Exeter, NH – This was a game to cap off the season series between two rival teams with a century of memories competing against each other. We traveled to Exeter to see the home team Philips Exeter Academy take on Philips Andover Academy for the right to play in the Large School Semifinal on Saturday.
The first period started off quickly for Exeter who came out of the gates looking to put pressure on the road team. Sure enough with a strong forecheck and by creating a couple of turnovers they got what they were looking for. Just over two minutes into the game senior Exeter star Kurt Gurkan cut to the edge of the faceoff circle and had a wide-open lane to the net, which he fired home for a 1-0 lead. From there, Big Red kept pushing and caused more problems exiting the zone and bottling up lanes up ice for Andover. But that momentum was halted when Exeter was whistled for an infraction and the visitors capitalized. Six minutes in senior captain Conner Fitzpatrick made a nice curl move below the dot and fed Jonathan Surrette at the post who stuffed it home on the man advantage to tie the game 1-1. The goal seemed to galvanize Andover and they possessed the puck more and created more chances near the net. Ultimately though, Exeter would jump back on top as PG forward Michael Dinges busted down the left wing with four minutes to go and fired a seed, top cheddar short side and made it 2-1 Big Red. That would be our score after one.
We aren’t sure what was said in the first intermission but Andover turned up the heat in all three zones in the second period. They were quicker to pucks, stronger in possession and they had an extra jump in their step and Exeter had to weather the storm. Luckily for them, all that zone time didn’t lead to any goals against but there were a series of close calls, especially on a couple of chances near the net on the power play at the end of the period. Exeter had a couple of their own Grade A looks and looked smooth on their power play seven minutes in but Andover was strong on their sticks and didn’t let Exeter gain inside ice and they were able to clear quickly. Looks like 18 more minutes will determine who’s moving on and who’s going home with the score still 2-1…
In the third period, it was a stout defensive battle by both teams, neither was willing to give an inch to the opposition. The middle of the ice was closed for business and there were active sticks shutting down chances at both ends. Trailing by one, Andover needed to make a final push and while they were able to gain the zone, they were unable to get their offense going because of Exeter’s strong layers of defense. The neutral zone was more hand-to-hand combat as well with lots of stick checks and body blows. Eventually, we got down to the final five minutes and Andover made one last push but Exeter junior goalie Michael Salvatore was equal to the task. Andover called a timeout with an offensive zone draw coming with 1:12 remaining on the clock and interestingly decided not to pull their goalie, but about 30 seconds later they made the move. The visitors created a good look but Gurkan ended up putting a bow on this one by stealing a puck and flipping it the length of the rink for the empty netter to end it. Final: Exeter 3, Andover 1, Big Red will advance to the Large School Semis on Saturday.
Three Stars:
- F Kurt Gurkan, Exeter
- G Michael Salvatore, Exeter
- F Conner Fitzpatrick, Andover
