Milton, MA– NZ’s 8th-ranked NE Prep team, the Belmont Hill School, traveled south to take on rival Milton Academy Mustangs in an important ISL Keller matchup. Jason Thibodeau started in net for Belmont Hill and Sam Caulfield for the Mustangs.
The game was even as Milton held a slight advantage early, but Belmont Hill shook their bus legs, and it was game on. The Mustangs struck first with a Joe Feinberg goal with assists to William Cannata and Anthony Sergeyev. Belmont Hill 2008 David Bosco buried one to make it 1-1 late in the first period. The first frame ended 1-1.
The second period saw Milton score early as Ryan Shea lit the lamp. Assists went to Luis Valencia and Curt Heath. With about 16 minutes left, Shea knocked a rebound home to give Milton a 3-1 lead. Nick Brandano and Valencia assisted. Belmont Hill had quality chances, with Andrew Waugh hitting the crossbar and Jake Tavares snapping a hard shot point blank that Caulfield gobbled up. Milton took a late tripping penalty. Belmont Hill would start the third on the shiny sheet with a power play.
Milton killed the power play off with relative ease, and the game settled back in with a slight edge in play to Milton. Belmont Hill went on the power play middle of the frame but killed that off partly due to a few blocked shots none bigger than one by senior Chris Amodeo. Belmont Hill pulled within one as Tavares popped home a perfect cross-crease pass on the rush from Williams College commit Jake McManus with just under six minutes left. Belmont Hill took an ill-advised offensive zone penalty right after but rode the momentum of a solid penalty killer to chances by the Mcmanus, Tavares, and Bosco line. Finally, they broke through as Tavares buried a Bosco rebound to tie the game at 3-3. That is how the third ended.
In the 5v5 overtime, Belmont Hill carried the play with several chances on the rush. However, NZ Prep’s 2023 Player of the Year Samuel Caulfield held the fort for the Mustangs as the teams skated to a 3-3 tie.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling
Three Stars
First: Jake Tavares (Belmont Hill)
Second: Ryan Shea (Milton)
Third: Sam Caulfield (Milton)
