games thus far. And T-P has a 3-1-1 record over its last 5 games.

@ Westminster 5, Taft 1 -- Junior goalie Bennett Ostern (2.32/.932) stopped 24 of 25 shots to lead Westy to a 5-1 home win over Taft. Senior Darion Benchich had a pair of goals, and junior D Justin Louette and senior F Sean Hurley each had a pair of assists.

Pomfret 4 @ Winchendon 1 -- Pomfret PG goalie Andrew Shearson (1.83/.940) stopped 30 of 31 shots to lead the Griffins to the road win. Tyler Bourque and Kyle Tomaso each had a goal and an assist. Pomfret has won 4 of its last 6 games and improves to 10-5-0 in NEPSIHA play.

@ Avon Old Farms 4, Hotchkiss 1 -- The Winged Beavers junior goaltender, Connor Callaghan (1.81/.926) stopped 21 of 22 shots to lead his team to the home win. Senior  forwards Tabor Heaslip (1g,2a) and Timur Alishlalov (1g,1a) led the scorers. Sophomore Liam Verdoni and junior Paul Davey also scored for #4-ranked Avon, now 10-1-0. 

@ New Hampton 2, Proctor 1 -- New Hampton got two goals in the second, from seniors Ryan Mahlmeister and Cory Morris. PG goalie Robbie Farrell (30/31) earned the win. New Hampton has won 12 of its last 14 games and is now 13-5-1.

@ Middlesex 9, Portsmouth Abbey 4 -- Senior forward Colin Craig scored 4 goals for Middlesex, which extended its win streak to 5 games. Middlesex is now 7-3-0.

@ Tilton 4, Andover 1 -- Senior forward Jack Seymour (2g,2a) had a hand in all 4 of Tilton's goals, and senior G Justin Lee (26/27) got the win. The Rams are now 7-4-1.

@ Groton 5, Hebron 2 -- Ronan Doherty had a hat trick and Luke Beckstein picked up 3 assists. Groton has won 5 of its last 6 and is now 9-4-0.

Salisbury 8 @ Cushing 1 -- Dean Bauchiero (2g,1a) and Matt DeBoer (3a) led #1 Salisbury to a road rout. Goaltenders Nicholas Haas (28/29) and Mark Segalla (2/2) kept Cushing at bay. Salisbury is 11-1-1 and hasn't lost since its first game of the season on Dec. 4th.

@ Lawrenceville 5, Wyoming Seminary 4 (OT) -- Sophomore Kenneth Baek's OT goal gave L'ville the win. The goal was the first of the season -- and career -- for Baek. Senior Mike Rocco had a pair of goals. For Wyoming, Florida native Skeate Skalde (2g,1a) and California native Brendan Ma (1g,2a) each had 3 points.   

@ Berkshire 5, NMH 1 -- Senior Briggs Gammill had a natural hat trick in the second period, and Aidan Thompson and Cole Paredes each had a pair of assists. Berkshire outshot NMH, 52-17. Junior goalie Sam Woessner (16/17) got the win, putting an end to Berkshire's 6-game losing streak, which started after Berkshire was 5-0-1 to start the season. NMH senior Connor Hasley (1.77/.946) kicked out 47 of the 52 shots he faced in a losing cause.

Exeter 2 @ Governor's 1 (OT) -- Senior Reese Ramirez's goal at 4:43 of OT, assisted by Danny Colon and Michael Young gave Exeter the road win. Exeter senior goaltender Ryan Welch (2.14/.933) kicked out 30 of 31 to get the win. Gov's junior goaltender Tristan Mecenas (24/26) took the tough loss. Exeter improves to 9-5-1.  

@ Lawrence Academy 5, Nobles 4 -- David Sacco (2g), Anthony Cafarelli (1g,1a), Blake Humphrey (2a), and Conor Lovett (2a) led #2 Lawrence to a 5-4 win over #9 Nobles. LA is now 10-1-0; Nobles is 8-4-1. LA outshot Nobles, 42-26.

Brewster 1, Kents Hill 1 -- Each team scored a goal in the first, but this one was all about the goalies: Brewster junior Sam Livecchi (29/30) and Kents Hill junior Xavier Lapierre (34/35). Perhaps the tie was inevitable: Brewster is 3-12-1 in NEPSIHA play, and Kents Hill is 2-12-1. Two tough seasons.

Choate 2 @ Canterbury 1 -- A second-period goal from Choate's Zach Vandale turned out to be the game-winner. Either the goalies were excellent or the shooters weren't: Choate PG Tomas Horak (30/31) and Canterbury junior Peter Papadopoulos (27/29). The win was the first for Choate since a December 7th win over Académie Saint-Louis. And Canterbury (0-11-1 in NEPSIHA play) is still looking for its first win.

Belmont Hill 4 @ Thayer 3 -- Bel Hill held a 4-1 lead after two periods, but allowed Thayer back in the game in the third. Thayer's Sasha Teleguine (1g,1a) and Bel Hill's Ryan McGuire (1g,1a) were the leading scorers for each team. Bel Hill outshot Thayer, 35-29.

St. Paul's 7, Holderness 5 -- St. Paul's sophomore F Cooper Flinton (2g,1a) led the SPS offense; and junior D Garrison Gagnon (1g,3a) had a big day for Holderness. Holderness started the season 5-0, but has now lost 5 of its last 6. 

