What a night of girls prep hockey.
The NEPSAC girls Elite 8 quarterfinals brought high-scoring wins, a big upset and a tight game that knocked out the defending champions.
Meanwhile, the Large and Small School tournaments featured more than their share of drama with overtimes, upsets and more.
Here's how it all shook out:
Elite 8Â
- No. 1 Williston Northampton 7, No. 8 Groton 2
- No. 2 Loomis Chaffee 7, No. 7 Cushing 2
- No. 6 BB&N 4, No. 3 Dexter Southfield 1
- No. 5 Phillips Andover 2, No. 4 Nobles 1
Large School
- No. 1 Thayer 6, No. 8 St. Paul’s 3
- No. 2 Deerfield 3, No. 7 Milton Academy 2 (OT)
- No. 6 Kent 2, No. 3 Berkshire 1 (OT)
- No. 5 Tabor 2, No. 4 Phillips Exeter 1
Small School
- No. 1 New Hampton 4, No. 8 Frederick Gunn 1
- No. 2 Rivers 8, No. 7 Mount St. Charles 0
- No. 6 St. Mark’s 2, No. 3 Governor’s 0
- No. 5 St. George’s 5, No. 4 Lawrence Academy 1
I did my best to keep tabs on everything going on, but I only have so many screens and the bandwidth for so many streams at once.
With Nobles eliminated, a new Elite 8 champion will be crowned. Williston's chase for a third title in four years is still on.
For those keeping score at home, I went 3-for-4 in my Elite 8 predictions. I didn't necessarily get the scores right either, but hey, a win's a win. Either way, that's right, you won't have to hear about my perfect streak with my Elite 8 predictions anymore. It was nice while it lasted. In your scorebooks, my predictions go down as 3-for-4 in the Large School and 2-for-4 in the Small School, sitting 8-for-12 overall.
Now, all eyes turn to Saturday's semifinals, especially when Williston and Andover battle it out in a rematch of last year's semis and the 2023 championship.
We'll unpack the matchups across all three tournaments and my fool-proof predictions in the coming days. For now, let's dive into takeaways from the quarterfinals.
No. 1 Williston Northampton 7, No. 8 Groton 2
1. The Wildcats' top guns showed out in this one. Nora Curtis finished with a hat trick and an assist. Violet Carroll (Milton, Mass.) scored twice and added two assists. Mia Daley (Lynnfield, Mass.) had a goal and two assists. Williston's top lines just have so many ways to beat teams, whether in transition, at even strength or on the power play. They're constantly pushing to middle ice and generating chances in the dangerous areas. Look no further than Curtis. She scored twice on quick wristers from the slot and banged in a rebound in the crease.
PREP BRACKETS: Girls Elite 8 | Girls Large School | Girls Small School | Boys Elite 8 | Boys Large School | Boys Small School
2. We knew Groton was going to need secondary producers outside of the top line like Ella Nannene (Acton, Mass.) and Hazel Hughes (Lancaster, Mass.) to step up if they were going to have a shot. To their credit, they did. Nannene got the Zebras on the board, cutting it to 2-1 on the power play in the first. Hughes provided an excellent screen on Oona Kathan's (Arlington, Mass.) shot from the point. The puck pin-balled to Nannene and she steered in the rebound.
3. One thing that caught my eye was Catie Putt (Norfolk, Mass.) playing forward alongside Riley Stocker and Keirstyn Camiolo. Putt, a junior defender committed to UNH, opened the scoring early in the first. After a great solo effort by Stocker waiting for reinforcements, she fed Camiolo, who drove middle and found Putt drifting into open space at the left post for the easy one-timer. Putt almost added another on a similar play later. It wasn't surprising to see her look the part as a forward. Putt typically excels using her legs in transition on the back end.
No. 2 Loomis Chaffee 7, No. 7 Cushing 2
1. Once Loomis got going, they never looked back. The Pelicans fell behind early, but their top guns led the charge from there. Annie Schwarz (Fairfield, Conn.) had a monster shift late in the first, getting behind the defense and going to work down low. Her first wraparound bid wouldn't go, but she made no mistake on the second. It was a massive goal with 57 seconds left that helped Loomis seize momentum. Chloe Obser gave the Pelicans the lead on the power play early in the second (thanks to a great screen by Megan Duplantie in front), and Loomis took full control from there.
