There were holiday tournaments galore across our region this past weekend, which means there was plenty of opportunity for teams to charge into the season’s fourth edition of the New England Hockey Journal Prep School Coaches Poll.
In the end, just one team received an early present as a new entrant into the top-10 as decided by a group of the region’s head coaches. The top of the list remains unchanged for the third consecutive week, but one other club did make a big jump into the top half after its efforts during the Avon Old Farms Christmas Classic.
Eight other teams received consideration, though all but one team held its spot from a week ago. (Teams receive 10 points for a first-place vote, nine for a second-place vote, eight for a third-place vote, etc.)
The NEHJ Prep School Coaches Poll will be released every Tuesday during the season on hockeyjournal.com. Please send an email to jkummins@hockeyjournal.com if you are interested in participating in our polls throughout the winter.
1. Dexter Southfield (8-0)
106 points - 9 first-place votes
Last week: 1st
Dexter Southfield claimed the No. 1 spot in our coaches’ rankings for the third straight week after defeating Proctor, 6-2, Culver Academy, 5-4, and Lawrence, 3-1, to win the Groton/Lawrence Tournament.
John Fusco (Westwood, Mass.) scored twice and added an assist in the first game, while Culin Wilson (Hingham, Mass.) also had three points. Aidan Connolly (Marshfield, Mass.) scored the winner and dished out two assists against Culver. John McElaney’s (Walpole, Mass.) first-period goal was the difference in the finale against the co-host Spartans. Brendan O’Donnell (Hull, Mass.) and Matt Copponi (Mansfield, Mass.) also scored while Dylan Silverstein (Woburn, Mass.) made 34 saves to deliver the championship.
2. Salisbury (8-1-1)
89 points
Last week: 4th
After Max Donoso pitched a 20-save shutout against Albany Academy last Wednesday, the Crimson Knights scored four goals in all four of their Flood-Marr games. On the tournament’s opening day, they earned a 4-2 win over Kimball Union and tied Deerfield, 4-4, before edging past Milton for a 4-3 overtime win and defeating Hotchkiss for the second time this season, 4-1, to win the championship for the second consecutive year.
Jake Quillan scored a goal and added two assists against KUA before Matthew DeBoer joined him as a three-point scorer against Deerfield. Lucas Mercuri opened the weekend with a one-goal, one-assist effort.
3. Kimball Union (8-3-1)
72 points - 1 first-place vote
Last week: 3rd
At Flood-Marr, the Wildcats skated to a 1-1 tie with Nobles in the third-place game on the strength of Sullivan Mack’s goal and 31 saves from Zak Brice. KUA lost to Salisbury, 4-2, and defeated Milton, 5-2, and Deerfield, 3-1, en route to the final round.
Mack and Adam Fantilli scored against the Crimson Knights before finding the scoresheet again in KUA’s first win of the tournament. Fantilli (1-1-2), Griffin Hatley (1-1-2) and Donte Pierre (0-2-2) all had two points against Milton. Against Deerfield, Pierre, Fantilli and Paul Dore scored goals, while Tomas Mazura had two assists.
4. Kent (8-2)
68 points
Last week: 9th (tied)
Kent is this week’s big riser after it swept four games to capture the Avon Old Farms Christmas Classic, including the 5-4 championship against Gunnery. Matthew Perryman scored the winner and was the fifthoal scorer in the game for the Lions. Joey Purtell (Beverly, Mass.) made 27 saves, a day after his 20-save shutout in Kent’s 2-0 win over St. Paul’s. Cade McLaughlin scored both goals in that game.
After a 3-1 win over the host Winged Beavers, Kent pitched back-to-back shutouts to advance to the final round. Five players also scored in the 5-0 win over Tabor in which Jeremy Siegel made 15 stops. Nick Marciano assisted on three of the Lion goals, while Aidan Cobb and Jonas Passante had a goal and an assist each.
5. Lawrence (5-1)
63 points - 1 first-place vote
Last week: 7th
The Spartans opened the Groton/Lawrence Tournament with wins over Cushing, 3-1, and Pomfret, 4-0, before losing 3-1 to Dexter Southfield in the championship game.
Blake Humphrey, Cole Teleki and David Sacco (Middleton, Mass.) all scored in the team’s tournament opener before John Riggins had a goal and an assist and Brandon Milberg pitched a 23-save shutout against Pomfret the following day. Anthony Cafarelli (Middleton, Mass.) scored the lone Lawrence goal against Dexter.