Hoosac 3 @ Albany Academy 0 -- 6'2" Hoosac PG goalie Kevin Chandler (2.91/.915) posted a 45-save shutout to give Hoosac its second NEPSIHA win. Noah Patry-Dontigny, Manuel Cabrera, and Jerry Duckett scored the goals.

Deerfield 5 @ Loomis 1 -- Deerfield freshman Justin Katz, a late '04 from Montreal, frustrated #5 Loomis, stopping 30 of 31 shots. Jarod Harrington, Alex Robert, and Drew Garzone each scored second period goals for DA. Defenseman Eamon Doheny assisted on two of them. There were a couple empty-netters in the third. 

NYA 4 @ Pingree 1 -- NYA senior goalie Stefan Kulhanek (2.16/.934) stopped 24 of 25 shots. Jared Buckner had a pair of goals, and Mason Parks had three assists.

St. Mark's 6 @ Roxbury Latin 0 -- St. Mark's sophomore goaltender Adam Costley stopped all 20 shots he faced. Danny Ciccarello had a hat trick, and d-man Ian Moore had three assists. St. Mark's is 8-1-1, with its only loss coming to Dexter. 

@ St. George's 2, Brooks 1 -- A third-period goal from freshman forward Donovan Frias broke a 1-1 tie and lifted the Dragons to two games over .500 (9-7-0). In the first period,  a Michael Dimascolo PPG got St. George's on the board first. Charlie Alcorn tied it for Brooks in the second, also a PPG.

KUA @ Vermont Academy -- Vermont Academy forfeits. Game goes in the books as a 1-0 KUA win.

Tues. 1/14/20

USHR Prep Poll Has a New #1; It's Tight at the Top

Every prep poll we've done this year has been tight, with a group of a dozen or so teams with exceptional records followed by a massive bunch hovering around .500, and then a fairly large number of teams that are having dreadful seasons.

The top three teams in this week's poll are interchageable now. Next week? Maybe not.

We haven't done a methodological study, so there may be other years that are similar. Of course, there's still a way to go in the season, and a regression toward the mean is possible, maybe even likely. We just make sure that every single game is reported so that, come playoff time, it's right on the money.

And, if you're wondering, our #11 team would be Hotchkiss, followed by Gunnery at #12.


USHR Prep Poll, Week of Jan. 13, 2020

Sun. 1/12/20 updated Fri. 1/17 @ 10:15 pm

Prep Composite Schedule, Jan. 13-20, 2020

Updated games are in italics.

Mon. Jan. 13, 2020
Holderness @ New Hampton, 4:30 pm
Millbrook @ Kent, 5:00 pm
BB&N @ St. George's, 5:00 pm
Gunnery @ Taft, 5:00 pm
Brooks @ Exeter, 6:00 pm

Tues. Jan. 14, 2020
Pope Francis @ Dexter, 5:30 pm (S)

Wed. Jan. 15, 2020
Proctor @ New Hampton, 2:30 pm
Taft @ Westminster, 2:30 pm
Kimball Union @ Vermont Academy, 2:30 pm
St. Paul's @ Holderness, 3:00 pm
Hotchkiss @ Avon Old Farms, 3:15 pm
Pomfret @ Winchendon, 3:30 pm
Brooks @ St. George's, 3:30 pm
Trinity-Pawling @ Kent, 4:00 pm
Hoosac @ Albany Academy, 4:00 pm
Andover @ Tilton, 4:00 pm
Salisbury @ Cushing, 4:00 pm
Portsmouth Abbey @ Middlesex, 4:00 pm
Hebron @ Groton, 4:30 pm
Lawrenceville @ Wyoming Seminary, 4:30 pm
Choate @ Canterbury, 4:45 pm
Milton @ Tabor, 5:00 pm
Kents Hill @ Brewster Academy, 5:00 pm
North Yarmouth Academy @ Pingree, 5:00 pm
Northfield Mt. Hermon @ Berkshire, 5:00 pm
Exeter @ Governor's, 5:00 pm
Belmont Hill @ Thayer, 5:00 pm
St. Mark's @ Roxbury Latin, 5:15 pm
Deerfield @ Loomis Chaffee, 5:30 pm
Noble & Greenough @ Lawrence Academy, 5:30 pm
Williston Northampton @ Worcester Academy, 6:00 pm

Thurs. Jan. 16, 2020
Hoosac @ Gunnery, 5:30 pm

Fri. Jan. 17, 2020
Académie Saint-Louis @ Hebron, 4:00 pm
Roxbury Latin @ Brooks, 4:15 pm
Rivers @ BB&N, 5:00 pm
Vermont Academy @ Pingree, 5:00 pm
Pomfret @ Avon Old Farms, 6:00 pm
Deerfield @ Cushing, 6:00 pm
Bishop's College School @ Brewster Academy, 6:00 pm
Williston Northampton @ Winchendon, 6:00 pm
Middlesex @ Noble & Greenough, 6:15 pm
Lawrenceville @ Hotchkiss, 6:15 pm
Governor's @ Milton, 7:00 pm
Kents Hill @ Brunswick, 7:00 pm
Stanstead College @ Albany Academy, 7:30 pm

