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Vermont Plays Hard But Falls Short in Holiday Tournament
Vermont (1-7-1 overall, 0-4-0 Lakes region) finishes the tournament with a record of 0-2-1.
In game one of three of the Barber Tournament held at both St. Mark's and Middlesex Schools, the Vermont boys' hockey faced Kents Hill School from Maine at 7:00 pm on Friday night. Senior Jeremy Nadeau-Fortin '16 (Granby, Que) was the lone goal scorer for either team in the shootout to break the tie and propel the Wildcats to a win at Gardner Arena on the campus of St. Mark's.
Vermont scored first at the 9:34 mark of the first period when Ethan Wing '17 (Nantucket, MA) redirected a pass from Nathan Smith '17 (Wildwood, MO) who was positioned at the hash mark on the half wall. This would be the only goal of the period.
Kents Hill would score 3 goals in the second period to take 3-1 lead in to the locker room at the intermission. Matt Henderson would score first at the 9:38 mark. Isac Nordstrom would score at the 8:10 and 2:49 marks to cap off their scoring for the day.
Even though Kents Hill had a commanding lead to start the third period the Wildcats would not quit. The poured on the pressure throughout the entire period and finally putting on past Kents Hills goaltender, Bill McLaughlin, at the 8:46 mark when Karl-Antoine Girard '18 (Sherbrooke, Que) kept a puck and pushed it to Houston Wilson '16 (Philadelphia, PA) who chipped it to open space around the Kents Hill defender where Smith picked it up and went in on McLaughlin one on none to find the back of the net to cut the Kents Hill's lead to 3-2.
Vermont kept battling until the end and found their reward with 19.5 second left on the clock when Wilson found the back of the net. Wilson would open up some space by passing the puck from below the goal line to Leighton Nimey '16 (New Harford, NY). Nimey would put eyes on the puck to make sure it got past the first layer of shot blocking forwards where Jack Raleigh '16 (Swanton, VT) would direct it to Wilson who would make no mistakes by putting the puck on the net to beat McLaughlin five hole to tie the game.
The game would go to overtime and both teams played hard but no one scored. Next would be a shootout. Kents Hill elected to go first. Their first shooter would skate in Josh Bolding '16 (Calgary, Alb) but could not crack him. Vermont's first shooter was Wilson, who just missed scoring with a shot trying to go top glove but McLaughlin got a piece of it which drove it wide. Kents Hill's second shooter missed as well. Vermont's second shooter was Smith who also tried to go top glove but McLaughlin had a beat on it form the start. Kents Hill's third shooter was denied by Bolding. With one more shooter before having to go to overtime with shots, Nadeau-Fortin found a rhythm and sniped it top blocker side off the post to hand Vermont a win in game one of the tournament.
Vermont's Bolding would make 27 saves on 30 shots and Kents Hill's McLaughlin made 22 saves on 25 shots.
Vermont would face host St. Mark's in game two of the tournament at 10:30 am on Saturday.
Game two was a rematch of last year's tournament's game one. Vermont was out to revenge its loss from last year. Both teams came out and both had chances to score but both teams failed to find the back of the net. The score at the end of the first period was 0-0 and it was anyone's game to start the second.
St. Mark's struck quick at the 13:17 mark and again at the 12:47 mark to take a 2-0 lead. Both teams would battle for the rest of the period with both teams having quality scoring chances. Vermont could not crack St. Mark's goaltender Ryan Ferland but St. Mark's would put one more past Bolding at the 4:15 mark to take a 3-0 lead in to the second intermission.
Vermont would put a lot of pressure on St. Mark's and Ferland but could not solve him to close the gap they had created in the second. The game would finish with St. Mark's winning 3-0. Bolding would make 31 saves and Ferland earned a 23 save shutout.
Both teams would play again at 3:30 pm with St. Mark's heading to Middlesex to play Middlesex and Vermont staying at St. Mark's to play Standstead College from Quebec.
Game 3 for Vermont would be another hard fought battle. Stanstead and Vermont would waste no time for excitement with both teams having chances early. Both Vermont's Brandon McDonald '18 (Santa Clarita, CA) and Stanstead's Matthew Chan had to make some highlight reel saves to keep teams off the scoreboard.
Stanstead would strike twice in the first period to take a 2-0 lead in to the first intermission. Both goals came for the stick of Will Lawrence at the 10:35 and 2:52 marks of the period.
The second period, usually being the struggle period for the Wildcats, saw Vermont battle hard to find the right equation to solve Chan. Off a Stanstead turnover in their own end created by Wing, Patrick Lavin '18 (Framingham, MA) was able to grab the loose puck and fire a wrist shot past Chan to give the Wildcats the break they were looking for. Stanstead would take a hooking penalty with 1:08 left in the period to present Vermont with a chance to tie it up before the end of the period and John Kondub '19 (Monroe, CT) did just that. Wilson would pass the puck to Samuel Savard '16 (St. Jean-Chrysostome, Que)to open up some space to stretch the Standstead penalty kill unit. Savard would make a slap pass to Tanner Dalton '16 (Bakersfield, CA) who would redirect it to Kondub all by himself at the back post to slam it home with 0:12 left on the clock.
The third period was back and forth with each team having chances but it was Stanstead's Ryan Horvath that would be the only one to find the back of the net. Horvath scored at the 5:05 mark to give Stanstead the lead and all they would need to hold on to win the game.
