The NEPSAC Hockey Piatelli/Simmons Small School Tournament will have quite a bit of intrigue this year.
Tilton, the fifth seed, is back to defend its title while No. 1 St. Mark’s, No. 2 Millbrook, No. 3 New Hampton and No. 6 Gunnery are poised to challenge.Â
The field of eight teams boasts two of the top three 2020 NHL Draft prospects in prep school hockey in St. Mark’s defenseman Ian Moore and Gunnery right wing Alex Jefferies.
Seeds
1. St. Mark’s (22-4-2)
2. Millbrook (20-9-1)
3. New Hampton (21-9-4)
4. Groton (21-7-0)
5. Tilton (16-5-5)
6. Gunnery (16-12-3)
7. Rivers (14-10-1)
8. Pomfret (15-11-3)
Quarterfinal matchups
As is the case with all three of the NEPSAC Hockey tournaments, quarterfinal matchups will take place Wednesday, March 4, 2020, on campus sites. Two of the four quarterfinals in the Piatelli/Simmons Small School Tournament will take place at neutral sites due to the distance between the competing schools.
Pomfret at St. Mark’s (5:00 p.m.)
Tilton at Groton (4:15 p.m.)
Gunnery at New Hampton (@ Cushing, 3:30 p.m.)
Rivers at Millbrook (@ Berkshire, 5:00 p.m.)
Pomfret at St. Mark’s
This matchup could pose some problems for St. Mark’s as Pomfret is one of the older teams in prep school hockey.
As is widely known, St. Mark’s is led by Moore, the junior defenseman slated to be the first prep school player taken in June’s NHL Draft. The Concord, Mass., native and Harvard commit has 11 goals and 34 assists in 27 games. Another key blue liner is senior Tucker Hartmann, who will likely land a commit in ECAC Hockey or Atlantic Hockey following a year of junior hockey.
Three younger defensemen, junior Jake Oblak and sophomores Luke Sullivan and Michael Fisher will play significant roles when it comes to providing depth and being reliable when the top two guys aren’t on the ice.
Up front, senior Danny Ciccarello and junior Brendan Gibbons are the top scoring threats. Junior Trevor O’Brien and sophomore Dom Murphy are two players who have gotten better as the season has gone along.
Senior Will Bundy is the projected starting goaltender for Carl Corazzini’s Lions.
For Pomfret, senior Kyle Tomaso leads the offense with 17 goals and 28 assists in 29 games played. Tyler Bourque, Jake Hughes, Cam Lowe, Matt Lakus, Sami Hakkarainen, and Tyler Mitchell are other forwards to keep tabs on.
The top prospect on defense is sophomore Philippe Lamarre, a prep newcomer who has put together a nice season.
Middlebury commit Andrew Shearson, a post graduate student from Illinois, will give Pomfret a chance to steal this game.
Prediction: Pomfret isn’t an easy draw for the Lions. Goaltending and age are two factors favoring Matt Goethals’ squad. Still, it’s hard to pick against the Lions. St. Mark’s wins this one by a score of 4-3.
Tilton at Groton
Tilton fell short of my preseason expectations, but Brooks McQuade’s team is back to defend its crown in the Piatelli/Simmons Small School Tournament.
The Rams are an older team that should be considered one of the favorites to win the trophy. Leading the way offensively is senior Jack Seymour who had 20 goals and 24 assists in 25 games. A slew of older players, including post grads Max Cocchi, Jon Tavella and Mike Tersoni play key roles offensively.
Vermont commit Jagger Benson is the top blue liner. He’s a smooth skater who can push the pace and jump into the offense. Senior Brett Lockhart is another defenseman to watch. Senior goaltender Justin Lee acts as the last line of defense.
Seniors Luke Beckstein and Marc Borghi lead the way with 53 points and 48 points, respectively, for Bill Riley’s Zebras. Junior defenseman Trey Whitehead leads the way on the blue line with sophomore Bryan McLachlan and junior Thomas Dempsey logging key minutes. Senior Kevin Clark is the projected starting goaltender.
Prediction: This is my lock of the tournament. The Rams skate out of Groton with a big 4-2 win.
Gunnery at New Hampton
This is an interesting matchup as it pits two of the better top lines in prep school hockey. Jefferies and UConn commit Mark D’Agostino lead the way for Gunnery while Sacred Heart commit Marcus Joughin and Dartmouth recruit Isaac MacLeod bring the scoring punch for New Hampton.
No one scored more points during the 2019-20 regular season than Joughin who finished with 16 goals and 63 assists. MacLeod lit the lamp 39 times in 34 games while adding 26 assists. Cole Hipkin earned a college commit to St. Lawrence for his strong play this season.
The Huskies have a lot of experience on the blue line with five seniors, Parker Schaarschmidt, Adam Shuchart, Steven Ardagna, Quinn McClelland and Will Hilfiker. While the goaltending duties have been split this season, expect junior Lucas Brine to get the nod.
As I predicted in the preseason, defense and overall depth proved to be a problem for Gunnery. Craig Badger’s team enters the post-season having given up five or more goals in three of its last four games.
Jefferies has 28 goals and 31 assists on the season while D’Agostino potted 23 goals and added 28 helpers. Penn State commit Dane Dowiak, Providence commit Daniel Sambuco and recent St. Lawrence commit David Andreychuk are the other names to know up front.
Prediction: New Hampton has played a tough schedule to prepare them for the post-season. In his first year as head coach, Connor Gorman has done a terrific job. Huskies win 6-3.
Rivers at Millbrook
Millbrook has had a surprisingly good season while Rivers struggled to earn a small school tournament bid.
The Mustangs are led offensively by senior Niko Rexine who buried 25 goals while adding 21 helpers. Junior Jake Percival had a breakout season with 21 goals and 25 assists. Junior Shane Albert, senior Kyle Neudorf and sophomore DJ Walsh are other offensive threats for Vinnie Sorriento’s team.
On the blue line, seniors Zach Bookman and Bauer Morrissey bring an offensive punch. Both players are mobile and skilled. Bookman is committed to Merrimack. Junior Owen Hains is the likely starting goaltender for Millbrook.
Millbrook will have to contain Rivers’ top line, led by center and Yale commit Phil Tresca. He’s flanked on the wings by fellow seniors Matt Cormier and Michael McEachern.
A few other players to watch include Bentley commit Pat Lawn, a senior defenseman, and sophomore Ziv Deener-Chodirker. In goal, Casen Janko and Conor Sullivan have split time. Expect head coach Shawn McEachern to go with the veteran Janko in the playoffs.
Prediction: This game could be high scoring. Look for Millbrook to come out on top by a score of 5-4.
Who wins it all?
New Hampton will skate off the ice Sunday at Trinity with the trophy. Look for the Huskies to knock off either St. Mark’s or Tilton in the final.