Sat. Jan. 18, 2020
Northwood Tournament
Lawrenceville @ Northfield Mt. Hermon, 1:00 pm  -- moved up to 12:15 pm
Pomfret @ Millbrook, 1:00 pm
Académie Saint-Louis @ North Yarmouth Academy, 2:00 pm
Kent @ Avon Old Farms, 2:30 pm -- postponed to Mon. Jan. 20th @ 6:00 pm
Trinity-Pawling @ Deerfield, 2:30 pm
Berwick @ Brewster Academy, 2:30 pm
Holderness @ Proctor, 2:30 pm
Westminster @ Salisbury, 2:45 pm -- moved up to 1:45 pm
St. Sebastian's @ Tabor, 3:00 pm
New Hampton @ Dexter, 3:00 pm -- moved up to 2:00 pm
Hoosac @ Brunswick, 3:00 pm -- postponed to Wed. Jan. 22nd, start time TBA
Kimball Union @ St. Paul's, 3:00 pm -- moved up to 2:00 pm
Thayer @ Lawrence Academy, 3:00 pm
Hebron @ Cushing, 3:00 pm
Groton @ St. George's, 3:30 pm
Belmont Hill @ Governor's, 3:45 pm
Albany Academy @ Canterbury, 4:00 pm
Tilton @ Vermont Academy, 4:00 pm
Stanstead College @ Gunnery, 4:00 pm
Wyoming Seminary @ Winchendon, 4:00 pm
Rivers @ St. Mark's, 4:30 pm
Andover @ Exeter, 4:30 pm -- moved up 3:30 pm
Berkshire @ Williston Northampton, 4:45 pm -- moved up to 12:00 pm
Middlesex @ Pingree, 4:45 pm
Hill School @ Portsmouth Abbey, 5:30 pm 
Taft @ Choate, 6:00 pm -- moved up to 4:00 pm
Loomis Chaffee @ Hotchkiss, 6:00 pm

Sun. Jan. 19, 2020
Northwood Tournament
Académie Saint-Louis @ Kents Hill, 10:00 am
North Yarmouth Academy @ Mount Saint Charles, 12:00 pm
Hill School @ Dexter, 12:00 pm
Wyoming Seminary @ Canterbury, 1:30 pm

Mon. Jan. 20, 2020 (MLK Day)
Worcester Academy @ Hoosac, 2:00 pm
Holderness @ Tilton, 2:30 pm
Hotchkiss @ Berkshire, 4:30 pm
Gunnery @ Trinity-Pawling, 4:30 pm
Salisbury @ Choate, 5:15 pm
Berwick @ Exeter, 5:15 pm
Millbrook @ Brunswick, 6:00 pm 
Kent @ Avon Old Farms, 6:00 pm -- makeup of Sat. Jan. 18th snowout

Sat. 12/11/20

Prep Highlights of January 11th, 2020

Lees Lead Tilton Past Milton
Jacob's Has 5-point Game vs. Thayer
Mack Leads KUA Past Cushing

@ Hebron 7, Hoosac 4 -- Hebron senior F Anthony LeBlanc had a hat trick and Cam Bandoni chipped in with a pair of goals.

@ Belmont Hill 5, St. Sebastian's 3 -- Junior D Tyler Rubin (2g,1a), Luke Khozozian (3a), and Ryan McGuire (1g,1a) led Bel Hill's offense. Brendan Gorman (1g,1a) and Connor Joyce (2a) did the same for Seb's. Belmont Hill improves to 6-5-1 in NEPSIHA play, and 7-5-1 overall.

Avon 4 @ Taft 1 -- Avon got goals from 4 different scorers and Connor Callaghan stopped 22 of 23 shsots. The Winged Beavers are now 9-1-0.

@ Tilton 5, Milton 2 -- Senior Tae Lee notched a goal and added 2 assists. Senior G Justin Lee (34/36) earned the win.

@ Nobles 5, Thayer 1 -- Junior David Jacobs (1g,4a) figured in all five of Nobles' goals. Senior Casey Severo (2g,2a) wasn't too shabby either. Senior G Marc Smith (24/25) had a strong outing.

Berwick 3 @ Portsmouth Abbey 0 -- Senior goalie Alex Ramsey (22/22) got the shutout, Brock James had a pair of goals, and Nick McSorley notched 2 assists. 

@ New Hampton 3, Governor's 2 -- Robbie Farrell (43/45) came up with a big game, and Ryan Mahlmeister (1g,1a), Marcus Joughlin(1g,1a), and Isaac McLeod (1g) each notched a goal.

@ Hill 4, Lawrenceville 1 -- Hill got goals from 4 different scorers. Senior G Sean Parker (22/23) got the win.

@ Andover 4, Choate 1 -- Dapa Coneely (1g,1a) and Charle Spence (2a) each had 2 points, and Drew Malatesta (1g), Victor Malzahn (1g), and Will Hughes (1g) also got on the board. Charlie Archer (31/32) got the win. Andover outshot Choate, 47-32.

