MERIDEN, N.H. — Defending champion Salisbury School beat Kimball Union 2-1 at 8:37 of overtime to punch its ticket to the final game at Belmont Hill on Sunday (5 p.m.).
Northeastern recruit Ben Poitras scored the winning goal on a seemingly non-threatening shot from the outside that eluded goaltender Dan Heroux (University of Vermont) to knock out the NEPSAC Elite 8 tournament’s top seed. The sudden death strike sent the No. 5 Crimson Knights down to Massachusetts for a chance to keep their prep hockey crown earned two years ago after the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020-21 prep hockey season.
Akerstrom Arena was buzzing with the up-and-down action between two balanced, deep and experienced teams with great coaching. As expected, it was a low-scoring affair, and the on-ice officials did a good job of managing the game with appropriate calls, letting the players decide who moved on to the title contest. Both squads competed hard, and after some early tentative shifts, settled in for a defensive battle. Coaches Andrew Will and Tim Whitehead kept the teams true to their defensive structure, and when there were breakdowns the goaltending of Heroux and Salisbury’s Austin McNicholas were able to make the saves.
KUA had been the class of the Lakes Region Conference and overcame a 1-0 deficit with a late goal that gave the reigning champs all they could handle. Now, Salisbury will try to win their third consecutive road game against another top defensive team with some intriguing storylines in Belmont Hill.
Scoring summary
After a scoreless first period, senior Lee Parks struck first for Salisbury, firing home a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle that appeared to hit Heroux and bounce into the back of the net with 9:30 left in the second frame. KUA players tried to argue that the goal shouldn't stand because the net had come off its moorings, but the officials upheld it, ruling the net moved as Parks released the puck.
The game continued as both teams skated hard up and down the ice, but both defenses held.
Then, with time running out in regulation, KUA captain Jaiden Moriello showed why he was prep hockey's most prolific finisher of the season. The UMass-Lowell recruit from Saugus, Mass., gathered the puck from below the goal line, walked out from behind the net, and slipped a sharp-angle shot just inside the net after McNicholas left a small bit of daylight between his catching arm and the post.
The equalizer happened with about three minutes left, and the teams exchanged a few scoring chances before regulation time expired.
In overtime, Salisbury gradually took the territorial advantage, pressuring KUA and employing an aggressive forecheck. That set the stage for the Poitras dagger, scored after the Knights pinched down in the offensive zone to deny an attempted breakout. He got the puck and threw to the net, where it appeared to hit a KUA player in front and went in. It may not have been a highlight reel-style goal, but it underscored the old hockey adage: shoot the puck, and good things can happen.
Why Salisbury won
The veteran coaches kept their players disciplined and true to the systems that got them here. Special teams did not play much of a factor, as there weren't many power plays, and the goals happened at even strength.
The thinking going into this one is that goaltending would end up being the difference.
McNicholas has been tremendous down the stretch for Salisbury, and it showed in this game. He was about three minutes from pitching a shutout, and the Moriello goal was about as accurate a shot you will see. However, he didn't lose his composure, and stayed loose until Poitras broke through in OT.
Heroux played an excellent game for KUA after looking a little scrambly at times against Holderness in Wednesday's quarterfinal victory. He made one quality save early in the game when top scorer Dylan Hryckowian broke in alone. Down 1-0 in the third period, he denied captain Oliver Frontini, who attacked with speed off the rush, stopping the initial shot, then sprawling the other way to deny Frontini's rebound bid that would have put the game out of reach.
Both goalies did their jobs, but Salisbury won because McNicholas was able to make one more save.
NHL draft watch
KUA's Duncan Ramsay played a simple, effective game. The 6-foot-5, 210-pound defender from Nova Scotia is such a fluid skater for his size with a long reach. Whitehead moved his defensive combinations around during the game, but Ramsay logged a lot of minutes as usual. There were some turnovers on the downside, but he also made some strong defensive plays with his stick. The Vermont recruit is still pretty raw, but his USHL rights are owned by Sioux City, and if he can develop his decision-making skills under pressure, he has a shot as a later project pick in the draft.
Keys to Salisbury-Belmont Hill championship game
Both of the remaining Elite 8 entries have had to overcome adversity to reach the decisive contest.
Salisbury has had to do it all on the road as the lower seed, beating Dexter Southfield in Brookline in Wednesday's quarterfinal. Belmont Hill traveled to Avon to beat the No. 2 Winged Beavers and deny John Gardner's bid to win a prep championship in his final game of the 2021-22 season after notching career victory 800 in the first.
Between McNicholas and Sextants netminder Sam Scopa (Lexington, Mass.), it should be another duel between the pipes. Scopa is a young '05, but his focus and poise belie his youth.
Both teams are sound defensively with the ability to create turnovers and counterattack with speed. Belmont Hill boasts some speed and physicality at the forward position, but Salisbury holds a decisive advantage in experience in prep playoffs and championship games.
One of the most interesting storylines of the game is the history between the two head coaches. Belmont Hill's Brian Phinney was one of Andrew Will's assistants at Salisbury before joining his alma mater Middlebury College's coaching staff for the 2017-18 season. From there, he went on to Belmont Hill for several years as an assistant.
The Ripton, Vt., native has brought the Sextants to the pinnacle of NEPSAC supremacy in his first year of competition as a head coach, but to reach it, he will have to beat one of his coaching mentors.
This one is too close to call, with both teams having the talent at all positions to keep it a low-scoring affair. However, Salisbury's experience on the ice and behind the bench gives them the psychological edge going into it.
