GOFFSTOWN, N.H. — Winning its third straight NEPSAC Elite 8 Tournament Championship was no easy task for Kimball Union.
The Wildcats overcame two separate two-goal deficits and Paul Dore delivered the heroics with 54 seconds left in regulation. With overtime looming, Dore took a stretch pass, skated a few strides inside the blue line, and unleashed a wicked slap shot from just above the left wing circle.
The puck rocketed into the top, far corner of the net, giving Kimball Union a 4-3 win over fellow prep hockey power house Salisbury.
The game certainly didn’t start out looking like a three-peat was in the cards. Michael Fairfax finished off a pretty passing sequence that also included UConn recruit Ilya Usov and Dean Bauchiero to give Salisbury a 1-0 lead with 7:13 left in the first period.
About midway through the second period, things got more ominous. Northeastern commit Justin Hryckowian made a couple dazzling moves before dishing the puck off to Vermont commit Lucas Mercuri for an easy tap-in goal. All of the momentum and buzz in the building was on the side of the Crimson Knights.
However, KUA’s large fan base finally had something to cheer about with 8:13 left in the second period. Ohio State commit Arlo Merritt blocked a shot at his own blue line and raced the other way. He beat Salisbury goaltender Jared Levine with a wrist shot that sailed over the blocker on the short side.
In what would prove to be a frantic several minutes, Salisbury regained the lead at the 11:59 mark of the second. A turnover by KUA landed right on the stick of Clay Korpi, who sent it over to Mercuri, who found the twine. The two-goal lead was back at 3-1.
With 3:53 to play in the second period, Providence commit Tomas Mazura seemingly found a teammate at the backdoor, but his pass deflected off a Salisbury defender and into the net before it got there. Zach Taylor and Teddy Griffin picked up the helpers.
Taylor gave Kimball Union fans even more reason to cheer when he evened the score with 38 seconds left in the middle frame. While killing a penalty, Sullivan Mack won a puck battle along the right wing wall deep in the Salisbury end. He sent it out to the blue line to Taylor, who was wide open. Taylor took a few strides in and unleashed a slap shot past Levine.
The third period was a lot of back and forth, but not much in the way of serious scoring chances until Dore’s blast to seal the third straight title for Tim Whitehead’s Wildcats.
The game itself wasn’t the only deficit KUA had to overcome this season. With Salisbury boasting a whopping 12 NCAA commits, talent and depth was on the side of Andrew Will’s club. KUA had just five NCAA commits.
The team battled some adversity, losing three of five during one stretch around the Flood Marr Tournament. One of the losses was a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Salisbury in a game that never seemed to be in doubt.
This might have been Whitehead’s best coaching performance to date. He seemingly pushed all of the right buttons on Sunday as he did in turning his team’s fortunes around after the Flood Marr. The Wildcats lost just once after the annual Christmas tournament hosted by Nobles and Milton.
Whitehead performed admirably for many years as head coach of the University of Maine before being run out after a couple of down seasons. With how things have gone in Orono since his departure, maybe the problem extended past the head coach’s office.
Whitehead deserves another chance at a Division I head coaching job if he so desires. There could be a couple of openings in the Northeast after this season where Whitehead would be a great fit.
While Will’s team fell short in the title game for a second consecutive season, he is no slouch of a coach himself. While he often gets off the bus or leaves the home locker room with the vastly superior lineup, he’s a heck of a coach.
It should be obvious to anyone who has watched prep and college hockey over the last few years that players who come through KUA and Salisbury are more prepared for the next level than at any other NEPSAC institution.
With 17 committed players in the final prep school game of the season, we could go on and on about the prospects. Instead, here’s a look at three uncommitted players from the Elite 8 championship game whose stock increased due to Sunday’s performance:
Zach Taylor
#21 Kimball Union, 5/14/00, RW, Right Shot, 5-11/185
Taylor, a PG who played MIAA high school hockey for Hanover, saved some of his best hockey for big stages this season. He was solid at the Exeter Invitational in early December before scoring a goal and adding an assist in each the semifinal win over Lawrence on Sunday’s championship against Salisbury. While Taylor might not be a Division I player, whatever college program lands him will get a player who works hard each shift. Taylor brings energy and grit. He also isn’t afraid to throw his weight around. He scored the shorthanded goal, but he was all over the ice.
Sullivan Mack
#8 Kimball Union, 7/5/00, RW, Left Shot, 5-10/170
Mack is another ’00, but he’s only a junior. The Anchorage, Alaska, native has had a big season playing alongside Mazura, a Providence commit and potential NHL Draft pick. He’s on the smaller side, but he hunts pucks and uses his speed to his advantage. A good student, Mack has a chance to commit to an Ivy League school. If not, he’d be a big-time recruit for any NESCAC school to land.
Michael Fairfax
#11 Salisbury, 3/4/01, LW, Left Shot, 6-2/185
Fairfax has been buried on the depth chart at Salisbury for two seasons now, but he’s shown glimpses of potential while playing for Mid Fairfield during the fall. In the championship game, he scored the team’s first goal by driving the net and finishing off a nice passing sequence. He’s a big power forward whose production all season came in a bottom-six role and without getting power play minutes. With his size, don’t rule out him eventually landing a spot at a Division I school that envisions him as a bottom-six winger.
Salisbury Lines
19 Justin Hryckowian - 7 Lucas Mercuri - 17 Nick Capone
24 Cole Vallese - 28 Jacob Quillan - 27 Matt Coronato
15 Tom Richter - 16 Michael Cameron - 9 Matt DeBoer
11 Michael Fairfax - 20 Ilya Usov - 12 Dean Bauchiero
5 Luke Krys - 6 Bayard Hall
18 Clay Korpi - 4 Jarod Crespo
3 AJ Casperson - 8 Bobby Metz
1 Jared Levine
Kimball Union Lines
20 Arlo Merritt - 22 Drew Bennett - 18 Brian Carrabes
15 Zach Whitehead - 11 Tomas Mazura - 8 Sullivan Mack
26 Paul Dore - 9 Seth Stadheim - 21 Zach Taylor
7 Donte Pierre - 16 Carson Moe - 14 Ben Tardiff
17 Kyle Penney - 24 Christian Felton
5 Teddy Griffin - 4 Devan Newhook
3 Andrew Noel - 23 Jack Clarner
1 Veeti Kohvakka