Gunnery 3 @ Winchendon 2 (OT) -- Gunnery came back from a 2-0 deficit to top Winchendon in OT on a goal by senior Cole Brennan. Dane Dowiak and Mark d'Agostino assisted. Gunnery G Carmine Andranovich (23/25) and Winchendon's Max Caouette (27/30) had good games. There were a ton of penalties in this game -- 10 for each team -- including a pair of fighting majors/game misconducts in the second period to Gunnery's Jeff Kopek and Winchendon's Sean Savage.  

Groton 4 @ Brooks 3 -- A goal with 1:35 remaining in regulation from senior Gabriel Lamothe was the story here. Tommy Girous (25/28) earned the win for the Zebras. Jonathan Carafotes (42/46) took a tough loss for Brooks.

Williston 5 @ Berkshire 2 -- Williston led 3-0 after the first, and rolled to the win. Sophomore F Connor Hagness (2g) and Williston senior G Trevor Corsello (43/45) led the way for the Wildcats.

St. Paul's 5, Exeter 1 -- Sophomore D Cade Cox (hat trick) and junior Owen Sweet (1g,2a) led the St. Paul's attack. Senior Charlie Murphy (25/26) came up big in net.

@ Salisbury 3, Deerfield 2 -- James Cerepak (2g) and Michael Fairfax (2a) each had 2 points. Salisbury G Nicholas Haas (24/26) and Deerfield's Justin Katz (32/35) had strong games. Salisbury is now 10-1-1.

@ Middlesex 5, BB&N 1 -- Middlesex got goals from five different scorers, and used three different goaltenders, each for one period: Nate Crozier (12/13), AJ Finta (12/12), and Jordan Busner (10/10).

@ Roxbury Latin 4, NYA 0 -- Frankie Lonergan had two goals, and senior Mikey Jones (25/25) had the shutout. The Foxes improved to 5-3-1.

@ Hotchkiss 4, Millbrook 2 -- Hotchkiss got goals from 4 different scorers. Senior goalie Henry Wilder (21/23) got the win. Millbrook sophomore Jake Hugessen (36/39) also had a strong game, but took the loss.

@ Kimball Union 3, Cushing 2 -- Sullivan Mack not only scored the game-winning goal -- a PP tally in the third -- but also figured in all 3 KUA goals, with two assists to go with the  game-winner. Tomas Mazura (3a) also had a three-point day. Zach Whitehead and Paul Dore also tallied two goals. KUA senior G Veeti Kohvakka (30/32) and Cushing freshman Jackson Irving (28/31) had strong games. 

Fri. 1/10/20

LA's Milberg Out for Season

Brandon Milberg, Lawrence Academy's standout senior goaltender, had surgery yesterday and, according to Lawrence head coach Robbie Barker, is out for the season. 

The injury, suffered in LA's 4-2 win over Canterbury last Saturday at the Watkins Tournament, is a torn labrum dislocated shoulder. This happens in younger players (under age 30, primarily). As the shoulder pops out of joint, it can tear the labrum. And did, in this case.

Needless to say, this is a tough break, both for Milberg and his team, which is #1 in this week's USHR's Prep Poll.

At least Milberg, who finishes his season with a 1.12 GAA and a .954 save percentage, has his college commitment. Last month, he committed to Sacred Heart, which, we should note, is in first place in Atlantic Hockey, and having its best season in 10 years.

Lawrence has two other goalies on its roster, Tomas Pientka, an '03 junior from Bratislava, Slovakia; and freshman Cooper Steinborn, an '04 freshman from Lexington, Mass.

Pientka has only played one game, and it came the day after Milberg was injured. And it was a big game, the championship of the Watkins Tournament. Pientka got the win, edging Dexter, 5-4. Pientka stopped 32 of the 36 shots he faced.

Lawrence (9-1-0) doesn't play again until next Wednesday, a home game vs. Nobles at 5:30 pm.

Wed. 1/8/20

Andover's Archer Holds Off St. Paul’s

Andover, Mass. – Junior Mojmir Petras’s goal with 5:01 remaining in the third period proved to be the game-winner as an opportunistic Andover team opened 2020 with a 3-1 win over visiting St. Paul’s. Senior goalie Charlie Archer, from Belleville, Ont., was the difference-maker for Andover, as shots on goal favored St. Paul’s, 41-20 (by St. Paul’s count).  

After a scoreless first period in which St. Paul’s had the majority of offensive zone time, Andover came out strong to start the second, scoring less than two minutes in when Nick Royster, a sophomore out of Charlotte, North Carolina, made a quick heads-up pass out of the corner to an open Chris Hocevar in the slot. Hocevar, a junior from Canton, Conn., wasted no time with the puck, firing a one-timer over the outstretched glove of St. Paul’s senior goalie Charlie Murphy, giving Andover a 1-0 lead.  

Less than six minutes later, St. Paul’s tied the game at 1-1 on a nice individual effort by ‘03 sophomore center Cooper Flinton. After gathering in a pass in the neutral zone from linemate Owen Stadheim, Flinton accelerated past an Andover defender at the blue line on his backhand side and then cruised in alone on Archer, beating him cleanly on a high stick-side snapshot from 15 feet out. It would be the lone goal of the game for SPS.

Despite several more quality chances for St. Paul’s after the Flinton goal, the game remained tied, 1-1, at the end of the second period. 