2. Cushing had a strong start, but just couldn't sustain it. Taylor Buckley (Woburn, Mass.) was at the forefront of it. The senior St. Anselm commit set up Brooke Fallon's (Bedford, N.H.) opening goal on the power play, sending in a good wrister for a tip and got it. Moments later at the other end, Buckley's size and reach on defense paid off. She stood tall and stopped Easton Pramuka dead in her tracks as she tried to drive middle.
3. I'll be interested to see what kind of game we get between Loomis and BB&N on Saturday. The Pelicans can play a little more high-flying from an offensive standpoint, but will they pop for seven again? BB&N plays a heavy game and can shut down other teams. The Pelicans are just as capable of shutting other teams down, though, and both sides have strong "Big Threes" that can do it all on defense. You've got Carly Dann (Hanover, N.H.), Megan Hosman and Catie Collins (South Burlington, Vt.) on one end for Loomis and Emi Biotti (Cambridge, Mass.), Brenna O'Reilly (Burlington, Mass.) and Lexi Mara (Winchester, Mass.) at the other end for BB&N. It should be a hell of a matchup.
No. 6 BB&N 4, No. 3 Dexter Southfield 1
1. In a rematch of last year's Large School championship, BB&N took advantage of Dexter's mistakes and made them pay. The Knights forechecked hard, clogged lanes and created plenty of chances off of turnovers and their work down low. Their first goal came off forcing a turnover out high, and their third goal came off another along the half wall. Savana Littlewood's (Braintree, Mass.) line with Anika Singh (Lexington, Mass.) and Kate Glantz (Burlington, Mass.) was especially strong. Twice they intercepted errant stretch passes up the middle and went to work deep in the offensive zone, leading to good chances. BB&N plays a style of hockey built for the playoffs, and that could come in handy in the semis.
MVP CANDIDATES:Â 18 players who could win MVP in the Elite 8
2. Littlewood and Molly Halloran (Belmont, Mass.) had big nights with two goals apiece. Halloran scored twice in the first, and Littlewood put things away with two in the third, including the empty-netter. Aside from the goal on the empty net, Littlewood and Halloran did all of their damage around the front of the net. Halloran opened the scoring when she stole the puck from Sawyer Merrill (Hingham, Mass.), walked in and buried her own rebound. She got her second when she parked in open space in the slot and cashed in on Biotti's rebound off a long-range shot. Littlewood's first goal came after Izzy King (Bedford, Mass.) stole the puck at the left circle, drove to the corner and fed Hannah Weyerhaeuser (Cambridge, Mass.) in tight. The rebound popped right to Littlewood for the easy goal. Littlewood also stole the puck from Maggie Chudzinski (Needham, Mass.) at the point, went the other way and buried the empty-netter.
3. Dexter had a chance to make a real push to start the third, down just 2-1, but couldn't convert. It came after they got on the board with a great push late in the second, forcing Eva Mai Whyte (Natick, Mass.) to make several strong saves before Alex Mitsakis (Winchester, Mass.) broke through with under a minute to go in the frame.
No. 5 Phillips Andover 2, No. 4 Nobles 1
1. Like I said on RinkWise and in my predictions, this game was a coin flip. Nobles and Andover had been on a collision course for a while, and their 3-3 tie in February was a great precursor to this matchup. I could have seen it going either way. Both sides came through with greasy goals around the net, and in the end, Andover got the timely goal in the third.
2. It was no surprise to see who stepped up for Andover. Sarah Powers (Lynnfield, Mass.), an MVP candidate we highlighted earlier this week, opened the scoring in the first. She led a 3-on-1 with Emily Mara (Winchester, Mass.) and Caroline Averill (Wayland, Mass.). The rebound ricocheted off the boards and right to Powers' stick, she beat Annika Jonas (Weston, Mass.) to the left post for the goal. Early in the third, it was Lilly McInerney (Lynnfield, Mass.) and Peyton Kennedy (Sudbury, Mass.) banging away at the doorstep to give the Big Blue the lead again. It all came after Mara had a fantastic solo effort to protect the puck and take it to the net.
