After going undefeated in the regular season, the Williston Girls Varsity Hockey team earned the No. 1 seed in the NEPSAC Chuck Vernon (Elite) Tournament this coming week—the same seed the Wildcats earned last year on their way to the Elite Tournament title. The top-seeded Wildcats will host No. 8 Loomis Chaffee on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
Meanwhile the Boys Varsity Basketball team earned the No. 3 seed in the NEPSAC Class A Tournament, and will host No. 6 Trinity-Pawling School on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.
Both games will be livestreamed on our website
This year’s Elite Bracket hockey championship will be on Sunday, March 5 at Taft School, while the Class A basketball final is scheduled for Sunday, March 5 at Western New England University.
Wednesday’s twin-bill is on top of the Swimming and Diving team hosting the NEPSSDA Division 2 and 3 Diving Championships on Wednesday.
Girls Hockey
When the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council released its postseason seedings for team tournaments Sunday, the unbeaten Wildcats—who picked up 24 wins and skated to one tie—were on top of pile for their division. But coincidentally, the one team Williston tied with this season is the No. 8 seed and Williston’s first-round opponent.
Loomis and Williston played to a 2-2 tie back on Feb. 18 at Lossone Rink. The Wildcats finished out the year with a trio of wins, including Saturday’s finale against Buckingham Browne and Nichols, 3-1.
Loomis went 14-6-4 in the regular season, but turned things around in the second half of the year after starting 3-4-1. After the tie on Feb. 18, Loomis ended with a tie and a win.
Puck drop for Wednesday’s playoff game will be at 4 p.m. at Lossone. The winner of this game will play the winner of No. 4 Tabor Academy vs. No. 5 Noble and Greenough on Saturday for a spot in the championship game.
Boys Basketball
The trip from Williston’s campus to Western New England University’s gym isn’t a long one in terms of miles, but if the Wildcats want to go this Sunday they’ll have to play inspired basketball.
Williston went 17-6 in the regular season to earn the No. 3 seed and the date with No. 6 Trinity-Pawling. The two sides did not meet in the regular season. Tip-off between the two teams is set for 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the Sabina Cain Family Athletic Center. The winner of this quarterfinal will play the winner of No. 2 St. Sebastian’s School and No. 7 St. Paul’s School in the semifinals on Saturday.
In addition to Williston’s own game Wednesday, the school will also host another NEPSAC tournament game. In the Class B bracket, No. 2 Millbrook School will “host” No. 7 Holderness School at 4:45 p.m.
Swimming and Diving
In addition to the newly announced tournament games, Williston has been slated to host the NEPSSDA Division 2 and 3 diving championships Wednesday in Babcock Pool.
The diving meet is Day 1 of the NEPSSDA championships. On Saturday swimmers will go to Worcester Polytechnic Institute for the Division 2 swimming championships.
For more on the swimming and diving championships, click here.