Day #1 in the books for the 45th annual Lawrence-Groton Holiday Tournament. A lot talented players on display and great games which will set up for even better matchups tomorrow (Friday). Below are a blurb on the games. We had multiple scouts at this tournament today but given the games were played over 3 different rinks we weren’t able to see each game start to finish so we put some notes on each game below.
Lawrence Scores Two in the Third to Down Cushing 3-1
The day culminated with a rivalry game between Lawrence Academy hosting Cushing Academy in front of a full house at the Lawrence School in Groton, Massachusetts. The game was back-and-forth with each team generating several good scoring chances. Lawrence used a pair of third period goals to pull away from Cushing and score a 3-1 victory to stay in the winners bracket. Lawrence will move on to face Pomfret tomorrow, while Cushing will look to rebound versus Holderness.
The first period started with each team trying to feel each other out. There were some scoring chances generated by both teams but Jackson Irving (Newbury, MA) for Cushing and Brandon Millberg (Thornhill, Ontario – Sacred Heart) were up to the task. Lawrence would strike first, as Blake Humphrey (Rochester, NY – Providence College) tipped the puck past Irving from the slot after a shot from Damien Carfagna (Wood-Ridge, NJ).
Portions of the second period were controlled by Cushing and they finally broke through with a few minutes to go in the frame. After a turnover, Jake Hewitt (Ashburnham, MA – Army) walked in on a break-a-way, faked to his forehand, then tucked a backhand over the glove of Millberg. The teams would head into the second break knotted at one. “I thought we played hard and physical the first two periods but had some lulls offensively and didn’t finish off plays,” said Lawrence Academy Head Coach Robbie Barker. “I was proud of the leadership in the locker room and a bend but don’t break mentality. We came out hard in the third period.”
The third featured some good chances by both teams but Lawrence was able to capitalize on their chances as Ryan Meagher (Franklin, TN) fed the puck to Cole Teleki (Dallas, Texas – Providence College) in the slot, before the defender snapped the puck into the net. Lawrence would get an insurance goal a few minutes later on a nifty odd man break. Mack Oliphant (Northbrook, IL), who had a strong night overall made a slick saucer pass on a two-on-one break to Dave Sacco (Middleton, MA – University of New Hampshire) and he stuffed the puck back-door. Cushing would mount some pressure late, but could not take advantage of a late Power Play opportunity. The game would end 3-1. “This was a big game for us, the toughest team we’ve played, and they worked hard and worked together to get the win.”
NZ Notes
For Cushing, several players had strong nights. Nick Rheaume (Bencancour, Quebec) was all over the ice and made some slick plays in one-on-one situations. He is confident with the puck and attacks defenders directly. He plays with pace in transition and hides his release well when shooting off-the-rush. Jake Hewitt was noticeable on each shift, and while he didn’t have his best night, made some things happen. He has a slick set of hands and is tough to contain below the goal line. He is slick is space and does a good job with spacing and timing to find soft areas in the offensive zone. On the back-end, Cushing received solid performances from Lukas Gustafsson (Alpharetta, Georgia – Boston College). The left-shot is mature on the back-end and doesn’t hold onto the puck long. He snaps passes the length of the ice and is constantly looking to stretch the ice through seams. He plays a strong game in his own end and uses an active stick to cut down passing lanes. Jackson Dorington (North Reading, MA) continued his strong play from a big freshman season. The 2004 is a long defender that is athletic and plays with pace. He is still raw but makes a ton of smart plays on the back-end.
For the home team, Blake Humphrey stood out. He has a low base and is tough to knock off the puck. He takes good angles pressuring the puck and has the skill to make plays in tight spaces. He was relentless off-the-cycle and was constantly creating offense around the net. On defense, Mack Oliphant was constantly involved. He is still raw but is long and thinks the game well. He carries the puck to open ice and is confident to make plays. He has touch on the puck and made a few nice plays in tight spaces that created time and space for teammates. He has a big shot from the point and did a solid job defensively in his own end. Late 2002 Damien Carfagna was strong as well. He made quick decisions with the puck and found seams to create easy zone entries. He cut down angles well in his own zone and turned defense to offense quickly. He made several nice reads at the blueline to cut down space and intercept passing opportunities. He will be an interesting player to follow throughout the year.
Three Stars of the Game:
1st Star – Blake Humphrey, Lawrence
2nd Star – Mack Oliphant, Lawrence
3rd Star – Jake Hewitt, Cushing
Culver 4 – Groton 2
Culver jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first period; one was a skilled deke goal in tight by Cade Heinold and the next a quick release snap shot just inside the faceoff dot. Groton didn’t fold and kept applying pressuring almost getting one late in the first when they got on a 5v3 power play but couldn’t finish.
Groton kept the pressure on and stymied Culver’s offense in the second period. They exchanged goals midway through to go 3-1 but Groton senior Luke Beckstein who was relentless all night scored in the slot to go 3-2 and Groton looked like they could upset. However, Culver tightened things up in the third period and showed their discipline and attention to detail, paricularly in the defensive zone. Culver won 4-2 and was the better team but hats off to Groton for staying in the game and making Culver earn it.
Three Stars of the Game:
1st Star – Timofey Spitserov, Culver
2nd Star – Cade Heinold, Culver
3rd Star – Spencer Cox , Culver
Pomfret 3 – Holderness 1
This was a great game of two teams at the bottom of the top 15 poll with a combined 9-1-0 record between. Holderness was the undefeated team but admittedly hadn’t played a team with a winning record to date.
Pomfret came out hard right from the drop of the puck and scored in the first shift of the game off a goal from senior captain Kyle Tomaso on a quick stick rebound. That goal was followed up only minutes later by PG Jake Hughes on the power play off a loose puck in front of the net. The Griffins didn’t stop there and applied pressure most of the first period and had chances to extend the lead until Tim Manning, Holderness’ top returning scorer from last year, fired an excellent goal top corner from the high slot to cut the Griffins lead to 1. The game was back and forth for much of the second period but neither team could find the net as both goaltenders had strong showings but Pomfret would get the 3-1 win.
Three Stars of the Game
1st Star: Kyle Tomaso, Pomfret
2nd Star: Andrew Shearson, Pomfret
3rd Star: Tim Manning, Holderness
Dexter 6 – Proctor 2
We were only able to catch a period and some change of this game because we had to head over to Lawrence vs. Cushing rivalry game so we can’t give a three stars of the game here. Dexter scored first off the rush by Jack Dempsey who almost scored twice the shift after hitting one off the bar. Dexter controlled the game throughout the first period with more possession time and ability to stretch the ice with their mobile puck moving defenseman but the Proctor Hornets were stingy and limited their opportunities going into the second period 1-0.
We only saw a few minutes of the second period but the game ended with a 6-2 win for Dexter. First impression was that Dexter is deep and will be the team to beat at this tournament because they can beat you in a multiple of ways. The goaltender wasn’t really tested but offensively they are deep and their defenseman are both mobile and skilled. Proctor is an improved team from last year with more depth, a better blue line which is tougher to play against and return a good goalie who can win games for them.