BELMONT, Mass. — Salisbury maintained its stranglehold on prep school hockey with Sunday’s dominating 4-1 win over Belmont Hill. The road triumph at Jordan Athletic Center gave the Crimson Knights back-to-back titles and marked the seventh NEPSAC Elite 8 championship for the school.
Salisbury jumped out to an early 2-0 lead that quieted down a raucous crowd that packed the rink three and four deep in many spots. Senior forwards Oliver Frontini and Ryan Walsh both scored on shots from goaltender Sam Scopa’s right within the first 3:25 of the game. A quick rebuttal from Brock Cummings gave Belmont Hill some life, but 2-1 was as close as the home team would get. Northeastern commit Dylan Hryckowian scored in the second period and fellow Future Husky Ben Poitras sealed the deal with an empty-net goal in the third period. Austin McNicholas wasn’t significantly tested, but he made the saves he needed to in order to preserve the win.
As was the case when I watched Salisbury takedown Dexter Southfield on Wednesday, the Crimson Knights employed a suffocating defense and played a disciplined, detail-oriented game. There wasn’t a lot of time and space for Belmont Hill to get its offense clicking. Salisbury got a lot of sticks on pucks, breaking up shooting and passing lanes. It clearly got to Belmont Hill’s top line as all three players ended up taking penalties, a few of the frustration variety.
