With the holiday season upon us, it’s also time for the multiple prep hockey holiday tournaments.
The Groton/Lawrence Holiday Tournament will begin Thursday, Dec. 15, and be played through Dec. 17.
Dexter is the reigning champ after it took down Cushing last year in the finals.
Here’s the full schedule of games throughout the weekend.
Thursday, Dec. 15
- 4:30 p.m. - Thayer vs. Groton (at Groton, O'Brien Rink) — Game 1
- 5:30 p.m. - Holderness vs. Pomfret (at Groton, Pratt Rink) — Game 2
- 6:30 p.m. - Proctor vs. Dexter (at Groton, O'Brien Rink) — Game 3
- 7:30 p.m. - Cushing vs. Lawrence (at Lawrence Academy, Grant Rink) — Game 4
Friday, Dec. 16
- 3 p.m. - Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 3 (at Groton, O'Brien Rink) — Game 5
- 4 p.m. - Loser of Game 2 vs. Loser of Game 4 (at Lawrence Academy, Grant Rink) — Game 6
- 5 p.m. - Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 3 (at Groton, O'Brien Rink) — Game 7
- 6 p.m. - Winner of Game 2 vs. Winner of Game 4 (at Lawrence Academy, Grant Rink) — Game 8
Saturday, Dec. 17
- 9:15 a.m. - Loser of Game 5 vs. Loser of Game 6 (at Groton, Pratt Rink) — Seventh place
- 9:30 a.m. - Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6 (at Groton, O'Brien Rink) — Fifth place
- 9:30 a.m. - Loser of Game 7 vs. Loser of Game 8 (at Lawrence Academy, Grant Rink) — Third place
- 11:30 - Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8 (at Lawrence Academy, Grant Rink) — First place
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Let’s take a look at each team in the tournament.
Cushing
The Penguins were New England Hockey Journal’s preseason No. 1 team and enter this tournament as one of the favorites.
Cushing is 2-0-3 with wins over Winchendon and The Hill School. The three ties came against Dexter, Stanstead College and Williston Northampton. A great performance at this event would give the Penguins a lot of momentum heading into the Christmas break.
It’s no surprise that BC commit Landan Resendes (Hudson, Mass.) is leading the way offensively with three goals and eight points. UConn commit Ethan Gardula (Princeton, Mass.), whom head coach Paul Pearl urged to shoot the puck more heading into this season, has listened to his coach and has four goals in five games. Junior forward Emerson Marshall (Gloucester, Mass.) has a goal and six assists. That trio has been an outstanding top line.
On defense, it’s been seniors Ryan Philbrick (Concord, N.H.), a New Hampshire commit, and Zach Rizzo leading the way. Rizzo has two goals and five points, while Philbrick has four helpers.
Cooper Rautenstrauch has been solid in net, posting a 2.31 goals against average and .896 save percentage.
Dexter Southfield
The reigning tournament champs enter this year’s dance at 2-2-1 with wins over Stanstead College and Exeter. The two losses came at the hands of St. Mark’s and Nobles, while the tie took place against Cushing.
Senior forward Connor Sutherland leads the team in both goals (3) and points (5). Junior forward Cullen Emery and sophomore forward Nate Porter have been stabilizing presences down the middle on Dexter’s top two lines, as both have two goals and four points apiece.
Dexter’s strength is on defense with Harvard commit Sean Keohane (Milton, Mass.), Yale commit Jonathan Lanza (Winthrop, Mass.), Holy Cross commit Liam O’Keeffe (Boston, Mass.) and senior Mick Frechette (Weston, Mass.) making up the core.
The net has been split between seniors Paul Dalessio (Burlington, Mass.) and Max Gatti (Winchester, Mass.). Dalessio has been the better netminder with a 1.91 GAA and .917 save percentage. Both goalies have a win.
Groton
Groton enters its own tournament 1-2-1. The Zebras’ lone win came against North Yarmouth Academy in the season-opening game. Since then, they’ve lost to Rivers and Deerfield and tied Roxbury Latin.
Sophomore forward Zach Baker (Williston, Vt.) has three of his team’s seven goals to open the season. Junior forward Devin Fitzgerald (Woburn, Mass.) is tied with him in points with three assists. Up front, Groton has also gotten production from junior forwards Allen Fang and Ryder Cavanaugh (Scituate, Mass.).
On defense, freshman Alejandro Hassan has a goal and an assist while senior Brayden Haggerty (Windham, N.H.) and sophomore Jason Mah have a goal each.