Andover appeared to have more energy than St. Paul’s through most of the final period of play, and it paid off when PG forward Colin Marks picked up a loose puck on the side of the net following a Murphy save, looped behind the cage with the puck on his forehand side, and found a seam in which to feed Slovakian forward Petras in the slot. Petras fired a shot past Murphy, giving Andover a 2-1 lead.  

St. Paul’s called a timeout in order to regroup after the Petras goal, but Andover was able to capitalize again with 1:41 remaining.  PG Dapa Conneely, after maneuvering behind two St. Paul’s defenders, scored on a quick-release shot over the glove of Murphy. Sophomore standout Will Hughes, an ‘04, assisted on the goal.  

St. Paul’s pulled their goalie, Murphy, but Archer once again shut the door on St. Paul’s to give Andover a 3-1 victory.

“I think we kind of outlasted them a little bit,” said Andover head coach Paul Tortorella. “In the third period maybe we were a little fresher. But St. Paul’s played a great game. It was a great battle. We were just lucky to get a couple more in the third period.”

Tortorella said Archer was outstanding early on. “I think he kept us in the game, as usual.”

 “I also think in the third we limited their offensive chances quite well. We actually got stronger as the game went on, which I was pleased with.”

St. Paul’s head coach Dan Murphy said, “The difference in the game was clearly Charlie Archer. I thought he played really well. I thought Andover competed hard but I think Archer made a couple of saves, especially at the end of the second when we had a flurry on him, but couldn’t get one by him. He did a great job but at the same time I really liked the way our team played too.”

“I love the fact that we’re starting to play a more mature, composed hockey game,” Murphy added. “And I liked the way we were strong on pucks around the net.”

“We were in their zone for most of that first period. We had a lot of zone time in the first and second periods, but not as much in the third as we got a little tired.”

 GJM

Wed. 1/8/20

Prep Highlights: Wed. Jan. 8th, 2020

-- Mack Completes Hat Trick in OT
-- Proctor Scores 7 in 3rd Period
-- Buckner Figures in all 3 NYA Goals
-- Chen Notches Pair for Mustangs

Williston 3 @ Canterbury 2 -- Williston senior Jake Sacratini broke a 2-2 tie with 5:26 left in the third, and senior goaltender Trevor Corsello kicked out 26 of 28 shots for the win. Junior D Tyler Varin and senior forward Tommy Harty scored Williston's other goals. For Canterbury, senior goaltender Cal Skwara (24/27) took the loss. Josh Wilkins and Devon Carlstrom scored the Saints two goals.

@ Millbrook 6, Berkshire 4 -- Halfway through the third period, with Berkshire leading, 4-3, Millbrook went to work, with Niko Rexine scoring a SHG tie it at 4-4. Twenty-four seconds later, Andrew Kimball scored what would turn out to be the game winner at 12:08. He was followed by an insurance goal from Danny Smith. Kyle Neudorf (3a), Kimball (2g), Smith (2g) and Ethan Cott (2a) were Millbrook's point producers. For Berkshire, senior Briggs Gammill scored 2 goals, and Abdul Diouf and Jake MacDonald each had one goal. Millbrook improves to 11-4-0, while Berkshire drops to .500 (5-5-1).

@ Brunswick 6, Taft 2 -- Brunswick held a 6-0 lead -- with goals from 6 different players -- midway through the third. Taft scored two goals late in the period. Junior G Alexander Rohlf (24/26) got the win. Taft sophomore G Mikey Roberts (27/33) took the loss. Brunswick (9-3-1 in NEPSIHA play) has lost only once since Dec. 5th, and that was to powerhouse St. Andrew's College.

New Hampton 5 @ Brewster 1 -- Dartmouth recruit Isaac MacLeod (2g,1a), Marcus Joughin (1g,2a) and Will Hilfiker (1g, 2a) led the Huskies attack, and junior G Lucas Brine stopped 21 of 22 shots. New Hampton improves to 10-5-1 in NEPSIHA play.

@ Exeter 4, Groton 1 -- Junior F Michael Young scored two goals and added an assist to pace Exeter's attack. Senior G Ryan Welch (27/28) earned the win.

@ Nobles 2, St. Sebastian's 1-- Senior forward Casey Severo had both his team's goals and senior G Marc Smith stopped 38 of 39 shots for the win. #7-ranked Seb's senior G Luke Garrity (19/21) took the loss.

@ Milton 4, Belmont Hill 2 -- Milton junior center David Chen's second goal of the game, at 12:08 of the third, broke a 2-2 tie and proved to be the game-winner. Milton junior Chris DeMers (31/33) and Bel Hill junior Michael Hauswirth (33/36) were kept busy. Milton (7-5-1) won its fifth straight.

Dexter 6 @ Rivers 1 -- Matt Copponi (4a), John McElaney (1g,2a), John Fusco (1g,2a), and Doug Grimes (2g) led the attack for #2-ranked Dexter. Junior Reid Capello scored Rivers' lone goal. Dexter outshot Rivers, 23-12. Dexter improves to 12-1-0. Rivers falls to 3-7-0.

Proctor 12, Hebron 4 -- Proctor held a slim one-goal lead entering the third period, but exploded for 7 consecutive goals. Junior James Tepper had a six-point game, with 4 goals and 2 assists. Kevin Urquhart and Ronan Walsh had 2 goals apiece.