Vermont (1-7-1 overall, 0-4-0 Lakes region) finishes the tournament with a record of 0-2-1. The Wildcats will be back in action when they host their own showcase at RPI's Houston Field House in Troy, NY on January 2-3, 2016.
Happy Holidays!!
Vermont scored first at the 9:34 mark of the first period when Ethan Wing '17 (Nantucket, MA) redirected a pass from Nathan Smith '17 (Wildwood, MO) who was positioned at the hash mark on the half wall. This would be the only goal of the period.
Kents Hill would score 3 goals in the second period to take 3-1 lead in to the locker room at the intermission. Matt Henderson would score first at the 9:38 mark. Isac Nordstrom would score at the 8:10 and 2:49 marks to cap off their scoring for the day.
Even though Kents Hill had a commanding lead to start the third period the Wildcats would not quit. The poured on the pressure throughout the entire period and finally putting on past Kents Hills goaltender, Bill McLaughlin, at the 8:46 mark when Karl-Antoine Girard '18 (Sherbrooke, Que) kept a puck and pushed it to Houston Wilson '16 (Philadelphia, PA) who chipped it to open space around the Kents Hill defender where Smith picked it up and went in on McLaughlin one on none to find the back of the net to cut the Kents Hill's lead to 3-2.
Vermont kept battling until the end and found their reward with 19.5 second left on the clock when Wilson found the back of the net. Wilson would open up some space by passing the puck from below the goal line to Leighton Nimey '16 (New Harford, NY). Nimey would put eyes on the puck to make sure it got past the first layer of shot blocking forwards where Jack Raleigh '16 (Swanton, VT) would direct it to Wilson who would make no mistakes by putting the puck on the net to beat McLaughlin five hole to tie the game.
The game would go to overtime and both teams played hard but no one scored. Next would be a shootout. Kents Hill elected to go first. Their first shooter would skate in Josh Bolding '16 (Calgary, Alb) but could not crack him. Vermont's first shooter was Wilson, who just missed scoring with a shot trying to go top glove but McLaughlin got a piece of it which drove it wide. Kents Hill's second shooter missed as well. Vermont's second shooter was Smith who also tried to go top glove but McLaughlin had a beat on it form the start. Kents Hill's third shooter was denied by Bolding. With one more shooter before having to go to overtime with shots, Nadeau-Fortin found a rhythm and sniped it top blocker side off the post to hand Vermont a win in game one of the tournament.
Vermont's Bolding would make 27 saves on 30 shots and Kents Hill's McLaughlin made 22 saves on 25 shots.
Vermont would face host St. Mark's in game two of the tournament at 10:30 am on Saturday.
Game two was a rematch of last year's tournament's game one. Vermont was out to revenge its loss from last year. Both teams came out and both had chances to score but both teams failed to find the back of the net. The score at the end of the first period was 0-0 and it was anyone's game to start the second.
St. Mark's struck quick at the 13:17 mark and again at the 12:47 mark to take a 2-0 lead. Both teams would battle for the rest of the period with both teams having quality scoring chances. Vermont could not crack St. Mark's goaltender Ryan Ferland but St. Mark's would put one more past Bolding at the 4:15 mark to take a 3-0 lead in to the second intermission.
Vermont would put a lot of pressure on St. Mark's and Ferland but could not solve him to close the gap they had created in the second. The game would finish with St. Mark's winning 3-0. Bolding would make 31 saves and Ferland earned a 23 save shutout.
Both teams would play again at 3:30 pm with St. Mark's heading to Middlesex to play Middlesex and Vermont staying at St. Mark's to play Standstead College from Quebec.
Game 3 for Vermont would be another hard fought battle. Stanstead and Vermont would waste no time for excitement with both teams having chances early. Both Vermont's Brandon McDonald '18 (Santa Clarita, CA) and Stanstead's Matthew Chan had to make some highlight reel saves to keep teams off the scoreboard.
Stanstead would strike twice in the first period to take a 2-0 lead in to the first intermission. Both goals came for the stick of Will Lawrence at the 10:35 and 2:52 marks of the period.
The second period, usually being the struggle period for the Wildcats, saw Vermont battle hard to find the right equation to solve Chan. Off a Stanstead turnover in their own end created by Wing, Patrick Lavin '18 (Framingham, MA) was able to grab the loose puck and fire a wrist shot past Chan to give the Wildcats the break they were looking for. Stanstead would take a hooking penalty with 1:08 left in the period to present Vermont with a chance to tie it up before the end of the period and John Kondub '19 (Monroe, CT) did just that. Wilson would pass the puck to Samuel Savard '16 (St. Jean-Chrysostome, Que)to open up some space to stretch the Standstead penalty kill unit. Savard would make a slap pass to Tanner Dalton '16 (Bakersfield, CA) who would redirect it to Kondub all by himself at the back post to slam it home with 0:12 left on the clock.
The third period was back and forth with each team having chances but it was Stanstead's Ryan Horvath that would be the only one to find the back of the net. Horvath scored at the 5:05 mark to give Stanstead the lead and all they would need to hold on to win the game.
Vermont (1-7-1 overall, 0-4-0 Lakes region) finishes the tournament with a record of 0-2-1. The Wildcats will be back in action when they host their own showcase at RPI's Houston Field House in Troy, NY on January 2-3, 2016.
Happy Holidays!!
Vermont Academy is a coed college preparatory boarding and day school in southern Vermont, serving grades 9-12 plus a postgraduate year.
