Michael Peluso

February a Big Month for Prep Hockey

January 30, 2025 by Michael Peluso

The Prep Team celebrating a recent win. Photo provided.

The Prep hockey team at Northwood has been off to a good start in 2025, with a productive month of January. The team started with a Game Sheet Cup tournament win and followed that up with a Northwood tournament win.

After that, the team headed to Minnesota for three league games, where they beat Saint Andrews and Shattuck St. Mary’s for critical points in the Prep Hockey Conference. Their most recent weekend was spent in Saint Andrews for the annual Macpherson tournament, where they lost in the semi-finals. Even though that wasn’t the result they wanted, some players did get acknowledged for great performance. Henry Kress was named to the all-tournament team as one of the best players for that weekend. Jake Shingles was recognized for having the highest save percentage in the whole tournament, which was very impressive for such a competitive tournament. “I’m just trying to do my job, the team in front of me has been so helpful and made it much easier,” Shingles said when asked about his impressive play.

Hopefully, these players and the whole prep team can continue to build on a productive January as they move into a huge month for the team. The month of February is strictly focused on the league. Their first games are at South Kent, which is the first seed in the East, for two games. Northwood is only 4 points behind South Kent, so this weekend will be a great opportunity for Northwood to make up some ground in the standings. The following weekend is two more league games at Mount St. Charles in Rhode Island. Earlier in the year, Northwood lost both games to them at home so this will be a great chance to make up for that and get some revenge.

Both these league weekends will be a great chance to generate some momentum for the following weekend, which is the playoffs at Culver in Indiana. The Prep team always wants to win the league and after just coming up short last year, they seem even more motivated to be the first Northwood team to be PHC champions. This is going to be a huge month for the school and Northwood knows this is when they need to be at their best. Henry Kress has been heating up personally and is pumped for the upcoming schedule. “We have a chance to do something really special and I know it’s all we have been thinking about recently,” Henry said.

Filed Under: Sports

Prep Hockey Wins Northwood Invitational Tournament

January 25, 2025 by Michael Peluso

This past weekend, the Northwood Prep team played 5 games as part of Northwood’s annual invitational tournament, hosted at home, in the Olympic center. This was a huge weekend for the Prep team for many reasons. The first was that Prep hadn’t won the tournament in the past 3 years, which is considered a longer drought for the team that needed to change. Also, many players had family come as it was a big weekend for Northwood and one of the only home weekends, so many families tried to watch. Lastly, the Prep team had their senior night on Saturday, a big event for the team as they celebrated 15 seniors this year.

The Prep hockey team celebrates winning the championship at he Northwood Invitational Hockey Tournament on January 20, 2025. Photo provided.

Prep was also coming off a weekend where they went 3-0 and won a tournament so it was crucial that they kept their momentum and built off that leading up to this tournament. They had their first game of the weekend Saturday morning against Blyth Academy from Ottawa. Northwood won this game, and Drew Donatello ‘25 got his first prep shutout. “I can’t thank the team enough; they have been nothing but supportive all year, and it helps in moments like this,” Drew mentioned when talking about the game and weekend.

The following game was senior night against Nichol’s school out of Buffalo. The team had a ceremony to honor the seniors before the puck drop, then went on to win 3-1 in a fast and physical game. Sunday morning was the last game before the semis were determined, this was against Ridley College. Northwood controlled most of the game but was down 1 with 4 minutes left. Nick Palmer ‘25 scored from the blue line with a great shot; then Will Schneid ’25 scored right after to go up 2-1 in the final minutes of that game.

The first semifinal game was against N.Y. Dynamo, whom Northwood had already played twice this year. Northwood previously had two good games against the Dynamo, winning one 3-1 and one in overtime. Northwood was ready to play in this matchup and dominated, winning 6-0, allowing them to advance to the finals where they would play Nichols again. Nichols went up 1-0 early in the game, but Northwood picked it up, scoring 4 in a row and winning the championship 4-1. “Winning this tournament was one of our goals last year and this year, so making sure we won one before I have to leave Northwood means a lot,” Gavin Carr ‘25, a second-year prep player mentioned.

This was a great weekend for the team, which is now on an eight-game win streak and approaching the heart of its season. Hopefully, the team will keep building on this as it heads to Minnesota next for an important league weekend.

Filed Under: Sports, Top Story

Prep Team Repeats as Gamehseet Tourney Champs

January 15, 2025 by Michael Peluso

The Prep team celebrates the Gamesheet Tournament championship. Photo provided.

