Tilton School 6 at St. Pauls School 1; December 7, 2019
St. Pauls School- Tilton travelled 30 minutes down the road to take on a young St. Paul’s team that only featured four senior players. Tilton flexed their muscles early on in the game as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period as they looked to put the game away early. St. Paul’s would not just be pushed over as they came back from the intermission with energy and although they were unable to score, they kept the score 4-0. As the third period wore on both teams exchanged goals throughout the period and Tilton added another late period goal to seal the 6-1 win.
Tilton for the second straight game started fast as their senior forward group is a lot to handle for opponents in the early part of the season. Tilton’s top line lead the charge as Jack Seymour was able to find the back of the net early on as he really showed his ability to finish pucks. Tilton’s ability to play in the net front and transition was way too much for the St. Paul’s defense to handle as three of the four goals scored by Tilton were in the net front. Seniors Jon Tavella, Jamie Cates and Max Cocchi contributed first period goals as they showed nice touch around the net with the ability to find loose pucks.
The second period featured a new St. Paul’s team as they came out of the locker room with a ton of energy. That energy was led by big power forward Cooper Flinton as he utilized his big frame to possess pucks down low and create a few scoring chances that were handled by Tilton goaltender Joseph Raspante. St. Paul’s team speed was shown here as they were starting to beat Tilton to loose pucks and really made life hard on the Tilton defense with a relentless forecheck. Tilton weathered the St. Paul’s storm and were able to escape the second period with a 4-0 lead.
As the third period begun, it was now Tilton that looked to hit the reset button as they responded well with some strong team defense. However, St. Paul’s Cooper Flinton was able capitalize off a Tilton power play error as he was able to spring a 2 on 1 short handed where he set up junior forward Joe Schubert for an easy one timed goal. The St. Paul momentum was short lived as Tilton responded back minutes later as St. Paul’s goaltender Charlie Murphy and his defensemen had a miscommunication and Tilton Senior Tae Lee was able to slide it past Murphy into the back of the net. Tiltons’ Max Pineo was able to add another goal late to seal the 6-1 victory for Tilton.
Three Stars:
1st Star Jack Seymour Tilton
2nd Star Jon Tavella Tilton
3rd Star Max Cocchi Tilton
Neutral Zone Notes: Tilton looks to be as good as advertised in the early part of the season. They are deep on the blue line and come at you with three effective offensive lines. Defensively Jagger Benson has been extremely impressive, as he moves so well across the ice and he is not afraid to get involved offensively. He is a high-risk high reward type of player but he has the feet to get himself out of any trouble he puts himself in. Senior defensemen Brett Lockhart is a big strong defenseman who plays the game with an edge. Junior Defensemen Conor Lally is another smooth skating defensemen who really limits his mistakes and is an effective two-way defender. Offensively Jack Seymour has been impressive as he competes every shift, starts games fast and has a knack for finding the back of the net. Tae Lee is an opportunistic goal scorer as he just finds a way to get on the score sheet as he is averaging a point per game again. Forwards Jon Tavella, Jamie Cates, Max Cocchi are high energy guys that play with their head and have the ability to put the puck in the back of the net.
St. Paul’s will be a better team this year then what they showed vs Tilton. They have a good combination of size and team speed. Sophomore forward Cooper Flinton was impressive here today as he uses his body extremely well down below the goal line to possess the puck. He has a big heavy shot and as he showed on the lone St. Paul’s goal has the ability to move pucks at a high level. Defensively their core has some big bodies that can move. Jack Hepp and Caid Cox are guys to watch moving forward as move showed they can move laterally for big guys and both had some great moments through out the game.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images