6. Avon Old Farms (8-1)
46 points
Last week: 2nd
After suffering their first loss of the season to Kent, 3-1, the Winged Beavers bounced back and earned third place in their own Christmas Classic with a 1-0 win over Berkshire in which John Turner (East Falmouth, Mass.) scored the lone goal in the third period and Connor Callaghan stopped all 22 shots he faced.
Reid Shafer scored the lone goal against Kent before the Avon offense broke out for 14 goals in wins over Tabor, 8-3, and St. Paul’s, 6-3. Tabor Heaslip had two goals and two assists in the first of those games while Turner chipped in with three assists. Heaslip matched his four-point performance in the latter game, and Timur Alishlalov scored two more goals.
7. Berkshire (5-2-1)
36 points
Last week: 6th
The Bears were involved in close games throughout the Avon Old Farms Christmas Classic, ultimately taking fourth place after a 1-0 loss to the Winged Beavers. Berkshire opened the tournament with a 2-1 shootout win over Loomis Chaffee before dropping a 1-0 decision to Gunnery and then beating Trinity-Pawling, 4-3.
Briggs Gammill scored the lone goal of regulation for Berkshire against Loomis, but Jed Baliotti made 19 saves and then held his ground for the shootout victory. Baliotti stopped 21 in the 1-0 setback the next day, but Aidan Thompson scored twice and added an assist to lead a bounce-back offensive effort against T-P. Gammill and Gunnar Granito both assisted twice in that game. Baliotti’s 25 saves were not enough in the finale against the hosts.
8. St. Sebastian’s (7-1)
32 points
Last week: 8th
Before entering the St. Sebastian’s Christmas Tournament, the Arrows cruised past Brooks for a 9-1 victory. Sebs suffered its first loss of the season to Brunswick, 4-3, over the weekend, but it began and ended tournament play strongly with wins over Albany Academy, 4-2, and Williston Northampton, 4-1.
Brendan Dumas (North Attleboro, Mass.) opened the week with five goals and an assist against Brooks, while Liam Connors (Westborough, Mass.) scored one goal and helped on four others. Against Albany, Connor Joyce (Dedham, Mass.) led with a goal and an assist. Timmy Delay (Hingham, Mass.) and Jake Lavoie (Taunton, Mass.) had two points each in the loss to Brunswick. Delay scored twice against Williston, supporting Luke Garrity’s (Duxbury, Mass.) third victory of the week, a 12-save effort.
9. Gunnery (6-3-1)
31 points
Last week: Unranked
Gunnery fell just short of a championship at the Avon Old Farms Christmas Classic with its 5-4 loss to Kent, but two wins and a tie helped it jump into the NEHJ ranks. Coach Craig Badger’s team opened the tournament with a 4-3 overtime win over Trinity-Pawling, a 3-3 tie with Loomis Chaffee and 1-0 win over Berkshire.
Dane Dowiak scored the overtime winner against T-P after Alex Jefferies’ (Lunenburg, Mass.) second assist. David Andreychuk and Michael Casey had a goal and an assist. In the next game, Mark D’Agostino (North Branford, Conn.) scored a hat trick and Dowiak assisted on all three goals against Loomis. Jefferies and Hunter Rossi (Washington, Conn.) connected for the only goal against Berkshire, lifting Carmine Andranovich (Durham, Conn.) to a 33-save shutout. Jefferies finished the tournament with a two-goal, two-assist game and Casey (1-1-2) and Andreychuk (0-2-2) had two points each, but their efforts were not enough to down Kent.
10. Loomis Chaffee (7-1-2)
26 points
Last week: 5th
Loomis concluded its stint at the Avon Old Farms Christmas Classic with a 5-0 victory over St. Paul’s in which Anthony Cipollone scored twice and Jake Sigal dished out two assists. Kyle Chauvette (New Boston, N.H.) stopped 27 shots for the shutout.
Mathieu Schneider scored the lone goal in a 2-1 shootout loss to Berkshire in the Pelicans’ tournament opener. Cody Hoban (Guilford, Conn.) had two assists against Gunnery as Cipollone, Cam Partridge (Wethersfield, Conn.) and Alex Krause all scored goals. The T-P contest was an offensive outburst for several players, but 14 combined points from Krause (1-5-6), Hoban (2-2-4) and Cipollone (1-3-4) were not enough for a victory.
Others receiving votes: Cushing, St. Mark’s, Hotchkiss, Pomfret, Nobles, Thayer, Groton, Deerfield