Over the holiday break, Northwood’s prep team returned early to defend a championship they had won the previous year. On January 1^st, the team met up and held a practice in Exeter, New Hampshire, to prepare for games on the 3rd, 4th, and 5^th. These games were crucial to the team this year for many reasons. Northwood was competing in the competitive Gamesheet Cup, which they won the year before. This tournament would also be challenging as the Prep team missed their head coach for the weekend. Coach Mallaro was at home watching over his newborn son during these games, meaning Coach Lynch was the boss behind the bench with some help from Coach Felhaber.

The prep team started off the weekend with a game against Fredrick Gunn which was a 4-1 win to start the weekend off. The next game was against a familiar league opponent, Culver Military Academy based out of Indiana. This game was back and forth and went to overtime tied at 5-5 when Will Schneid scored the game-winning goal to complete his hat trick and send Northwood to the championship. The championship shaped out the same way as the previous year, Northwood vs Kimball Union Academy, one of the premier New England prep schools for hockey players. Northwood pulled out a 4-3 win with goals from Charles Pigeon ‘26, Jacob Brunton ‘25, Ty Simonet ‘25, and the game-winning goal from Parker Thompson ’26 on the power play with only a few minutes left. Jake Shingles ‘25 anchored Northwood in net, who had 42 saves.

This was a huge weekend for Coach Lynch to prove he can lead a team, as next year, he will be the head coach of the 16U team here at Northwood. “The week leading up to GameSheet was stressful,” said Lynch. “Stephen and Julia had their baby, and it just played out where his traveling wasn’t an option. Obviously, it was a bittersweet feeling not having him there but also having the opportunity to lead. I wasn’t sure how it would go, to be honest. Fresh off a break, playing some of the best competition in Prep hockey. It could’ve gone in the complete opposite direction. All the credit goes to the players; they stepped up and dug in during the weekend. They listened and executed the adjustments we made in-game. Felly was a big help also. He did a great job running the D. It was just an awesome weekend overall. The boys earned it.” As he mentioned, he was still receiving help from Coach Mallaro, who was watching from home. Mallaro mentioned how proud of the group he was and how big of a deal this was for the team. One of the returning players, Will Schneid, said, “It felt great to defend our title. I know the guys from last year were pumped to see us hold down the fort. This was a great step for us to start a busy second half of the season,” continued Lynch.

Filed Under: Sports

Schneid Among Huskies on Central Scouting List

January 14, 2025 by Michael Peluso

Will Schneid ’25. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.

Northwood Boys hockey has been a well-respected program for many years, producing tons of college hockey players and even NHL players. This year, Northwood has gained a little bit more respect in terms of the NHL world, as one current Northwood student, Will Schneid ‘25 has been opening eyes and was named to the central scouting list as players who are projected to get drafted. Two former Northwood students, Ritter Coombs and Bill Zonnon were also on this list.

Schneid recently committed to the University of Connecticut to continue his hockey career and play Division One hockey. “I think that they have a great track record of developing players and can help me advance my hockey career,” Schneid said when asked why he chose UConn. Will led Northwood in goals last year with 30 and points with 74 in 57 games, despite being one of the youngest players on the team. He is also off to an impressive start this year, with 24 goals in 27 games and 43 points.

Schneid in action last season. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.

Schneid doesn’t just bring talent on the ice; he is a highly respected person off the ice at Northwood. Will was named assistant captain for the Prep team, meaning he has earned his teammates’ respect. Will also serves as a residential assistant and is on the Head’s Council. In the classroom, Schneid is one of the top in his class; last year, he was one of 5 juniors named to the Cum Laude Society, which is a very impressive honor for a student at Northwood.

Coombs in action as a Husky. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.

Ritter Coombs went to Northwood for 2 years and is now playing in the top junior league in America, the USHL, or the United States Hockey League. Ritter plays for the Dubuque Fighting Saints out of Iowa, where he hopes to develop his game before attending Providence College to play Division One hockey. “Northwood helped me develop and improve my game greatly in the two years I was there,” Coombs said.

Zonnon in action as a Husky. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.

Bill Zonnon attended Northwood for one year before going to play in the QMJHL, or the Quebec Martimes Junior Hockey League. Zonnon is a highly ranked prospect, projected in the top three rounds as of right now. Zonnon is 3^rd in the whole QMJHL right now for top scorers in the league and is getting lots of looks because of that.

All three of these players had a huge impact on Northwood, and Northwood played a huge role in their hockey careers. They are making Northwood proud, and we hope to see them succeed in the future.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, People, Sports, Top Story

Humans of Northwood: Cash Lawrence ’25

January 14, 2025 by Michael Peluso

“I think I have grown like 8 inches since I got here, but I’ve changed so much mentally, too. I became so much more responsible and mature, and I developed my social skills so much since my sophomore year. Northwood made me grow in a way that I really needed, and I’m so thankful for that.