3. Nobles made some good pushes in the third, but Marie Lee (Southboro, Mass.) stood tall. The Bulldogs had a lengthy 5-on-3 power play that Andover stifled. Shortly after, they had two Grade A looks in middle ice. Laney Mead (Bedford, Mass.) had a great look, cutting into the high slot off a board battle, but Lee made a strong save. The freshman came up again moments later when she robbed Nora Shea (Braintree, Mass.) with the glove in tight off a slick centering feed.
Large School quarterfinals thoughts...
1. There was a lot of craziness in the Large and Small brackets, compared to the Elite 8. Major props to No. 6 Kent, which trailed No. 3 Berkshire 1-0 late in the third. The Lions took over down the stretch, tied it and won in overtime, 2-1. Senior Louise Roper (Kennebunk, Maine) scored the equalizer on the power play with less than a minute to go and the goalie pulled, and freshman Olivia Machan scored the winner on a 2-on-1. Freshman goalie Aspen Devlin (Falmouth, Mass.) was stout in the win, including a key breakaway save while Kent was trailing. Not to toot my own horn, but I did have that upset (and score) in my predictions.
2. A tip of the hat to No. 5 Tabor, which scored two unanswered in the third for a 2-1 win over No. 4 Phillips Exeter. The Seawolves dragged the Big Red into a tight game, held a potent Exeter offense at bay and capitalized on their chances. Giuliana Polcari (Marshfield, Mass.) and Lilly Shaugnessy (Medfield, Mass.) came through with the goals.
3. Despite losing in overtime, 3-2, props to No. 7 Milton Academy for giving No. 2 Deerfield a hell of a fight, leading 1-0 and 2-1. Toward the end of regulation, though, it felt like a matter of time until the Big Green broke through as they spent a lot of time in the Mustang's end. That's just what happened. With the goalie pulled, Chloe Cleaves (Riverside, Conn.) picked the short-side corner from the right dot. Olivia Austen (Darien, Conn.) was the hero, parking herself at the left post and burying a cross-crease feed.
MIAA BRACKETS: Division 1 girls | Division 2 girls | Division 1 boys | Division 2 boys | Division 3 boys | Division 4 boys
Small School quarterfinals thoughts...
1. For No. 6 St. Mark's, their 2-0 upset over No. 3 Gov's was their first NEPSAC playoff win since the 1990s. We knew their best players had to be sharp, and they were. Ella Lefebvre (Grafton, Mass.) scored both goals, and both were assisted by Maribeth Fitzgerald (Boylston, Mass.). Senior Boston University commit Jackie Wright (Walpole, Mass.) was good in the crease with a 22-save shutout.
2. It was the Cora Buzzard Show for No. 5 St. George's as the junior exploded for a hat trick to power the offense in the second and third periods for the 5-1 win over No. 4 Lawrence Academy. Buzzard (Branford, Conn.) was opportunistic around the net, scoring her first two goals off of rebounds. Meanwhile, it was all about Maddie Lahah (North Attleboro, Mass.) early. The junior Holy Cross commit opened the scoring when she stole the puck in the slot, turned and fired one home. Then she doubled the lead on a breakaway early in the second.
3. For a little while, it looked like senior goalie Emily Krauss (Milford, Conn.) had a chance at stealing a win for No. 8 Frederick Gunn against No. 1 New Hampton. Krauss was excellent early and made some high-quality saves, leading to a scoreless first period and a 1-1 tie after the second. But the Huskies' depth and experience eventually showed through. Julia Loughlin (Scituate, Mass.) gave New Hampton a 2-1 lead in the third, and they never looked back. Caroline Thomas finished with a pair, and True Thompson was fantastic throughout. New Hampton knows how to close out these games.
