There was no team in New England boys prep hockey hotter than Winchendon down the stretch. The Wapitis went 20-2-1 en route to a Small School title.
Head coach Mike Busconi's team rode an offensive wave. They took down No. 7 New Hampton, 7-1, in the quarterfinals, before edging out Canterbury, 2-1, in overtime of the semifinals.
Come the championship, Winchendon's top players were in flow state, leading the Wapitis to a 5-2 victory against No. 1 Holderness.
Naturally, a handful of players stepped up the most.
Here are our All-Small School tournament team and the MVP.
MVP: Charlie Puglisi, Winchendon
Puglisi capped off an incredible season at Winchendon with a memorable showing in the Small School tournament. He posted a hat trick and added an assist in a 7-1 quarterfinal win over No. 7 New Hampton. He followed that with a season-saving, late goal to tie No. 3 Canterbury and force overtime. In the final, he was a beast, setting up Winchendon's three first-period goals and notching a fourth on Jackson Smail's hat trick in the second. His nine-point postseason got him to finish as the leading point-getter in prep with 26 goals, 50 assists and 76 assists in 35 games. The Cornell commit was a force.
Forward:Â Charlie Puglisi, Winchendon
Pretty obvious, right?
Forward:Â Jackson Smail, Winchendon
Smail opened his tournament with three helpers in the New Hampton win, assisting on all of Puglisi's goals. The Vermont commit's scoring prowess kicked into high gear against Canterbury when he scored the winner in overtime (and collected an assist on Puglisi's game-tying goal). He was magnificent in the championship with three snipes for a hat trick before the middle of the second period. Smail finished second in the region in goals (30) and third in points (62).
READ MORE: All-Elite 8 tournament team | All-Large School tournament team
Forward:Â Viktor Samal, Holderness
Samal scored in every game of the tournament. In the wacky, 9-6 win over No. 8 Pomfret, Samal scored a shorthanded goal in the third and posted an assist. He scored on the power play against No. 5 Berkshire, which was the Bulls' lone goal in a 1-0 win. He stopped the bleeding a bit in the championship, scoring at the very end of the second period to give Holderness a boost going into the third. The Czech native had a very nice senior year with 17 goals and 38 points in 27 games.
Defenseman:Â Anthony Pomarico, Winchendon
Pomarico was a two-way force through the three games. He posted two assists against New Hampton and then set up Smail's OT winner against Canterbury and caught a secondary helper on Cooper Ludwar's power play goal in the championship. The postgrad defenseman from Brentwood, N.H., provided stability on the Winchendon blue line. He showcased a great stick on defense and also made smart plays with pucks to jumpstart the offense. He finished with 27 points in 35 games.
Defenseman:Â Henry Prowse, Holderness
Prowse's points came in the win over Pomfret, as he posted three assists. But the 6-foot-2, 180-pound senior provided shutdown defense for the Bulls. He played stout defense to ensure senior goalie Mark Bierwirth (Chelmsford, Mass.) got the 31-save shutout against Berkshire. Even in the final, Prowse was physical and hard to play against. He finished the season with seven goals and 16 points in 27 games.
READ MORE: Relive Winchendon's Small School victory
Goalie:Â Brady Knode, Winchendon
Knode was a force en route to a championship. He made 21 saves to hold New Hampton to one goal. His best game came against Canterbury, who pressed all game to take a two-goal lead, but Knode finished with 46 stops, playing perfectly after Canterbury's second-period goal. That continued into the championship, where he made 26 saves to hold the Bulls to two goals. He finished the season with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.
