Small School
#8 Pomfret at #1 Holderness: Holderness is coming off a Lakes Region playoff victory and will come into this game with good momentum. NZ Predicts: 100% Holderness
#7 New Hampton at #2 Winchendon: Winchendon has been playing strongly down the stretch with good offensive production from Charlie Puglisi and Jackson Smail, just to name a couple. NZ Predicts: 100% Winchendon
#6 St. George’s at #3 Canterbury: Canterbury has a highly productive first line lead by Seamus McMakin and Tommy Browne on the backend, but St. George’s has been 6-1-2 in their last 9 games. NZ Predicts: 80% Canterbury
#5 Berkshire at #4 Rivers: Rivers has good goaltending, with Derrick Huang most likely to be between the pipes, and can play physically, but Berkshire has too many weapons in James McMurray, Matthew Lacombe, and Jonah Rainisch, to name a few. NZ Predicts: 100% Berkshire
Large School
#8 Choate at #1 Tabor: One seed Tabor will be looking to find offense from Ethan Travis and Colvin Callahan to help propel them to victory. Vincenzo D’Urso should be solid between the pipes even with Gregory Najda on the other side. NZ Predicts: 100% Tabor
#7 Deerfield at #2 Cushing: Cushing has six players with twenty or more points this season. Top three on that list are Blake Cash, Axel Favreau and Benjamin Marcolini compared to Deerfied who has one in Matteo Alvarez. Mason Raycroft and Elliot Lennon are our projected starting goaltenders and our staff predicts an upset. NZ Predicts: 60% Deerfield
#6 St. Paul’s at #3 Andover: This game is poised to be low scoring, and Edouard Lord, most likely to be in net, can steal a win, and he can do so here. NZ Predicts: 80% Andover
#5 Thayer at #4 Brunswick: Brunswick has struggled at times to create offense in games against strong opponents but have gotten good goaltending from Evan Akerman and Zai Ferraro. Thayer should be able to score with guys like Jack Funk and Tommy Wilkinson on the roster. NZ Predicts: 60% Brunswick
Elite 8
#8 Avon Old Farms at #1 Dexter: Avon spreads out their offense lead by Nico Ciardiello and Liam Donnelly. Dexter has nine players with twenty or more points. Six of those players have thirty or more, including one of the top defenders Myles Brosnan, but we predict an upset. NZ Predicts: 60% Avon Old Farms
#7 Belmont Hill at #2 St. Marks: St. Marks has the top scorer in prep, Caiden Pellegrino and two other players with 50 or more points in Evan Nee and William Manchuso. Belmont Hill has a highly productive defender in Evan Jones, a standout 2010 Samuel Lee and 07 Patrick Woods. NZ Predicts: 60% St. Mark’s
#6 Kimball Union at #3 Salisbury: Salisbury was the #1 seed in a lot of our prep polls, and have seen strong goaltending from Jordan Rittenberg and Christian Capone. Kimball Union has Josh Phillips, who hopes to bring size and his 59 points with him in this game to find a win. NZ Predicts: 80% Salisbury
#5 Hotchkiss at #4 St. Sebastian’s: St. Sebastian’s is led by standout 2010’s Jack Queally and Sam Fishbone. Hotchkiss has been getting great goaltending by Neilan Johnson and offensive production from James Harrison and Austin Groves to name a couple. NZ Predicts: 60% Hotchkiss
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images