St. Andrew’s College at Belmont Hill School (S); 11/29/2019
Belmont, MA: St. Andrews College made the annual trip down from Ontario to participate in the Belmont Hill Jamboree and also play some other local games. The two teams play a single scrimmage each year before the actual Jamboree Belmont Hill Jamboree and we were there for the matchup. Below is our recap of the game and some notes on players we liked. There were a few player who had star ratings go up or down based on this viewing. Click on a profile for that information.
Belmont Hill controlled play early as they got pucks deep and created some chances off the forecheck. Their best chance came when Sophomore Braden Reilly created a turnover and immediately fed classmate Charlie Cave for the point-blank chance. SAC’s big senior goalie from Finland, Lassi Lehti was up for the challenge. The momentum seemed to changed some the last seven minutes as SAC started to created some clean zone entries and maintain possession in the offensive zone. One such play, Devlin O’Brien made a slick play to bury a rebound after Frankie Carogioello created some chaos and space in the zone by pushing the BHS defense into bad gaps. Period ended 1-0 with chances about even. The Belmont Hill goalies did not have numbers so we do not know which goalie played when.
The second period, SAC took over. No surprise as they have already played 17 games and BHS doesn’t even have an official roster picked. Belmont Hill took an offensive zone penalty under a minute into the frame. Immediately, SAC took advantage on the power play as defensemen Jack Bar and Luke Vardy criss-crossed at the blue line with Bar then feeding Vardy for the one-time cannon home. Belmont Hill mixed in some chances but SAC carried more of the play. With 11:25 left, Vardy struck again, hammering a slapper home, top corner from the blue line. Period ended 3-0 SAC.
The third featured chances by both teams with SAC maintaining the better of the time of possession battle. They added a fourth goal as Matthew Roy zipped a cross-zone pass to Mark Hillier who fired a quick shot home. Belmont Hill did get a couple of solid chances as Jack Bosco made a clever step and started a play towards the net. His partner Will Killoran who played well all afternoon made an end to end rush finishing with a heavy shot on goal. Lehti was sharp and earned the shutout. Final 4-0 St. Andrews.
Neutral Zone will be back on campus tomorrow at 8:30 AM tomorrow to see both teams again along with Winchendon, St. Mark’s and Proctor in the annual Jamboree.
Three Stars:
First Star: Lassi Lehti (St. Andrew’s)
Second Star: Luke Vardy (St. Andrew’s)
Third Star: Devlin O’Brien (St. Andrew’s)
NZ NOTES: For Belmont Hill; Their first defense pairing appeared to be sophomore 2003 Tom Goguen and senior Princeton commit Tyler Rubin. They started each power play. Goguen has some size, reach to protect, made crisp outlets and can fire it, Rubin showed a quick stick a good mobility. The second pairing appeared more effective as sophomore 2003s Jack Bosco and Will Killoran made a cohesive pairing. Killoran is tough to play against, made sharp outlets and Bosco looked smart, well positioned and was quick with the puck. Both created good chances in the third period. Up front for Belmont Hill was overmatched by the SAC defense. They had some chances but we didn’t note any high-end skill. One new player we did notice was Braden Reilly as the sophomore has some size and created turnovers on the forecheck. For St. Andrew’s; they have six committed players. We noted all of them. They can all play. We liked Justin Ertel’s physical play as he made a couple huge hits. The 2003 is tough to play against and skilled. Late 2003 D Matthew Roy caught our eye quite a bit. He has length, a smooth stride and made pretty passes through the middle. Really athletic and a clear DI player. Harvard commit Jack Bar is impossible to beat along the wall or to get the puck from. He is not overly skilled but 6’2”, played smart and used his body really well. Lassi Lehti is 6’3”, 205 lbs. and moved really well. Shut the door quickly in tight and used both his glove and blocker well. Surprised he is uncommitted. Alex Power played well on the third line. Showed speed, took defensemen’s hands away on the forecheck and attacked off the edge. O’Brien was solid in all situations, he has more reach than we thought and was dangerous off the edge as he can drive or drag and shoot.