Ethan Ramonetti has been outstanding in net, posting a 1.94 GAA and .941 save percentage in 167 minutes of action.
Holderness
Holderness is off to a great start with a 4-1-0 record. The wins came against Hebron, Pingree, Brewster Academy and Vermont Academy. The lone loss came to Tilton.
The Bulls have enjoyed lots of offense from senior Tommy Duane, an assistant captain. The Framingham, Mass., native has three goals and six points in five games. Tied with Duane for the team lead in goals is junior forward Jake Boulanger (Barre, Vt.). Senior forward Aidan O’Connell and junior forward Max Tong both have a goal and four assists apiece.
The forward depth has been a big strength, as Holderness is outsourcing opponents 19-10.
Caeden Herrington made headlines on defense with his flashy “Michigan” game-winning goal. The Manchester, Vt., native has two goals and four points in five games. Also important on defense have been senior Jackson Ehwa (Ayer, Mass.), junior Colin Butters (York, Maine) and sophomore Will Rob.
Holderness has consistently put out two goalies in net, but neither has seen that much rubber due to the good team in front of them. Trusty senior Evan Plunkett has played the majority of minutes and has a 2.33 GAA and .889 save percentage. Junior Ryan Nolan (Hampton, N.H.) has a 1.00 GAA and .943 save percentage in two starts.
Lawrence Academy
Entering this tournament, Lawrence Academy has only played in three games. It tied Choate, beat Milton and lost to Belmont Hill.
Junior forward Spencer Hirsch leads the team in goals with three after his two-goal effort against Milton. Sophomore forward Ty Wood (Gloucester, Mass.) has two goals and three points. Senior Clarence Beltz rounds out the offensive standouts with a goal and two assists for three points.
Logan Neal, a junior defender, has a goal and an assist in three games. Senior defenders JS Pack and Noah Vettese and junior defenseman Shawn Leary (Dorchester, Mass.) all have two assists each.
Senior netminder Luc Gagnon has played all three games in net. He has a 5.35 GAA and .857 save percentage.
Pomfret School
While Pomfret won the Piatelli/Simmons Small School Tournament last season, it hasn’t gotten out to a great start this year. The Griffins are 1-4-0 with losses to Nobles, Tabor, Albany Academy and Loomis Chaffee.
Pomfret enters this tournament on a high note after scoring its first win of the season against Pingree.
Junior forward Louie Marcellino leads the team in goals (3) and points (4). Fellow junior forward Jesse Heinberg has two goals and three points, while senior forwards Cameron Geary and Lawrence Viola both have two points each.
On defense, senior Ben Bundy (New Canaan, Conn.) and sophomores Sheldon Rothfleisch and Tyler Milrad (Hamden, Conn.) have been key with one assist apiece.
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Junior Beau Johnson has gotten the majority of minutes in net with a 2.92 GAA and .921 save percentage.
Proctor Academy
After opening the season with a high-scoring, 8-5 loss to Governor’s, Proctor has settled in nicely with three-straight wins, which came against Brewster Academy, St. Paul’s and Vermont Academy. Proctor outscored those three opponents 17-5.
Junior forward Nolan Davis is tied for the prep lead in goals with seven. He was on a tear in the first three games of the season, registering a pair of two-goal efforts and a hat trick against St. Paul’s. Davis isn’t the only one producing — forwards Tyler Gwatkin (Lyndonville, Vt.), Jon Groth (Newburyport, Mass.) and Avan Pyle (New London, N.H.) all have five points each.
Sophomore Kevin Delaney leads the way on the back end with a goal and four assists. Junior Max O’Connell (Norwell, Mass.) has a goal and two assists, while freshman Charlie O’Connell (Norwell, Mass.) has a goal and an assist.
In net, junior Caden Pasqualone has received the majority of time, posting a 1.50 GAA and .946 save percentage after facing 55 shots in 108 minutes.
Thayer Academy
Under new head coach David Hymovitz, Thayer is off to a 2-3-0 start with wins over Rivers and Winchendon and losses to St. George’s, Governor’s Academy and Andover.
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Senior forward Shane Taddia (Medford, Mass.) leads the way with three goals and four points. Sophomore Teddy Lally (Braintree, Mass.) has a goal and two assists, while fellow sophomore Brady Kudrick (Norwell, Mass.) has two goals in five games.
On defense, juniors Brady Erickson (Marshfield, Mass.) and Vinny Sica (Canton, Mass.) have been bright spots. Erickson has three assists while Sica notched a goal against Rivers and has a helper.
Senior Beau Lane (Pembroke, Mass.) owns the crease for Thayer.
