Of the three NEPSAC boys hockey playoff fields, the Elite 8 was far and away the craziest on Wednesday night. No. 8 Avon Old Farms produced quite the upset, taking down No. 1 Dexter Southfield, 4-2. Sixth-seeded Kimball Union edged out No. 3 Salisbury, 1-0. No. 5 Hotchkiss went into No. 4 St. Sebastian's and...
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Of the three NEPSAC boys hockey playoff fields, the Elite 8 was far and away the craziest on Wednesday night.
No. 8 Avon Old Farms produced quite the upset, taking down No. 1 Dexter Southfield, 4-2. Sixth-seeded Kimball Union edged out No. 3 Salisbury, 1-0. No. 5 Hotchkiss went into No. 4 St. Sebastian's and took down the hosts, 3-0.
The only game that went chalk was No. 2 St. Mark's beating No. 7 Belmont Hill, 7-2.
That was also the only Elite 8 game I predicted correctly. A rough showing from yours truly.
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While I did better in the Large School (3-for-4) and Small School (3-for-4) tournaments, the Elite 8 is the big dance for a reason.
Here are my picks for the semifinal matchups.
No. 2 St. Mark's vs. No. 6 Kimball Union
These are two high-octane offenses. St. Mark's just put up seven goals against Belmont Hill and ranks No. 1 in the region in total offense with 181 goals for. Kimball Union ranks third with 143 goals for.
St. Mark's boasts an array of top-tier offensive talent in prep with Providence College commit Caiden Pellegrino (Uxbridge, Mass.), senior Evan Nee (Arlington, Mass.) and Dartmouth commit Will Manchuso (Concord, Mass.). Junior Cam MacPherson (Hopkinton, Mass.) is right there with 41 points, along with sophomore Keith Olympia (Sudbury, Mass.) and seniors Teddy Drury and Grady Bishop (Ashland, Mass.).
Kimball Union can essentially match that forward depth with seniors Josh Phillips, Jackson Kimelman, Xander Boutilier and Jackson Davies (Meriden, N.H.). Postgrad Jack Ross, senior Carter Cowan, juniors Charlie MacLeod and Alexis Gagne and sophomore Dawson Wood provide depth scoring.
Where KUA has an advantage is on defense. Seniors Lucas Hannay and Anthony Leech, and juniors Nasean Faria, Thomas Ojard, Aaron Sheck and Christian Torra just shut down Salisbury. They got better as the game went on.
And, of course, senior goalie Cam Ingram was outstanding.
Can St. Mark's match that? I'm not so sure. Kimball Union's ability to defend gives them the advantage in this one.
Prediction:Â Kimball Union wins, 4-1.
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No. 5 Hotchkiss vs. No. 8 Avon Old Farms
In contrast, this game sticks out as a defense and goaltending battle.
Northeastern goalie commit Neilan Johnson and Hotchkiss gave St. Sebastian's almost nothing offensively on Wednesday night, shutting them out. Tufts goalie commit Anthony Palmer (Lynnfield, Mass.) and Avon Old Farms limited the deepest forward core in prep, holding Dexter to two goals.
Needless to say, I don't think this ends with Holderness and Pomfret's 9-6 score.
Offensively, these teams are similar. Avon (88) has one more goal scored on Hotchkiss (87) this season. These two teams also met on Jan. 14 with Avon winning, 3-1. That's ancient history by now.
Both are phenomenal stories. Hotchkiss won six games last season and is now the No. 5 seed in the Elite 8. Avon went 14-1-1 to begin the season, before completely falling off in February. The Winged Beavers are also less than three months removed from the death of legendary head coach John Gardner, who some on the current roster played for.
Here's the difference between the two teams: Avon looked like the team that started 14-1-1 on Wednesday night. They clearly have their swagger back. Head coach Mark Naclerio's team has a spark.
Prediction:Â Avon Old Farms wins, 2-1.
WATCH: Reacting to the NEPSAC boys quarterfinal games
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