MERIDEN — The Kimball Union Academy boys hockey and boys basketball teams will both hit the road this week in pursuit of New England Preparatory School Athletic Council championships.
Hockey, which has won the last three NEPSAC Elite Eight crowns, will begin defense of a potential fourth title with a Wednesday date against Salisbury at the Westminster School in Simsbury, Conn. The game will be rematch on two fronts:
The fifth-seeded Wildcats (26-7-2) came from behind to beat Salisbury in last year’s Elite Final and dropped a 4-2 decision to the fourth-ranked Knights at the Flood-Marr Tournament at Milton Academy in December.
The Elite Eight tournament continues with semifinals at home sites on Saturday before Sunday’s title game at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.
Boys basketball also holds a fifth seed as it heads into a Wednesday Class AA quarterfinal at Wilbraham & Monson. The Wildcats went 20-7 this winter for first-year coach Cory McClure, a slate that included a 92-79 loss to the Titans on the road in mid-December.
The Class AA tournament holds its semifinals at home sites on Saturday, with the championship set for Sunday at Western New England University in Springfield, Mass.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Cavaliers (9-3) took advantage of two Dartmouth errors to plate two unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, breaking a 2-2 tie before holding on for a win to sweep a three-game series from the Big Green (2-5).
Kade Kretzschmar plated Ubaldo Lopez on a second-inning ground out to bring Dartmouth level at 1-1 after allowing an early run to the Cavs.
Virginia took a 2-1 advantage in the fourth, but the Big Green answered in the top of the sixth on Ben Rice’s RBI grounder, plating Bryce Daniel.
A Blake Crossing single brought home Peter O’Toole in the Dartmouth seventh to cut the deficit to 4-3. The Big Green put a runner on first base in each of the final two innings but couldn’t bring either one around.
Justin Murray took the loss for Dartmouth, going six innings with five hits, no walks and two strikeouts.
The Big Green is off for two weeks, returning to action on March 14 with a doubleheader against Hofstra at the Russmatt Invitational in Kissimmee, Fla.
LONGWOOD, Fla. — Pitcher Brooke Plonka fanned eight in a complete-game effort, but the Big Green offense couldn’t offer much support in a loss to No. 12 Kentucky to close The Spring Games.
Plonka gave up just four hits on the afternoon. Of the runs allowed, only two were earned. The Wildcats (17-3) did all of their scoring on home runs, two solo shots and one two-run dinger.
Billie McFadyen went 2-for-4 at the plate for Dartmouth (4-6), which is off until an eight-games-in-four-days trip to California in two weeks.
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KUA 5, New Hampton 3
MERIDEN — A shorthanded goal by Sullivan Mack with five minutes to play lifted Kimball Union over New Hampton.
The Wildcats got out to a 2-0 lead in the first on goals from Nic Bernardo and Grant Eastwood and went up 3-0 lead in the second when Tomas Mazura scored on the power play.
New Hampton scored twice to cut the margin to one before Mack’s shorthanded goal made it 4-2.
New Hampton got back within one before an empty-net goal by Paul Dore sealed the win for the Wildcats. Goalie Veeti Kohvakka had 38 saves.
MERIDEN — The Wildcats came back from an 18-point deficit with a 25-6 run to win by one in the closing seconds.
Kimball Union was up by one at halftime, 41-40, before Winchendon went on a 12-0 run midway through the second to build their lead.
Rob Brown scored 15 of his game-high 27 points in the second half for KUA.
Andrew Hartel had 18 points, and Rob McRae 16.
The Wildcats finish the season at 14-5 in NEPSAC Class AA and 20-7 overall.