HARTFORD, Conn. -- Salisbury captured its first NEPSAC Hockey Stuart/Corkery Elite 8 since 2015 with Sunday's 4-0 win over Dexter Southfield at Trinity College's Koeppel Community Sports Center.
It was the school's fifth prep hockey title overall, but it was a measure of revenge for the perennial powerhouse that had lost two consecutive finals at the hands of Kimball Union. The Crimson Knights dispatched its nemesis in the quarterfinals by a score of 7-4.
In Sunday's final, Massimo Lombardi gave Salisbury a 1-0 lead after the first period on a wrist shot goal from the left wing circle. Brown commit Dean Bauchiero and Vermont commit Lucas Mercuri gave Andrew Will's squad a 3-0 lead heading to the third period. Holy Cross commit Matthew DeBoer put the cherry on top of the sundae with an empty net tally in the game's final minute.
Why did Salisbury win?
Salisbury was a deep team with nine Division I commits, but it wasn't the most talented or even the deepest team the Crimson Knights have ever had. Will's team downed the two deepest teams in prep hockey this season in both the semifinals and final. Salisbury upset Avon Old Farms, 4-3, in overtime a day prior.
What Salisbury perhaps lacked in depth compared to Dexter Southfield and Avon Old Farms, the team made up for that with veteran experience, being physical, and making less mistakes.
Particularly in Sunday's championship game played on less than ideal ice conditions, Salisbury avoided giving Dexter Southfield too many grade A chances. And, when Dexter Southfield made a mistake, Salisbury made sure its opponent paid the price.
This isn't to suggest Dexter Southfield wasn't good down the middle, but Salisbury has two extremely talented and smart hockey players at the top six center position. Mercuri and Quinnipiac commit Jake Quillan are very good hockey players. Quillan has been one of the more underrated players on the prep circuit over the past two seasons. Even third line center George Vamvakaris is an older player with experience north of the border.
While goaltending was sometimes a question for Salisbury this season, senior Nick Haas came up with a solid performance against Dexter Southfield. It was just his second shutout of the season, but the other came in a rather meaningless contest against Canterbury, certainly not the same caliber of team.
Dexter Southfield coach Danny Donato is terrific at preparing his team to win. As I noted after the quarterfinal win over Hotchkiss, Donato clearly had his team ready to exploit the weaknesses of the Bearcats. The coaching factor was nullified Sunday as both bench bosses are two of the best in prep hockey.
Gunnery, Loomis Chaffee also win titles
The Stuart/Corkery Elite 8 Tournament wasn't the only championship being contested Sunday at Trinity College.
First up was the Piatelli/Simmons Small School Tournament. Gunnery roared back from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to defeat Pomfret, 5-3. In his final prep game, Merrimack commit and 2020 NHL Draft prospect Alex Jefferies scored two goals and added two helpers. The other offensive hero was defenseman Zander Lizotte, who had a hat trick and added an assist. It was a disappointing final result for Pomfret, but the Griffins had a few bright spots. The main one was senior and Trinity commit Kyle Tomaso who had two assists playing on his future home rink.
In the Martin/Earl Large School Tournament, Loomis Chaffee won the championship with a 2-0 triumph over Cushing, the top seed in that division. The Pelicans got goals from Dartmouth commit Cody Hoban and an empty net tally from Adam Martin. Holy Cross commit Kyle Chauvette stopped all 34 shots he faced. While it was a losing effort, Cushing freshman Jackson Irving was really good, kicking out 22 of 23.
Buzz on the recruiting trail
Excluding freshmen and sophomores who are too young to make a commit, due to new NCAA legislation passed last spring, here are three uncommitted players who made a positive impression on me during the prep playoffs:
Jack Dempsey
Dexter Southfield, 5/17/01, LW, left shot, 6-3/215
Jack Dempsey, a senior from Natick, Mass., had two goals and four assists in the team's first two playoff games. Dempsey is a big power forward who does a good job protecting pucks. He has good hands for a big guy and his goal against Hotchkiss showed just that. While his feet could use some work, he'll have a year of junior hockey to figure that out. Rumor is he has a visit at a Beanpot school upcoming. Dempsey's development path is a great story. He played a season at Natick High School and two seasons at Catholic Memorial before coming to Dexter Southfield. In his first year playing prep, he had 16 points. This year, he more than tripled that with 51 points.
Jed Baliotti
Berkshire, 2/7/02, G, catches left, 6-3/180
Baliotti made 46 of 48 saves in his team's overtime win over Lawrence in the quarterfinals and stopped 44 of 47 in the loss to Dexter Southfield. The New Canaan, Conn., native has good size and made a couple of challenging saves look easy. According to a tweet from Mark Divver, New Hampshire, Merrimack and Colgate have all shown interest in Baliotti. There were lots of college coaches and NHL scouts at both of his playoff games. Those three schools won't be his only suitors going forward.
Gavin Puskar
Hotchkiss, 6/21/01, LW, left shot, 6-1/175
Puskar had one of the best second halves of any player in prep hockey. Through the first 12 games of the season, he had just three goals. The Westfield, N.J., native scored 15 goals in the final 14 games. While his team was badly outmanned in the quarterfinal matchup against Dexter Southfield, Puskar scored the lone Hotchkiss goal. Puskar is a strong north-south winger who can hunt pucks. His tools are worthy of Division I consideration. In junior hockey, he'll have to learn to play a little harder and get into the dirty areas on a more consistent basis. Nonetheless, he's a Division I player, in my mind.
