Monday, January 13, 2014
Boston — With rain, thunder and lightning over Fenway Park on Saturday night, there was serious doubt the Kimball Union Academy boys hockey team would get to take the ice Sunday against Governor’s Academy. Fate, however, smiled on the Wildcats and their numerous faithful, handing them a beautiful day at the storied venue and a 9-0 victory in which to revel.
“We were a smidgen away from canceling, but it was a really unifying event for the school,” said first-year coach Tim Whitehead. “The ice was great, but the temperatures were in the 40s, so people didn’t have to bundle up in balaclavas to watch.”
A.J. Greer and Tyler Bird each scored twice, Ben Finkelstein had a goal and two assists and J.D. Dudek assisted on the first three goals before missing the second and third periods with an upper-body injury. Paul Leger and Gavin Nieto split the shutout in KUA’s net, improving their team’s record to 13-3-3.
KUA led 4-0 after a period and 8-0 after two stanzas, delighting a fan group Whitehead estimated at 1,000 people. The school used nine buses to transport the student body, plus many faculty and staff members. Alumni from throughout New England and from as far away as Georgia and California also traveled to the game.
“The only ones we left behind on campus were the dogs and cats,” joked Whitehead, who previously coached the University of Maine’s men’s team and guided the Black Bears to a 5-4 overtime victory over New Hampshire at Fenway during 2012. “We outnumbered Governor’s fans by four or five to one. Most people were sitting down the third-base line, so it was kind of a KUA mosh pit there.”
The Wildcats host Deerfield on Wednesday in the first of three games this week. Whitehead said Dudek, the team’s captain and leading scorer and who has committed to play at Boston College starting next season, is out indefinitely but will know more after visiting a doctor today.
Girls Hockey
Hanover 3
Beekmantown (N.Y.) 1
Chazy, n.y. — Bumped back a day by bad roads and from Plattsburgh State to Beekmantown’s smaller home rink, the Marauders (3-0 league, 5-1 overall) used three unassisted goals to stay unbeaten in games counting toward their NHIAA Division I standing on Sunday.
Sarah Wagner broke a 1-1 tie with 7:40 left in the third period to put Hanover ahead to stay. Caroline Howell added the clincher into an empty net with 22 seconds left. Matti Hartman staked the visitors to the game’s first lead in the first period, and Beekmantown leveled on a power play six minutes into the third stanza.
Wagner and linemates Julie Montgomery and Lillian Stout played a strong game at both ends of the ice, Hanover coach John Dodds said. Katie Fenton also played well in goal, making 23 saves.
The Marauders have the week off until hosting Bishop Guertin on Saturday.
Lebanon 4
Bishop Brady-Trinity 2
Concord — Michaela Schones factored in all of the scoring, producing a hat trick and an assist as the Raiders (4-0) stayed unbeaten with a Saturday night win at Everett Arena.
Schones scored twice in the the second period to counter a Brady-Trinity strike in the first. Emma Forman made it 3-1 in the third period and Schones completed her hat trick shortly after that. Forman and Sam Roberts finished the night with assists, and Erika Moffitt knocked aside 12 shots.
“The defense had a good game,” Shaw said. “They kept the shots at a pretty low percentage.”
Lebanon travels to St. Thomas-Dover on Tuesday night.
Snowboarding
Wasps Win at Okemo
Ludlow, Vt. — Senior Justin Peyton took second place to lead the Woodstock boys to a slopestyle victory on Friday at Okemo Mountain Resort.
Burr & Burton’s Elliot Buckley nipped Peyton for the individual win, but the Wasps had the depth to claim the team victory. Ezra Hennie (sixth), Matt Poljacik (15th), Even Bloch (18th) and Alex Sheppard (26th) backed Peyton’s effort in a field of 46 competitors.
The Wasps head to Jay Peak on Jan. 20 for giant slalom hosted by North Country Union High School.
College Track & Field
Dartmouth Sweeps Relays
Hanover — The Dartmouth women’s and men’s track and field teams continued dominance of their own Dartmouth Relays, with the women taking the college-open title for the fourth straight year and the men extending their supremacy for a third consecutive meet at Leverone Field House.
The women used six individual victories to amass 140.5 points, with Harvard second (123) and UMass-Lowell third (47). The Big Green’s middle- and long-distance runners had a field day with wins in the mile (Meggie Donovan; 4 minutes, 58.70 seconds), 3,000 meters (Bridget End; 9:58.13), 800 meters (Megan Krumpoch; 2:12.30) and 400 dash (58.65 seconds). Dartmouth also picked up victories in the long jump (Janae Dunchack; 18 feet, 1.75 inches) and the triple jump (Molly Shapiro; 37-3.25). Kaitlin Whitehorn added second-place points in the high jump (5-8.5).
In addition to a third straight crown, the Big Green men claimed their meet for the sixth time in seven years. Jeremy Birck provided the key points in a narrow win over Southern Connecticut State, beating Canadian competitor Emile Ollivier in a jump-off to take first in the high jump after both finished tied at 6-4.25. Dartmouth finished with 120 points, seven better than SCSU, with Harvard third (74).
Dartmouth also grabbed wins from Lebanon High graduate Josh Cyphers in the pole vault (15-7), Will Geoghegan in the mile (4:05.75), John Bleday in the 3,000 (8:15.15) and the 3,200-meter relay team of Bleday, Steve Mangan, Daniel Salas and Will Callan (8:00.46).
Both squads suit up next on Saturday, when Yale and Columbia visit for an Ivy League meet at Leverone.