“Once I leave Northwood, I want to play junior hockey somewhere. Playing juniors for a few years will help me achieve a goal I’ve had my whole life: playing college hockey. I also want to stay in touch with all the people I have met at Northwood. The people here have been such a big part of my life, and I don’t want that to change when I leave.

“One quote I live by is from Bugs Bunny: ‘Don’t take life too seriously, you might not get out alive.’ I like this quote because I try to make sure I am having as much fun as possible and really enjoying life, and I think this quote says something similar. Another quote I love is from a teacher here who has had such a great impact on me, Doc Campbell. He says, ‘Be curious, not judgmental,’ and that has been something I have embraced since meeting Doc.”

“In my time at Northwood, I would say the thing I am most proud of is developing into a leader and becoming a person my teammates look up to. Knowing that they trust me and know they can come to me if they need anything is important to me.”

As told to Michael Peluso ’25. Photo provided.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, People

Students Read to and Play with Local Pre-Schoolers

November 5, 2024 by Michael Peluso

Northwood students read to St. Agnes School preschoolers. Photo: Northwood School/Instagram.

St. Agnes is Lake Placid’s only school specializing in early childhood education. For the past few weeks, Northwood School has sent students to read to the young students, play with them, and get to know them. Around 10 Northwood students go each week, which occurs during the students’ off period, so no school is missed. This is a great opportunity for Northwood students to give back to their community.

Northwood plans to interact with the students of St. Agnes all year, as the first few weeks went well. The St. Agnes teachers are very appreciative, and the Northwood students think it is a great experience. The St. Agnes kids love it.

Drew Donatello ’25 has gone both weeks. “It was a great experience to interact with children and remember how I was when I was a kid,” Donatello said. Drew said he got to read “Goodnight Zoo” the first week and he said the kids really seemed to enjoy it. The second week was spent playing on the playground with the kids because of the great weather. Drew said he can’t wait to go back and is happy that he can give back to his community.

Mrs. Leigh Riffle did all the behind-the-scenes work for this. She sent out a form for anyone interested and created a schedule to ensure students didn’t miss any class. Mrs. Riffle said that Northwood hadn’t sent students to St. Agnes since she had been here, and when asked what motivated her to set this up, she said, “I think we get wrapped up in our own world sometimes, and this reminds us that this community is so much bigger than just our school.” Riffle also mentioned that when she was a kid, she remembers looking up to the student-athletes in her hometown and is sure these kids feel the same. The Northwood students who have participated so far seem to have had a great time, which Mrs. Riffle expected. She also mentioned that Northwood students often get overwhelmed with athletics and schoolwork and that a nice break like this is great for them.

As the year goes on, the students of St. Agnes and Northwood will continue to build relationships and get to know each other. Mrs. Riffle plans to create a schedule that will allow Northwood to head over to the Preschool even during Northwood’s change to winter schedule.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, Real World

Survey Shows Hockey Players Prefer Trump; Independent and NAS Prefer Harris

November 2, 2024 by Michael Peluso

Northwood’s AP Statistics and Journalism classes started a combined project a few weeks ago, which aimed to discern the Northwood community’s candidate preferences in the 2024 US Presidential election. The stats class was trying to minimize bias, so they decided the best way to do that was by randomly surveying 25% of each grade at Northwood and 25% of the faculty. A sample size too large lacks independence of the individual data points, whereas one too small doesn’t have a robust enough data set to draw conclusions from. This would be 56 total people surveyed; 45 responded which is just over 80%.

The data came with a margin of error of +/- 13%, which means that the researchers are 95% certain the percentages we found are within 13% of the true percentages. That being said, all of the data and trends that were recognized should be taken with a grain of salt. Despite the small sample size and large margin of error, we were able to find some statistically significant associations between cohort and political preference in a few cases.

In statistics, an association can only be concluded if the “p” value, which is the probability that the event in question happened by chance or random, is less than 0.05, and in the survey, there were only two cohorts that represented some relationship. The surveyed hockey players had a p-value of 0.018 in terms of voting for Donald Trump. If there was no political preference for the Hockey Cohort, there would be a 1.8% chance that we could have gotten data that is skewed by chance alone. There is also a similar association between NAS/independent students at Northwood and a preference for Kamala Harris. This doesn’t mean that every hockey player at Northwood is going to support Donald Trump. Association doesn’t imply causation, which again means that even though there is a trend, that doesn’t mean that someone who is an independent or participates in NAS will vote for Harris.

Snowsports, soccer and faculty showed no real statistical association, but faculty was close, we are 85% sure the faculty prefer Harris but need to be 95% confident to be able to make conclusions. You can click on this link to view all of the data from the survey. The images below also represent political preference by cohort.

The AP Statistics survey of the Northwood community revealed a statistically significant association between students’ hockey participation and their preference for Donald Trump.