NYA 3, Pingree1 -- Senior F Jared Buckner (1g,2a) figured in all 3 NYA goals. Senior Stefan Kulhanek (32/33) was strong in the NYA net. 

@ Worcester Academy 7, BB&N 0 -- Sophomore Atticus Roop (2g,1a) and PG Jac Cordeiro (1g,2a) each had three points. Junior G Jack Byrne had a 15-save shutout.

KUA 4 @ Governor's 3 (OT) -- Governor's jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead, but KUA responded with 4 unanswered goals. The last, in OT, was off the stick of Sullivan Mack. A senior, Mack figured in all 4 of KUA's goals with a hat trick and an assist.  

Tues. 1/7/20

LA, Dexter Top USHR Prep Poll

They met in the championship game of the Lawrence/Groton Tournament, where Dexter beat Lawrence Academy, 3-1.

They met again a couple of weeks later, in the finale of the Watkins Tournament, and this time it was LA that came out on top, 5-4 -- barely, as a comfortable 5-1 third period lead was whittled down to 5-4 before the final buzzer. But a win is a win, and these two teams have been doing a lot of that. 

Call them #1 and #1a, at least for now.

With an infinitely larger sample size than we had in the last poll, which was just before the Christmas Tournaments, things are beginning to fall into place. One thing we couldn't help but notice are the impressive team records.  

With this in mind, we took things a step further, tallying up all the games the Top 10 played and, after throwing out the 12 games they played against each other, recalculated.

What we found was a little startling. The 10 teams that made the cut have a combined 73-7-4 record against the teams that didn't. That's extreme.

We'll tell you right now that St. Mark's, the only undefeated team (7-0-1) in prep hockey, didn't make the cut. If we went that far, they would have been #11. But all 10 teams that made the poll have played each other at least once, and, in the case of Kent, they have played six of their 10 games vs. other Top 10 teams. That's a tough schedule. 

St. Mark's has played zero games vs. the iron, but are good. If they keep it up, and one of the teams in this week's poll falters... well, we'll see what happens. 

Anyway, here it is. Enjoy!

USHR Prep Poll, Week of January 6th, 2020

Mon. 1/6/20 - last updated Fri. 1/10/20

Prep Composite Schedule, Jan. 6-13, 2020

Mon. Jan. 6, 2020
Groton @ Roxbury Latin, 4:30 pm

Wed. Jan. 8, 2020
St. Paul's @ Andover, 2:00 pm 3:00 pm
New Hampton @ Brewster Academy, 2:30 pm
Berkshire @ Millbrook, 2:30 pm
St. Sebastian's @ Noble & Greenough, 3:15 pm
Williston Northampton @ Canterbury, 3:30 pm
Lawrenceville @ Portledge, 3:30 pm
Taft @ Brunswick, 3:45 pm
Wyoming Seminary @ The Hun School, 4:00 pm
Princeton Day School @ Hill School, 4:00 pm
St. Michael's College School @ St. Andrew's College, 4:00 pm
BB&N @ Worcester Academy, 4:00 pm
Belmont Hill @ Milton, 4:15 pm
Groton @ Exeter, 4:30 pm
Dexter @ Rivers, 4:30 pm
Pingree @ North Yarmouth Academy, 4:45 pm
Hoosac @ Gunnery, 5:00 pm
Hebron vs. Proctor, 5:00 pm 3:00 pm -- at University of Southern Maine
Kimball Union @ Governor's, 5:15 pm

Thurs. Jan. 9, 2020
Delbarton @ Princeton Day School, 4:15 pm

Fri. Jan. 10, 2020
Canterbury @ Gunnery, 5:00 pm
Salisbury @ Brunswick, 5:00 pm
Dexter @ St. Mark's, 5:15 pm -- rescheduled from Sat. 1/11/20
St. George's @ Tabor, 5:30 pm
Pomfret @ Roxbury Latin, 5:30 pm
Brewster Academy @ Hebron, 6:00 pm
Académie Saint-Louis @ Middlesex, 6:00 pm
Tilton @ Northfield Mt. Hermon, 6:00 pm
BB&N @ Pingree, 6:30 pm
Wyoming Seminary @ Hill School, 7:00 pm
Hoosac @ Kents Hill, 8:00 pm

Sat. Jan. 11, 2020
St. Sebastian's @ Belmont Hill, 12:30 pm
Académie Saint-Louis @ Cushing B, 1:00 pm
Pingree @ Kents Hill, 1:00 pm
Thayer @ Noble & Greenough, 1:15 pm
Hoosac @ Hebron, 2:00 pm
Dexter @ St. Mark's, 2:00 pm -- moved up to Friday at 5:15 pm
Milton @ Tilton, 2:30 pm
Groton @ Brooks, 2:30 pm 3:15 pm -- new start time
Governor's @ New Hampton, 2:30 pm
Avon Old Farms @ Taft, 2:30 pm
Westminster @ Trinity-Pawling, 2:30 pm
Lawrenceville @ Hill School, 2:30 pm
North Yarmouth Academy @ Roxbury Latin, 3:00 pm
Gunnery @ Winchendon, 3:00 pm
Berwick @ Portsmouth Abbey, 3:00 pm
St. George's @ Pomfret, 3:00 pm
Kimball Union @ Cushing, 3:00 pm
Choate @ Andover, 3:15 pm
Williston Northampton @ Berkshire, 3:15 pm
Holderness @ Vermont Academy, 4:00 pm
Culver Academy @ St. Andrew's College, 4:00 pm (S)
Proctor @ Rivers, 4:30 pm -- postponed; makeup date TBA
Deerfield @ Salisbury, 4:30 pm
St. Paul's @ Exeter, 4:30 pm
BB&N @ Middlesex, 4:30 pm
Bishop's College School @ Gilmour Academy, 5:15 pm
Loomis Chaffee @ Kent, 5:30 pm
Brewster Academy @ Worcester Academy, 5:30 pm
Millbrook @ Hotchkiss, 5:30 pm

