Two overtimes. Late goals. Great goaltending. Close games.
The NEPSAC boys Elite 8 quarterfinals had it all on Wednesday night, with Cushing, Kimball Union and Avon Old Farms, three of the four top seeds, advancing, along with No. 6 Salisbury, which upset Brunswick, 3-1.
Here are the complete scores from the quarterfinals.
- No. 1 Cushing 2, No. 8 St. Sebastian’s 1 (OT)
- No. 2 Kimball Union 5, No. 7 St. George’s 4 (OT)
- No. 6 Salisbury 3, No. 3 Brunswick 1
- No. 4 Avon Old Farms 2, No. 5 Holderness 1
Now, the semifinal matchups are set with KUA playing Salisbury and Cushing facing Avon Old Farms on Saturday.
Let's dive into the takeaways from Wednesday's quarterfinal games. We'll go game by game to make it easy.
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No. 1 Cushing 2, No. 8 St. Sebastian's 1 (OT)
1. St. Sebastian's goalie Pelle Russo (West Newton, Mass.) has had an up-and-down season. The senior was outstanding on Wednesday night and the main reason his team was only down one goal late in the third period. Through the first two periods, the Penguins brought it, heavily outshooting St. Sebastian's and applying constant pressure. Midway through the second frame, Cushing forward and Merrimack commit Luke Goukler had what looked like an open net. But Russo went post to post and gloved down the shot. It wasn't a win, but Russo brought his best.
2. Before I dive into the overtime goal, we have to discuss St. Sebastian's goal with 10 seconds left in the game to tie it, 1-1. The Arrows looked down and out. They pressed for the entire third period, rattling off numerous chances. The best was with about five minutes to go from forward and Harvard commit Ben Merrill (Hingham, Mass.), who had a point-blank chance on the power play that laid in the crease and was cleared. They couldn't break Cushing goalie and Arizona State commit Marko Bilic. Then, with time near expiring, Merrill's shot was stopped, it trickled around in the crease with everybody banging at it. That's when senior and Brown commit Matt Cataldo (Norfolk, Mass.) smacked it in. Leave it to St. Sebastian's most important player to come up in the most important moment.
3. All right, now Cushing's OT winner. St. Sebastian's actually had a chance within the first 30 seconds of overtime. The Arrows had all the momentum, so it looked like the chances of head coach Sean McCann's team pulling off the upset were high. But then Cushing took the puck the other way and got Russo out of position. When the puck was wrapped around to the front of the net, Cushing junior Max Dineen (Brentwood, N.H.) came swooping in and knocked it into the cage.
4. Ryland Randle's been on fire. The junior defenseman for Cushing opened the scoring 37 seconds into the third period on a nice goal. The Arizona State commit is now at 10 goals and 34 points in 30 games.
5. Of all the ways for this game to finish, a low-scoring battle was definitely the least likely. But hey, it's the playoffs.
No. 2 Kimball Union 5, No. 7 St. George's 4 (OT)
1. Andrew O'Sullivan's goal to win the game in overtime was one of the prettiest goals I've seen this season. It came after Kimball Union had failed to score on its second power play of overtime (which we'll get to in a bit). It also came after St. George's had the puck around the KUA net shorthanded. O'Sullivan took it from behind his own net and went through all five St. George's players on the ice and backhanded a shot over St. George's goalie and Maine commit Ryder Shea's (Framingham, Mass.) blocker, giving the Wildcats the thrilling win. O'Sullivan's hands and shiftiness while skating are so impressive, and it was all on display on that final goal. He committed to Colgate earlier this month.
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2. Overtime provided some controversy. Midway through the frame, the puck was bouncing around the front of the KUA net. St. George's sophomore Max Donatelli (Barrington, R.I.) was smacking at it and put his hands up, as did his teammates and Dragons players started to jump off the bench thinking they had scored. The referee behind the net, however, gave the "no goal" sign. According to St. George's head coach Allie Skelley, the referee said it went in but that he lost sight of it and thought it was after the whistle.
3. What makes this such a heartbreaking loss for St. George's is that the Dragons controlled the majority of this game. Through an emphasis on puck possession, physicality and being right on top of KUA puck carriers, the Dragons were the better team. They entered the third period with a lead, lost it and regained it. In overtime, they thought they scored, killed off two penalties...and still lost. Not to mention St. George's drove almost three and a half hours to get there. The Dragons were oh-so-close to the stunning upset.
