The term “powerhouse” gets thrown around quite a bit in the New England prep hockey circuit. When it comes to the region’s true perennial dynamo, however, look no further than Salisbury.
Since head coach Andrew Will got to the program tucked in the northwest corner of Connecticut in 2008, a very short list of teams come close to matching what the Crimson Knights have done — appearing in six Elite 8 Stuart/Corkery Tournament championship games, winning four of them. Three of those coveted Elite 8 championships came in consecutive years from 2013-15.
Aside from Kimball Union, which pulled off the elusive threepeat from 2017-19, no other team has won three straight titles in the nearly 40-year history of New England prep school playoffs.
Under the leadership of Will, a Toronto-area native who played four years at Union College and two in the ECHL before kickstarting his coaching career, Salisbury has been at the front of the pack year in and year out, making it as far as the Elite 8 quarterfinals every spring since 2011.
Will, 46, filled the Salisbury job when former head coach Dan Donato left for Dexter Southfield.
In addition to their postseason success, the Crimson Knights have claimed seven Housatonic League titles with Will, who was named the 2015 All-USA Boys Hockey Coach of the Year.
Entering his 12th season leading New England’s most decorated prep school, the former ECAC Defensive Defenseman of the Year points to a balancing act as the main proponent of Salisbury’s success.
“We’re tremendously fortunate to have the staff that we have, the support of the school and the facilities to provide our kids with a really rich and full athletic experience,” Will said. “But for us, that balance is much more than that. We’re trying to work with these guys on and off the ice to try to maximize their potential, certainly as hockey players, but as students and as young men.”
It takes a certain type of high-school-aged student-athlete to maneuver that balance.
“It’s the kids that we’ve had that have really bought in to that balance and really believed it’s going to be important for them on an individual level, but also the kids that are really excited about being a part of something that’s bigger than themselves,” Will said. “I think being part of a program that has had some success is certainly motivation, and I think that raises the bar because new kids want to continue that tradition. They want to keep that bar high and set it even higher.
“For me and the coaching staff, our goal is always not to compare ourselves to previous teams,” Will said. “I think that can be challenging for kids if they feel that pressure that, ‘Hey, we have to live up to that expectation because last year’s team won it.’ We really put the emphasis on this particular team with this group of kids and what do we need to do to be the best we’re capable of being, all within that context of that balance and trying to excel in all the areas of life here.”
A look back, 2019-20: Third time’s the charm
Following New England’s first-ever threepeat, Salisbury was dethroned in 2016 and 2017.
It wasn’t long before the Crimson Knights were back competing for the ultimate prize, though, as they returned to the title game in 2018 and 2019. In both games, they were knocked off by their Meriden, N.H., rival Kimball Union, losing by a goal in both affairs.
Out for revenge in 2019-20, Salisbury returned to the top of New England prep school hockey.
On the heels of a scorching 21-3-1 regular season, Salisbury finally got over the KUA hump, beating its northern rival 7-4 in the quarterfinals before outmanning a deep Avon Old Farms team in the semifinals. In the title game, a 4-0 shutout of Dexter Southfield put icing on the cake.
The Crimson Knights almost didn’t get that far, nearly falling to their annual foe for a third time.
After going down 3-0 against the Wildcats early in the quarterfinal, they stormed back late in the game to exorcise the demons and build the confidence to continue their run and finish the job.
“It was exciting,” Will said. “The opportunity to play (KUA) again was tremendously exciting and our guys were really eager to have that chance. We have so much respect for (KUA coach) Tim (Whitehead) and his staff and his program and how competitive they play the game. We knew it was going to be a battle.
“That was a real hallmark of that team. Just the resiliency and the leadership that we had from our kids to not give up. We were fortunate to win that game and get over that hump. We were confident going into the playoffs, but I think getting over that hurdle of beating KUA in the playoffs really boosted our guys and gave them that extra confidence for the next two games.”
With the title win over Dexter, Salisbury grabbed its first Elite 8 championship since 2015, led by senior scorers Lucas Mercuri (UMass Amherst commit) and Jake Quillan (Quinnipiac commit).
It was a dominant run from start to finish, as the Crimson Knights began the year on a 14-1-1 tear, going undefeated through 15 games after opening the season with a loss against Taft.
Senior right wing Matthew DeBoer (Holy Cross commit), son of Vegas Golden Knights head coach Peter DeBoer, also enjoyed a productive year. His empty-netter iced the title game in the final minutes. On the back end, senior captain Jarod Crespo (Penn State commit) flourished as well.
While previous Salisbury teams were frontloaded with high-end talent, last year’s squad won with more depth and received steady contributions from up and down the lineup. So much so that breakout juniors Sam Deckhut (St. Lawrence commit) and Dean Bauchiero (Brown commit) were both extended mid-season Division 1 offers for their supporting roles.
In total, nine Division 1 NCAA commits dressed in the championship game for Salisbury, with several of them moving on ahead of 2020-21 to continue their development process.
After shifting his commitment from Vermont to UMass Amherst when 17-year UVM head coach Kevin Sneddon retired from his post in March, Mercuri will head off to the USHL to play a year for Des Moines. Before starting his career at Quinnipiac, Quillan will play a season in the BCHL.
Other notable offseason departures include Crespo and DeBoer, who are both headed to Green Bay to play a season in the USHL before joining Penn State and Holy Cross, respectively.
A look ahead, 2020-21: Defending the crown
Like clockwork, players come and go at the end of each prep season, while teams endure change.
With such a large cast of graduating seniors, it will be tough to replicate last year’s start, but Will, in his 13th season, is confident his group of newcomers and returners are up to the task.
The largest area of turnover will be at forward for Salisbury, where it’s losing its top three scorers and more. On the back end, the team is losing five key seniors and both goaltenders.
While the loss of that veteran presence will hurt on the ice, it will hurt equally off it.
“We’re losing a lot of leadership, just having those leadership voices and presences in the locker room and around the program day in and day out,” Will said. “We’re in a year where that leadership and the offense are both turning over, but we’re tremendously excited about the group we’ve got back and experience that they’ve picked up from this past season.”
On the attack, Salisbury will look to the return of rising seniors Deckhut and Bauchiero, as well as Oliver Frontini and Tommy Rooney, to step up and help fill the void of the departed scorers.
“Deckhut had a fantastic year for us last year,” Will said. “Dean’s going into his third year, a big strong kid that’s just continued to work at his game. I think he’s really poised to become a top-line impact guy at the prep school level.
“Then we have some other guys, like Lombardi, Frontini, Tommy Rooney, guys who were in the type of second-, third-line roles that are going to have the opportunity to elevate their games.”
On a youthful back end, rising senior defensemen such as Calum Chau, Jake Lammens (St. Lawrence commit) and James Patrick will anchor the unit as it finds its legs.
“We’ve had to bring in a number of guys to complement the departures, and I think we’ve found some fantastic kids,” Will said. “We’re going to have two new goalies coming in as well. As a whole I think it’s a terrific group that’s going to complement the returning core extremely well.”
Appearing in a fourth straight final is hard enough, but for the time being, Will isn’t focused on what happens seven months from now. The work starts in the offseason, and the rest plays itself out.
“I think it’s so important to have depth in your program and having those guys being prepared and having the confidence to take that next step,” Will said, “and I really feel that we have that with this group. Once we get going, we’ll see for sure, but we’re really excited about that.”
Liam Flaherty can be reached at lflaherty24@gmail.com and on Twitter @_LiamFlaherty.