Sun. Jan. 12, 2020
Wyoming Seminary @ Albany Academy, 12:00 pm
Culver Academy @ St. Andrew's College, 12:00 pm (S)
Worcester Academy @ Vermont Academy, 4:00 pm

Mon. Jan. 13, 2020
Portledge @ Princeton Day School, 3:45 pm
Holderness @ New Hampton, 4:30 pm
Millbrook @ Kent, 5:00 pm
BB&N @ St. George's, 5:00 pm
Gunnery @ Taft, 5:00 pm
Brooks @ Exeter, 5:30 pm 

Sun. 1/5/20 -- Updated 10:30 pm

Sunday, January 5th, 2020 Tournament Scoreboard

2020 True Prep Cup -- Mount St. Charles Wins Championship, 3-1, Over Powerhouse St. Andrew's College; Goaltender Ethan Pearson Shines.
At Merrimack College; North Andover, Mass.

10:00 am -- 7th Place -- Nichols 6, Culver 5 (OT)  -- Cameron Bauer scored in OT; Walter Zacher (2g,3a) figured in 5 goals.
11:00 am -- 3rd Place -- Northwood 9, Gunnery 2 
12:40 pm -- 5th Place -- KUA 4, Shattuck 3 -- Bryce Bollman scored the GWG with 58 seconds remaining, assisted by Paul Dore and Adam Fantilli. Veeti Kohvakka came up big in net, as Shattuck poured it on late. For Shattuck, '04 soph center Maddox Fleming and senior center Artem Shlaine were excellent.
 1:40 pm -- Championship -- Mount St. Charles 3, St. Andrew's College 1 -- SAC had a 35-20 edge in shots, but MSC won the game. The key? MSC goalie Ethan Pearson's 34 saves, many of which were Grade A chances. He's a battler. 

Edward G. Watkins Invitational Tournament -- Lawrence Edges Dexter, 5-4, to Win Championship. Senior F Conor Lovett Named Tournament MVP. 

9:00 am -- 7th Place -- Canterbury 3, Stanstead 3 (OT)
11:10 am -- 5th Place -- New Hampton 7, Governor's 4
1:20 pm -- 3rd Place -- Cushing 5, Thayer 1
3:30 pm -- Championship -- Lawrence 5, Dexter 4

MVP:
Conor Lovett -- Sr. F -- Lawrence

All-Tournament Team:
Lovett
Kyle Furey -- Jr. D, Lawrence
Holt Oliphant -- Sr. F -- Lawrence
John McElaney -- Sr. F -- Dexter
John Fusco -- Sr. D -- Dexter
Jackson Dorrington -- Soph. D -- Cushing
Lukas Gustafsson -- Jr. D -- Cushing
Jackson Irving -- Fr. G -- Cushing
Gavin FitzPatrick -- Sr. G -- Thayer
Mitch McGinn -- Sr. F -- Governor's
Ryan Mahlmeister -- Sr. F -- New Hampton
Devon de Vries -- Sr. F -- Stanstead
Andrew Mancini -- Sr. D -- Canterbury

Joshua H. Weeks Tournament -- Milton Academy Wins Crown, Edging Pomfret 2-1 behind Tyler Crist's 2 Goals
At Tabor Academy, Marion, Mass.

9:00 am -- 7th Place -- St. George's 3, Kents Hill 2
11:00 am -- 5th Place -- St. Paul's 6, Proctor 3
1:00 pm -- 3rd Place -- Winchendon 5, Tabor 2
3:00 pm -- Championship -- Milton 2, Pomfret 1 -- Senior Tyler Krist scored both Milton goals -- a SHG and a PPG -- to lead the Mustangs. Junior Chris DeMers kicked out 27 of 28 shots for the win. 

Sat. 1/4/20 -- final update at 12:30 am 

Saturday, January 4th, 2020 Tournament Scoreboard

Edward G. Watkins Invitational Tournament (Day 2 of 3)
At Cushing Academy; Ashburnham, Mass.