4. Kimball Union's top line accounted for its four regulation goals. Senior and St. Lawrence commit Sam LeDrew had two. So, too, did junior Corwith Simmers. Senior and New Hampshire commit Jack Sadowski was heavily involved as well, setting up Simmers' second. That top line continues to will the Wildcats to victories.
5. Two St. George's players continuously stood out: senior forward Tate Pecknold (Fairfield, Conn.) and junior defenseman and Providence commit Everett Baldwin (East Providence, R.I.). Pecknold scored early in the second period to put St. George's up, 2-1. Then, later in the frame, he denied Sadowski from entering St. George's zone and pushed play the other way, which led to the Dragons taking a 3-2 lead. His biggest play came midway through the third period when his shot deflected off Donatelli and in, tying the game, 4-4.
Baldwin was sensational. In the first period, he went coast to coast, going around KUA's defense and putting it over Kimball Union goalie Blake McMeniman (Revere, Mass.) to open the scoring. Whenever he wanted to skate the puck, he was able to do it effortlessly. It reminds me of when I saw St. George's play St. Mark's on Jan. 20 and Baldwin took over.
No. 6 Salisbury 3, No. 3 Brunswick 1
1. This game looked like it was going to go off the rails after the first minute. Salisbury senior Seamus Latta ripped a shot from above the faceoff dot past Brunswick senior goalie Will Baker (Norwalk, Conn.) just 36 seconds in. Then, 16 seconds later, Brunswick senior and Brown commit Luke Drury got a shot past Salisbury senior goalie Cooper Flemming.
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2. Wednesday was a typical Salisbury win — nothing flashy, but they got the job done. The Crimson Knights played structured hockey and didn't let Brunswick get many Grade-A chances after Drury's goal in the opening minute. Latta, senior Duke Gentzler and junior Connor Davis chipped in with goals, showing off head coach Andrew Will's team's ability to get scoring from everywhere. Flemming got the job done in net with a strong defense in front of him.
3. Salisbury forward Jesse Allecia didn't register a point, but showed well. The senior played with speed and was able to register some scoring chances. Through Salisbury's 26 games this season, he leads his team in goals (19) and is tied for the team lead in points (30). I'd expect more out of him when he takes the ice against KUA on Saturday.
4. This was a tough one for Brunswick. But the Bruins have a lot to be proud of this season. Earning 26 wins and finishing No. 3 in the Elite 8 as a day school is impressive. The Bruins boasted two 68-point getters in seniors Sean Gibbons (Fairfield, Conn.; West Point commit) and Brendan Giles (Ridgefield, Conn.). Senior defenseman and Dartmouth Commit Cooper Cleaves (Riverside, Conn.) was one of the best two-way defensemen in the region and Baker was one of the biggest breakout goalies in prep. Lots to be proud of for head coach Mike Kennedy and his squad.
No. 4 Avon Old Farms 2, No. 5 Holderness 1
1. The difference between both teams was stark through the first 18 minutes. Avon Old Farms looked like it had been on the Elite 8 stage before, while the lights looked a bit too bright for Holderness. The Bulls were allowed to settle into the game because of the strong play from senior goalie Ryan Nolan. The netminder was on early. Nolan was tasked with making a big, shorthanded save midway through the period. As Avon Old Farms upped the pressure in the final moments of the first, he made multiple saves in tight. His best save came with the score tied, 1-1, in the third period. A shot from the point was tipped in the other direction and he somehow got his right pad on it.
2. Avon got both of its goals from being around the net. Senior and Holy Cross commit Ryan Flaherty (Milton, Mass.) opened the scoring 1:34 into the third period on a wraparound, just beating Nolan to the right post. Junior and Providence commit Cooper Snee put the Winged Beavers up late when he crashed the net. Junior Won-Jun Yun's shot was stopped by Nolan, but Snee darted to, and put, in the rebound.
GOAAAALLLL! @ryan_flaherty14 from Pitts to give us the 1-0 lead early in the third pic.twitter.com/qU0HU10WBX
— AOF HOCKEY (@AOF_Hockey) February 28, 2024
3. The Winged Beavers got strong goaltending from sophomore Anthony Palmer (Lynnfield, Mass.). The '07 made 29 saves in his NEPSAC playoff debut. He controlled rebounds well. The one blemish was when Holderness senior Jake Boulanger pounced on a rebound and scored, tying the game early in the third period. Other than that, Palmer was great.
4. I wasn't surprised at how this game turned out. It was low-scoring and by the third period it was very close. If these two teams played a seven-game series, they would likely need a seventh game. But Avon snuck away with the win in this one.
