Pomfret School might not have had the most talented roster on the New England prep school landscape, but that didn’t stop the Griffins from playing their best hockey when it mattered most.
After securing the No. 4 seed in the NEPSAC Piatelli/Simmons Tournament following a 13-6-4 regular season, Pomfret beat No. 5 Rivers in overtime at home before downing the top seed, St. Mark’s, in the semifinals on the road.
In the title game, against a familiar foe, Matt Goethals’ club overcame No. 2 Frederick Gunn 4-2 to capture its second Small School championship since 2017, willed to victory by a pair of goals from senior captain Nils Forselius (Guilford, Conn.) and yet another impressive showing by senior Kellen Beauton (Colchester, Conn.) in net.
“I’m really happy for the boys. I thought they competed really hard down the stretch, particularly in the St. Mark’s and Gunn games,” the eighth-year coach said. “Those two teams have a lot of offensive talent, and while Kellen was great in net, I thought our team defense was the best it’s been all year, just in terms of taking care of the net front, playing the body, blocking shots. I was just really proud of them and happy that they earned it against some really good teams.”
In a rematch of a 6-3 loss to the Highlanders (20-11-0) on Feb. 16, as well as the 2020 edition of the Small School final, Pomfret held its ground after giving up a two-goal lead.
Tied up at 2-2 with time ticking away in the third, Forselius put the Griffins ahead with his second goal of the game, before classmate Declan Chapman (Douglas, Mass.) iced the title-clinching victory with an empty-netter, potting his team-best 17th goal of the season to make it 4-2.
Beauton, a recent Connecticut College commit, made sure it stayed that way. The third-year Pomfret netminder stopped 33 of 35 shots in the win, capping off a remarkable season that saw him post an eye-popping .942 save percentage, 2.03 goals-against average and seven shutouts in nearly 1,300 minutes played.
He allowed just five goals in the team’s three playoff games, highlighted by a 1-0 shutout of the No. 1 Lions (19-5-2) in the semifinals, halting a Carl Corazzini-led team that averaged 4.50 goals per game.
“He was tremendous. I’d put him up against any goalie in prep hockey this year,” Goethals said of Beauton. “I know there were a lot of teams that I didn’t get to see, but he was consistent. His compete level is elite and he’s such a competitor. He’s just so dialed in when he’s playing. In all three games he made the saves he needed to make and he made some big ones as well. The five goals he gave up, none of them were soft goals. He undoubtedly was the MVP of our team this year.
“You’re not going to win a championship in prep hockey without a really good goalie, and Kellen was certainly the backbone of that.”
With two key goals in the title game, it was only fitting that Forselius — who finished the season tied with Chapman with a team-leading 31 points — filled the offensive catalyst role.
“He’s really dynamic offensively,” Goethals said of the senior captain. “He’s a kid that can make plays, and he hadn’t scored for a stretch so I was happy for him that he was able to put two home in the championship game, and both were nice finishes. Both goals he had to find the right spot to put the puck, so I was happy for him that he got to experience that.”
Chapman made his own impact on the playoff run. Aside from burying the empty-netter in the final, the Bay State native also scored the lone goal in the semifinal on a second-period feed from classmate Matt Spears (Barrington, R.I.) to send the Griffins to the title game.
“He’s been good for us all year. He plays fast and he’s a great skater,” Goethals said of Chapman. “I thought he improved down the stretch in terms of being more reliable defensively. He was better in the ‘D’ zone and was getting in shooting lanes and became a more complete player, which was great to see. I was happy for him that he was able to cap things off for us.”
While not a major contributor on the regular-season scoresheet, ’03 postgrad William Stewart (Ridgefield, Conn.) came up clutch in the quarterfinals, potting the OT winner on a pass from sophomore Jesse Heinberg to defeat Freddy Meyer’s Red Wings and keep Pomfret’s championship aspirations alive.
“He’s a tremendous kid and he’s had a great attitude all year,” Goethals said of Stewart. “He accepted his role within the team and he worked really hard. He’s a reliable, smart hockey player, so we were all thrilled for him that he got to experience that moment and score such a big goal for us. The whole team was just really excited for him … he’s been such a great teammate all year.”
While the Griffins admittedly lacked the same level of star power that some of the other Small School contenders displayed, they made up for it with stout defensive play and an unrelenting motivation to finish the job.
“What I’m most proud of with this group is their compete level. I thought it was pretty consistent, particularly in the big games when we really needed it,” Goethals said. “There was a toughness to this team in terms of giving hits, taking hits, getting in shooting lanes, blocking shots and winning battles against some teams that maybe had more talent than us.
“There was a real grit and determination to do whatever it took to win games that I was pleased with and really proud of.”
