Gunnery vs Trinity Pawling
Avon, CT- The 37th annual Avon Old Farms Christmas Tournament kicked off this afternoon at 1:00 PM as CT rivals Gunnery took on Trinity Pawling. Teams play 25 minute halves.
In the first half, TP jumped out to a 2-0 lead. They struck with 18:20 left when senior Spencer Ryall buried a rebound of a 2v1 chance. TP carried the play and just over two minutes later they struck when sophomore defenseman Mateo Picozzi blasted a shot post and in from the point. We believe it was his first prep goal. TP junior goalie Cam Carroll made a great save soon after in NHL Prospect Alex Jefferies point blank to keep the score 2-0. It didn’t last as Gunnery scores am much needed greasy goal when junior Michael Casey punched one home to get Gunnery in the board. Period ended 2-1 Trinity Pawling.
The second half was a bit more wide open and teams exchanged chances. With 16:32 the first line of Alex Jefferies, David Andreychuk and Michael Casey stayed hot as Casey buried one up top to make it 2-2 with 16:32 left. Jack Musa scored with under five left to give TP what looked like a game winner as he snapped one top fat corner in the rush. However, Gunnery evened the score soon after as Andreychuk jumped on a puck, quickly changed his angle and fired it home. Gunnery enjoyed a power play the last 54 seconds with no score.
In overtime, Dane Dowiak, who was pretty quiet the rest of thegame took matters into his own hands as he went right in off the neutral zone faceoff and scored to give Gunnery their first lead and the OT win. Carmine Andranovich played well in the net to earn the win for Gunnery.
Three stars:
First: Michael Casey (Gunnery)
Second: Alex Jefferies (Gunnery)
Third: Dane Dowiak (Gunnery)
Loomis vs Berkshire
In the second game, unbeaten #5 Loomis (6-0) played #3 and undefeated Berkshire. The game lived up to its billing as it ended in a tie and took an OT period and shootout to determine a winner. The game started out with lots of pace and chances as both ends. Plays was even. At 12:46 Loomis took the lead on a goal by senior Mathieu Schneider assisted by junior Chris Avallone. Loomis seemed to gain som confidence and earned a power play but Berkshire junior goalie Jed Baliotti stood tall at 6’3” to keep the game 1-0. Loomis’ tender and Holy Cross commi, Kyle Chauvette made some big stops as well. Loomis went to the room with a 1-0 lead after the first half. The second half saw chances at both ends including four 2v1s for Berkshire which the Loomis defense handled perfectly. Late in the game, Loomis took a penalty and Berkshire took their goalie out. Loomis had just about killed the PP off when Denver commit Aidan Thompson took a puck end to end in about four seconds, tried a wrap around where Yale commit Briggs Gammill finished it off to tie the game 1-2 with only 3.9 seconds left. Berkshire carried the play in OT but the game went to a shootout. Thompson and Briggs Gammill both score and big Berkshire goalie Jed Baliotti stopped all his shots to earn the win. The game will stand as a tie but a win for tournament purposes.
Avon Old Farms vs Kent
#2 Avon took on #14 Kent in the third game of the day. The pace was frenetic from the drop of the puck. As the teams went up and down with few real chances to show for it. Play was physical and as the half went on, the good chances increased. Kent broke through with the first goal as Cornell commit Aidan Cobb tipped a twister home from sophomore D Nick Marciano who made a pretty play to stickhandle to space and dish to Cobb all alone in front. The teams went up and down the last few minutes but both goalies Jeremy Siegel (Kent) and Connor Callaghan shut the door. Fast and furious half ended with the 1-0 lead for Kent.
Avon came out of the locker room and took a penalty almost immediately. They would pay as sophomore Cole Watson whipped a turnaround shot from the top of the slot to give Kent a two goal lead. These two teams do not like each other and the physical play along with the penalties ensued. No team grabbed a real hold of the game until junior Finn Martin ripped a puck home from the point and it was 3-0 Kent with 5:10 left. We’ve learned when the two teams get together anything can happen as senior defenseman Reid Shafer fired one home through traffic to get Avon in the board with 1:03 left. They were able to get Callaghan from the eat but Kent played smart hockey and finished for the win. 3-1 Kent.
Three Stars
First: Jeremy Siegel (Kent)
Second: Cole Watson (Kent)
Third: Nick Marciano (Kent)
Tabor vs St Paul’s
In the nightcap of the first Day at the AOF Christmas Classic the Tabor Seawolves took on St. Paul’s School. The first half was a decent pace with lots of quality chances for both teams. Six goals were scored with Tabor executing well in transition. They Seawolves scores first as Will Halecki buried one four on four. Senior Jake Cady scored a power play goal on a nice bump pass from 2004 Jack Brandt. Then Tabor added a third as junior Morgan Winters flew up ice and fed Halecki on the tape. Halecki made a posed forehand to backhand move for the finish. St. Paul’s gained some momentum curtesy of their youngsters as they scored the next two goals. First sophomore Jake Sullivan pipped one from classmate Caid Cox with 5:38 remaining. Then with 1:10 left sophomore JT Halliday buried one on a pass from JT Schubert. Half ended 4-2 Tabor.
Tabor extended their lead to 5-2 as Jake Cady put home a slick shot low with an assist to Will Halecki. The game was far from over, however. St. Paul’s started to press. First, Halliday buried a nasty twister home to make it 5-3 with 13:52 left. He scored again to complete the hat trick with just under 10 minutes remaining. Tabor’s Brandon Sherman stopped and watched a lot of shots at iir wide of his goal. The final stretch was intense and St. Paul’s pulled their goalie with 1:30 plus left in the third after a timeout. Every scorer for St. Paul’s had a very good chance to score in a wild end but Tabor survived to get the 5-4 win.
Three Stars:
First: Will Halecki (Tabor)
Second; JT Halliday (St. Paul’s)
Third; Jake Cady (Tabor)