The NEPSAC boys hockey quarterfinals went chalk in all but one game. No. 1 Holderness took down No. 8 Pomfret, 9-6. No. 2 Winchendon crushed No. 7 New Hampton, 7-1. No. 3 Canterbury beat No. 6 St. George's, 4-1. The lone "upset" was No. 5 Berkshire taking down No. 4 Rivers, 5-0. Given that it...
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The NEPSAC boys hockey quarterfinals went chalk in all but one game.
No. 1 Holderness took down No. 8 Pomfret, 9-6. No. 2 Winchendon crushed No. 7 New Hampton, 7-1. No. 3 Canterbury beat No. 6 St. George's, 4-1.
The lone "upset" was No. 5 Berkshire taking down No. 4 Rivers, 5-0. Given that it was only a No. 4 vs. No. 5 seed, it's not that much of an upset.
I went 3-for-4 in my Small School quarterfinal picks. My only hiccup was that pesky Rivers-Berkshire game.
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These semifinal matchups are interesting. I think I have a pretty good feel for them.
Let's dive in.
No. 1 Holderness vs. No. 5 Berkshire
Holderness is coming off scoring eight goals in the first two periods against Pomfret, while Berkshire put up five against a Rivers team with great defense and goaltending. These are two top-10 offenses.
Berkshire probably has the bigger guns in seniors James McMurray, Jonah Rainisch and Matt Lacombe (Marlboro, Mass.), but Holderness has the edge in more guys who can produce offensively. In the nine goals they scored against Pomfret, 15 Holderness skaters registered at least a point.
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Most of Berkshire's defensive core is all seniors — Dominic Somma, Gus Chong, Lucas Smith, Harrison McLean and James Reilly. All were part of the team that came close to winning the Small School championship game last season. That defensive core, along with goalie Alex Kim (Leonia, Mass.), is why Berkshire holds the advantage defensively.
Going into the tournament, I thought we were destined for Holderness to go to the championship. But the more I look at Berkshire on paper, and what it's done this season, this is a good spot for an upset.
Prediction:Â Berkshire wins, 4-2.
No. 2 Winchendon vs. No. 3 Canterbury
Canterbury has been a hard team to play against all season. Head coach Paddy McCarthy's team can be stingy and is filled with older players. Up front, that's postgrads Jack Mceleney (Woburn, Mass.) and Jack Lee (Woburn, Mass.), and seniors Seamus McMakin (Burlington, Mass.), Gaines Clonts, Britton Bethard and Gino LaRusso.
Senior Tommy Browne is the kind of No. 1 defenseman most prep teams would want. He's a force at both ends of the ice. And senior Cody Hew has had a strong senior year in net with a 2.37 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage.
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But can Canterbury stop Winchendon, who is the hottest team in prep hockey? I don't think so.
The Wapitis are steamrolling the competition. One of those teams was Canterbury, which they beat, 8-2, on Feb. 1. Charlie Puglisi (71 points) and co. have been too much for most teams since the beginning of January. Fellow seniors Jackson Smail (Milton, Vt.) and Cooper Ludwar (Chelmsford, Mass.) are both well past 50 points. Postgrad Laz Giardina (Reading, Mass.) and seniors Kaidan Sahajpal and Jake West (Billerica, Mass.) are over a point per game, while a plethora of others are on the cusp.
Canterbury is a great team. But I don't see it stopping Winchendon.
Prediction: Winchendon wins, 5-2.
WATCH: Reacting to the NEPSAC boys quarterfinal games
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