Two teams remain in each of the three NEPSAC boys hockey tournaments. After Sunday, there will only be one. In the Elite 8, No. 2 St. Mark's will meet No. 8 Avon Old Farms. St. Mark's has steamrolled its first two games, taking down No. 7 Belmont Hill, 7-2, and No. 6 Kimball Union, 7-3....
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Two teams remain in each of the three NEPSAC boys hockey tournaments. After Sunday, there will only be one.
In the Elite 8, No. 2 St. Mark's will meet No. 8 Avon Old Farms. St. Mark's has steamrolled its first two games, taking down No. 7 Belmont Hill, 7-2, and No. 6 Kimball Union, 7-3. Avon pulled off the upset in the quarterfinal, taking down No. 1 Dexter Southfield, 4-2, before disposing of No. 5 Hotchkiss, 5-0, in the semis.
No. 2 Cushing will play on the final Sunday of the season for the fourth straight year, while No. 4 Brunswick aims to knock off the Penguins in the Large School final. Cushing edged out No. 7 Deerfield, 2-1, in overtime and then took down No. 3 Phillips Andover, 6-1, on Saturday. The Bruins have ridden two one-goal games (a 2-1 win over No. 5 Thayer and a 5-4 OT win over No. 1 Tabor) to get here.
The Small School tournament has gone chalk with No. 1 Holderness and No. 2 Winchendon clashing in the final. The Bulls have had a wild ride in the tournament, beating No. 8 Pomfret, 9-6, but then edging out No. 5 Berkshire, 1-0, in the semis. Winchendon took down No. 7 New Hampton, 7-1, and then Canterbury, 2-1, in overtime.
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Here's the full schedule for Sunday:
Small School: Holderness vs. Winchendon | Noon | UConn
Large School: Cushing vs. Brunswick | 2:30 p.m. | UConn
Elite 8: St. Mark's vs. Avon Old Farms | 5 p.m. | UConn
It's time for one final batch of predictions. Last year, I went 2-for-3, correctly picking the Large and Small School winners.
So, how am I doing this year?
Not great. I'm 10-for-18 overall. I went 3-for-6 in the semifinals. I've been 4-for-6 in both the Large and Small School fields, but I'm 2-for-6 in the Elite 8. Maybe the bright lights aren't for me.
But I'm back for more before the championship.
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Let's dive in.
Elite 8: No. 2 St. Mark's vs. No. 8 Avon Old Farms
St. Mark's took everything I said about them entering its matchup with Kimball Union and threw it in my face. I said KUA had more depth on defense, and three of St. Mark's first four goals came from defensemen: Jack Taylor (Framingham, Mass.), Cam Swank (Northboro, Mass.) and Phin Howard (Newton, Mass.). The defensive core was lights out, with Taylor in particular playing a phenomenal, shutdown game. St. Mark's was more physical (with Taylor leading the charge there, too), much faster and kept KUA to the outside in the defensive zone. And, in net, sophomore goalie Aaron Alves-Thomas (Uxbridge, Mass.) was fantastic with 32 saves.
So yeah. Big ole swing and a miss on that one.
The Lions' top guys have also been their top guys. Senior forward Evan Nee (Arlington, Mass.) had two goals and a helper to beat Belmont Hill and three assists on Saturday. Junior forward Caiden Pellegrino (Uxbridge, Mass.) has two points in both wins. Junior forward Will Manchuso (Concord, Mass.) scored against Belmont Hill before scoring twice and adding two assists against KUA.
On the other side, Avon Old Farms has also been rolling. After upsetting No. 1 Dexter, the Winged Beavers crushed No. 5 Hotchkiss, 5-0. Head coach Mark Naclerio's team has been getting contributions from everyone.
