Aside from a few New Years tournaments, the boys returned to school from break this week and had their first games in return. There wasn’t a ton of change from the start of Christmas break until now but Salisbury School enters the poll and Canterbury Most teams have only played once since returning from the break so we’ll keep it brief this week. New teams that en
1. Avon Old Farms (9-0-1) – Avon returned to go on the road against a solid Taft squad and won 4-1 pushing their unbeaten streak to ten games. A 1.7 goals against average is winning hockey especially with the offensive firepower and depth this team possesses.
2. Holderness School (9-0-0) – Holderness came back from the break and traveled to Rivers to play a young but stingy team (that upset KUA early in the year) and took care of a business with a 6-1 victory. The Bulls have scored six or more goals in eigh of their nine games this season.
3. Kimball Union (9-1-0) – The Wildcats played in a post-New Years tournament where they played three games, picking up two wins but only one of them counts for their NEPSHIA record and that was their 6-5 win against a talented St. Andrew’s team to move their NEPSHIA record to 10-1-0. KUA has scored 5+ goals in seven of their last nine games.
4. Brunswick (8-1-2) – Brunswick is the hottest team in prep right now playing in two holiday tournaments and winning both and riding a fourteen game unbeaten streak. Unfortunately for Brunswick four of their last five wins come against teams outside of the NEPSHIA so they don’t get any credit in the playoff formulations. A balanced, experienced forward group and a goalie who has been lights out to start the year in Will Baker.
5. St. Georges (9-1-1) – St. George’s came back from the break to play in the Joshua Weeks tournament at Tabor and went 2-0-1 there followed up by a win against Pomfret to advance to 9-1-1 on the season. Unbeaten in their last ten games and averaging 6.5 goals per game in that stretch. They’ll face two solid tests against .500+ teams this week at home.
6. Loomis Chaffee (8-2-0) – Loomis was unbeaten heading into the holiday tournament at Avon but went 2-2-0 there which bumped them down the rankings a bit. With that being said they jumped back up a few spots with a big win over a ranked Kent team on the road. They were down two half way through the third period and went on to score three unanswered goals to get the win; a team that doesn’t quit and playing their best against top teams.
7. Cushing Academy (11-2-0) – Cushing has been favored going into both holiday tournaments and came up short but they have the most NEPSHIA wins of any team in prep at this point and one of their two losses came in a one-goal game to #2 ranked Holderness. The Penguins regrouped after their home tournament and won back to back games putting them in strong position heading into the second half of the season. They’ll face #10 ranked Salisbury for the game of the Week on Wednesday.
8. Belmont Hill (8-2-1) – Belmont Hill has played six games since Christmas break and went 4-1-1 in those games with their sole loss coming against #4 ranked Brunswick and a tie against Milton. In ten of their last twelve games they have allowed two or less goals against making them a tough team to matchup against.
9. Kent School (8-3-1) – Kent went into Christmas break after winning arguably the toughest field of the holiday tournaments at Avon. They came back from break and had a lead on Loomis (who they beaten in the Avon tournament) but gave up three goals late for a tough start to January. They rebounded against Millbrook with a 5-2 win but have a rematch with #1 ranked Avon on Saturday. They have proven they can beat anyone with a win (technically a NEPSHIA tie) to #1 Avon and wins over #6 Loomis Chaffe and #10 Salisbury. Dangerous.
10. Salisbury School (7-3-0) – The Crimson Knights sit 7-3-0 through their first ten games; losing to #3 KUA in the Flood Marr Championship, Deerfield and #9 Kent. They haven’t had a signature win yet this year but that could change on Wednesday as they face #7 Cushing in the Game of the Week. After Cushing they face a gritty Westminster team so it’s a great opportunity for Salisbury to improve their resume before heading into the second half of the season.
Honorable Mentions: Lawrence, Andover, Noble & Greenough
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images