Avon Old Farms Christmas Classic Day One
Gunn School vs Trinity Pawling
The first half was played evenly early as both teams had chances. As the frame went on, Gunnery started to show more depth and pace. TP scored first as 2023 Lucas Buchanan took a nice pass off a spin move by Hunter Dickey. Goal was scored with 19:02 left in the half. Frederick Gunn responded immediately with a poised score by 2022 Kyle Smyth. Gunnery added two additional goals by Aiden Lindsey and Peter Unger to head into the last half up 3-1.
Gunn’s Julian Facchinelli scored just 1:21 into the second half and Michael Markowski with 13:07 left as the game appeared to be over. TP responded, however, with a Caleb Owens goal to make it 5-2. Gunn topped the afternoon off with another Facchinelli goal on a nice assist by Sean Bradley. Final 6-2.
Frederick Gunn’s new sweaters are shard. New color scheme. Gloves are not in yet. Please make them white!!
Three Stars
First: Aiden Lindley (Gunn)
Second: Kiernan Gately (Gunn)
Third: Julian Facchinelli (Gunn)
Kent vs. Loomis
Kent took control from the puck drop as they scored three first period goals and carried play. Jake Kraft struck early on a Cole Watson rebound. Michael Hurst stayed with his own shot to make it 2-0. With 6:14 left Kent added their third on a pretty PPG. Kraft fed a pass to Dante Palombo for the score. 2023 Joey Sciabarra started the play with a move pass from the point. 3-0 Taft at the half.
More if the same in the second half as Kent added three more goals from #2 Teddy Mallgrave scored with 22:22 left. Polombo and Cole Watson added one each. Loomis earned a power play snipe by Oliver Flynn. Kent’s goalie 2024 Aiden Hopewell played well and made some quality saves for the win. Final 6-1.
Three Stars
First: Dante Palombo (Kent)
Second: Max Resnick (Kent)
Third: Jake Kraft (Kent)
Avon Old Farms vs. St. Paul’s
Avon Old Farms came out flying and finished with a 6-0 lead after one half. The Winged Beavers scored early and often. Chris Aube, Nikita Nikora, Liam Verdoni, Jordin Palmer, Brendan Fennell and Charles Blanchard all scored in the barrage. Fennell was on for four goals and added two assists to his goal. Connor Callaghan was not tested often but looked sharp in the Avon net.
St. Paul’s played a determined and highly competitive second half. Avon still controlled the play but there were less mistakes and more intensity from SPS. They did themselves proud as they only gave up one goal. Avon’s Charlie Gollob scored a slick tuck on the rush. Final was 7-0 with seven different Avon goal scorers. Final 7-0.
Three Stars
First: Brendan Fennell (AOF)
Second: Nikita Nikora (AOF)
Third: Liam Verdoni (AOF)
Tabor vs. Berkshire
Tabor and Berkshire played by far the most competitive game of the day. Play was even off the drop. Berkshire took four consecutive penalties in the first half and that hampered their ability to gin consistent momentum. They killed all four power plays helped by solid goaltending by 2023 Danick Leroux. Tabor scored first as senior Reed Allen found a loose puck, turned and fired it home. The accountants, we mean officials called two straight penalties against Tabor and that allowed Berkshire to get going. They popped one home with 55.9 seconds left in the half. Davis Kinne fired a puck on net that took and odd bounce and in the net. 1-1 after one half.
The second half saw Calvin Osterberger redirect one home for Berkshire and 2024 Joshua Itri bury a nice pass from John Brandt for Tabor. Play was even and it remained 2-2 even after overtime. They went to shootout only for tournament seedings and Coleman Jenkins scored the only goal and Tabor won the game. The game will be considered a tie officially. Tabor goalie August Ackerman stopped all three shootout attempts by Berkshire. Final 2-2 (Tabor wins shootout)
Three Stars
First: Joshua Itri (Tabor)
Second: August Ackerman (Tabor)
Third: Pratt Stetson (Berkshire)
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images