  9:00 am -- Thayer 4, Stanstead 3 (OT)
11:10 am -- Dexter 7, Governor's 3
 1:20 pm -- Lawrence 4, Canterbury 2
 3:30 pm -- Cushing 3, New Hampton 2
 5:40 pm -- Governor's 8, Stanstead 3
 7:50 pm --  Dexter 5, Thayer 3

Sunday Playoff Schedule at Watkins Tournament:
9:00 am -- 7th Place -- Canterbury vs. Stanstead
11:10 am -- 5th Place -- New Hampton vs. Governor's
1:20 pm -- 3rd Place -- Cushing vs. Thayer
3:30 pm -- Championship Game -- Lawrence vs. Dexter

2020 True Prep Cup (Day 2 of 3)
At Merrimack College; North Andover, Mass.

Please note that the game times have been moved up because the Merrimack home game against UMass-Lowell has been changed from a 7:00 pm to a 5:00 pm start, allowing fans to be out in time to watch the Patriots playoff game.

9:00 am -- Shattuck-St. Mary's 6, Nichols 5 (Lawler Arena)
11:40 am -- Kimball Union 6, Culver Military Academy 5 (OT) (Lawler Arena)
12:00 pm -- [Semi-final] Mount St. Charles 6, Northwood 5 (Gallant Arena)
2:40 pm -- [Semi-final] St. Andrew's College 6, Gunnery 1 (Gallant Arena)

Schedule for Sunday Dec. 5 playoffs:
10:00 am -- 7th Place -- Nichols vs. Culver (Gallant Arena)
11:00 am -- 3rd Place -- Gunnery vs. Northwood (Lawler Arena)
12:40 pm -- 5th Place -- Shattuck vs. KUA (Gallant)
 1:40 pm -- Championship -- St. Andrew's vs. Mount St. Charles (Lawler)


2020 Nobles-St. Sebastian's New Year's Showcase (Day 2 of 2)
At Noble & Greenough School; Dedham, Mass.

Nobles 3, Berkshire 1
St. Sebastian's 5, Williston 1

Joshua H. Weeks Tournament (Day 1 of 2)
At Tabor Academy, Marion, Mass. (except as noted)

Game 1: 9:00 am – Winchendon 5, St. Paul’s 4
Game 2: 9:00 am – Milton 4, St. George’s 2 (at St. George's)
Game 3: 11:00 am – Tabor 2, Kents Hill 0
Game 4: 11:00 am – Pomfret 6, Proctor 2 (at Gallo Arena) 
Game 5: 2:00 pm – St. Paul's 4, St. Georges 1
Game 6: 4:00 pm – Proctor 5, Kents Hill 3
Game 7: 6:00 pm – Milton 6, Winchendon 3
Game 8: 8:00 pm – Pomfret 5, Tabor 1

Sunday Playoff Schedule Schedule at Tabor:
9:00 am -- Kents Hill vs. St. George's
11:00 am -- St. Paul's vs. Proctor
1:00 pm -- Tabor vs. Winchendon
3:00 pm -- Championship Game: Milton vs. Pomfret

Henry Rulon Miller Invitational (Day 1 of 2)
At Princeton Day School; Princeton, NJ
2:00 pm -- Lawrenceville 1, Hoosac 1
4:00 pm -- Albany Academy 8, Princeton Day 0

Other Prep Games of Sat. Jan. 4, 2020
Berwick 5, North Yarmouth Academy 2 (NEPSIHA game)

Fri. 1/3/20

Friday, January 3rd, 2020 Tournament Scoreboard

Edward G. Watkins Invitational Tournament (Day 1 of 3)
At Cushing Academy; Ashburnham, Mass.

Fisher Division: Canterbury School, Cushing Academy, Lawrence Academy, New Hampton School.    
                 
Iorio Division: Dexter Southfield, Governor’s Academy, Stanstead College, Thayer Academy.                                               

Lawrence 5, New Hampton 1
Cushing 6, Canterbury 3
Thayer 4, Governor's 2
Dexter 5, Stanstead 3
New Hampton 4, Canterbury 1
Lawrence 3, Cushing 2 (OT)


2020 True Prep Cup (Day 1 of 3)
At Merrimack College; North Andover, Mass.
This is an impressive new tournament, put together by head coaches David Manning (St. Andrew's College) and Chadd Cassidy (Northwood School). The tournament sponsor, True, is a hockey equipment company.

Game 1: Mount St. Charles 4, Shattuck-St. Mary's 3 (OT)
Game 2: Northwood 3, Nichols 2 
Game 3: St. Andrew's College 6, Kimball Union 0
Game 4: The Gunnery 5, Culver Military Academy 4 

Saturday's Schedule:
The True Prep Cup schedule for Day 2 (Sat. Jan 4th), will began at 9:00 am instead of noon. The change was made because Merrimack moved up the start time of its home game with UMass-Lowell from 7:00 pm to 5:00 pm in order to accomodate fans who would want to get home in time to see all of the Patriots' playoff game, which starts at 8:15 pm. The revised schedule is as follows:

9:00 am -- Shattuck-St. Mary's vs. Nichols (Lawler Arena)
11:40 am -- Kimball Union vs. Culver Military Academy (Lawler Arena)
12:00 pm -- [Semi-final] Mount St. Charles vs. Northwood (Gallant Arena)
2:40 pm -- [Semi-final] St. Andrew's College vs. Gunnery (Gallant Arena)

2020 Nobles-St. Sebastian's New Year's Showcase (Day 1 of 2)
At St. Sebastian's School (Fri. Jan. 3, 2020)
At Noble & Greenough School (Sat. Jan. 4, 2020)

St. Sebastian's 7, Berkshire 0 
Nobles 6, Williston 2