Junior forward Nico Ciardiello had four (yes, four) of Avon's five goals against Hotchkiss, along with an assist. Junior forward Sean Millen had four assists against Hotchkiss after notching a goal and a helper against Dexter. Sophomore forward Ethan Gingeleskie (West Hartford, Conn.) had two goals and an assist to beat Dexter. Defenseman Max Yakub (four points), forward Maks Morgoslepov and forward Liam Donnelly have found the scoresheet in both games.
And it cannot be understated how locked in senior goalie Anthony Palmer (Lynnfield, Mass.) is right now. He made 47 saves to beat Dexter and followed that up with a 32-save shutout against Hotchkiss.
As a No. 8 seed, Avon very much has the team of destiny feel. St. Mark's was also on the cover of our November/December 2025 magazine. Teams on the cover since 2022 are 0-for-2 in Elite 8 championship games (St. Sebastian's was the No. 8 seed in the Elite 8 and lost in the quarterfinals in 2024).
But this is where it ends. Cover curse be gone.
Prediction:Â St. Mark's wins, 4-3, in overtime.
Large School: No. 2 Cushing vs. No. 4 Brunswick
These two teams met at UConn on Feb. 11, and Cushing won, 6-2. Brunswick has been a much different team of late, surviving two one-goal games in the tournament.
Like St. Mark's, the Bruins also shoved my prediction in my face. I picked against them in the semifinals because of their scoring struggles against good goalies. So, naturally, after going down 4-1 to Tabor, Bruins junior forward Keegan Kazan (Wilton, Conn.) sniped three straight goals to tie the game, before sophomore forward Hunter Hanford (Darien, Conn.) scored in overtime. Senior forward Mason St. Louis (Old Greenwich, Conn.) also had three helpers.
Head coach Mike Kennedy has alternated goalies so far, with Zai Ferraro (New Canaan, Conn.) making 29 saves to beat Thayer and Evan Akerman stopping 31 shots to take down Tabor.
Cushing's path has been similar but the opposite. The Penguins' close call came in the quarterfinals against Deerfield, needing overtime to take down the Big Green. There was some more breathing room in Saturday's win over Andover. Junior forward Sebastian Mogull has been on another level, scoring two goals in each win and adding an assist against Andover. Against Andover, forwards Ben Marcolini, Parker Murch (York, Maine, Blake Cash (Hampton Falls, N.H.) and Chase Warsofsky (Northboro, Mass.) all had multi-point games.
In net, Cushing freshman Mason Raycroft (Wellesley, Mass.) has been terrific with 25 saves against Deerfield and 23 against Andover.
Brunswick has never beaten Cushing in its history. The Bruins are 0-5 against the Penguins. That ends on Saturday.
Prediction:Â Brunswick wins, 3-2.
Small School: No. 1 Holderness vs. No. 2 Winchendon
Winchendon took down Holderness, 6-4, on Feb. 18. Neither team has lost since.
Holderness has had quite the ride so far in the tournament. After beating No. 8 Pomfret, 9-6, they tightened things up against No. 5 Berkshire, winning 1-0. Senior netminder Mark Bierwirth (Chelmsford, Mass.) was locked in with a 31-save shutout, while senior Viktor Samal had the lone goal.
The Bulls are dangerous because of their offensive depth and their ability to play stingy defense when needed. That will very much be needed against Winchendon.
Since Jan. 21, Winchendon has lost one game. The Wapitis exploded for seven goals to beat No. 7 New Hampton and then won a low-scoring, gritty defensive game against No. 3 Canterbury on Saturday. It was the usual suspects coming up big to beat Canterbury, with senior Charlie Puglisi tying the game late and senior Jackson Smail (Milton, Vt.) winning it in OT. Senior Brady Knode held it down in net.
Picking against Holderness two games in a row doesn't feel right. But Winchendon's offense has been lighting it up on the biggest stage.
Prediction:Â Winchendon wins, 4-3.
WATCH: Reacting to the NEPSAC boys quarterfinal games
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Small School: No. 1 Holderness vs. No. 2 Winchendon