They also concluded a statistically significant association between their participation in the NAS/independent cohort and their political preference for Kamala Harris.

While the raw data may lead someone without knowledge of statistics to conclude candidate preferences in other cohorts, researchers cannot conclude that those differences did not occur by chance.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, Real World, Top Story

Jacob Brunton’s ‘25 Pre-Game Ritual

October 22, 2024 by Michael Peluso

Jacob Brunton ’25. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.

This is part of a series of articles about student-athletes’ pre-game rituals. Read them all here.

Jacob Brunton ’25 is a 2^nd-year member of the Northwood Prep hockey team, and he has a unique pregame routine. All the Prep team members would agree his routine is extreme compared to the rest. His routine is consistent but varies depending on where the game is, what time the game is, and other factors.

A full 8 P.M. home game routine starts with waking up 12 hours before game time. From there, Jacob will get dressed and walk into town to the Soulshine Bagel shop to get bacon, egg, and cheese. He then comes to the team stretch and does a light workout. Jacob then tries to get in a 2-hour nap before he walks back into town to go to the rink, sharpen his skates, and grab a coffee from Starbucks before coming back to school. Once back at school, he has his pregame meal of pasta and chicken, then gets in the shower and listens to the same songs as he showers. After getting ready, he will sit in the living room for 40 minutes before the bus picks players up to head to the rink.

Once he gets to the rink, he has another set of superstitions to go through. He can do these things no matter when or where the game is. He gets changed right away from his suit into the undergear that he wears for the game, puts his Northwood shorts on, and has no shoes. He then tapes both of his sticks and puts them blade up in the locker room while the team warms up and he dresses. Once he is in his equipment, he leaves the room 30 minutes before game time and goes through a stretching routine and some meditation.

Brunton as a recent game. Photo provided.

Some days he cannot accomplish all the things he would like to before game time, but he has three things that must happen, no matter what. “My pregame coffee is a must; I usually walk to a nearby Dunkin or Starbucks if we are on the road,” Brunton said. He will settle for a hotel coffee if neither of those is local.

“My second big thing is my stretching routine; I need to make sure my body is in the best shape possible for every game,” he said. His last must is his meditation routine. He believes being in the right head space for a game is the most important way to be prepared.

Brunton said he has been superstitious for a lot of his life, which is where this comes from. “If something is working, why switch it up?” Although he said if he is going through a slump or the team is not winning games, he may change some of the details but will stay consistent with most of his routine.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, People, Sports Tagged With: PreGameRituals

Humans of Northwood: Gavin Carr ‘25

October 15, 2024 by Michael Peluso

“My favorite part of my life so far is being here at Northwood and being a part of such a great community and culture. I worked hard to get here and because of that hard work I was able to put myself in a situation where I can get better every day and surround myself with like-minded people who also strive to get better and smarter every day. I have put myself in a place where I will have opportunities to get to the places I want to be.

“Next year, I want to play junior hockey. I don’t have a specific spot yet, but somewhere that will prepare me to play division one hockey, which is the ultimate end goal. I want to do this for myself, but I also do this for my brother, my family, my loved ones, and the people who care for me and give everything to me.

“I chose Northwood because of the environment, culture, and history that this program and school has built over the years. I’ve also seen great players come out of here and everyone always has awesome stories to tell. It seemed like a great fit for me

“Northwood has already had an unbelievable impact on me in the one year I’ve been here. I’ve made lots of friendships and done things I never thought I would be able to do. I have seen places I didn’t expect to see and experienced a lot of things that many people don’t get to experience.”

As told to Michael Peluso ’25. Photo provided.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, People

Mountain Day Tradition Continues [Slide Show]

October 12, 2024 by Michael Peluso

Photo provided.

Mountain Day has been a tradition at Northwood School for many years. It is a day once a year when every student is assigned to hike one of the 46 high peaks from around the 6-million-acre Adirondack Park. Students have no classes, practices, or workouts, just a day of hiking. For many students, it is their first time hiking a peak, and it will be an experience they remember for the rest of their lives.

Nurse Margaret Maher and Bobby O’Connor, the head of the Northwood Adventure Sports Program organized this day. These two have worked for weeks to make sure this day went smoothly. Ms. Maher said, “Bobby and I met every day of the last week trying to plan,” she added that he was in her office for 3 hours at one point as they worked to put groups together.

Students are put into groups with around 10 total students and 2 faculty as their guides. Some of the peaks that were summited this year include Whiteface Mountain, Mount Marcy, Mount Colden, Algonquin Peak, and many more. These hikes take about 6-8 hours on average and usually require at least 10 miles of hiking and reaching an elevation of at least 4,000 feet.

Ms. Maher also said that one of the goals of Mountain Day is to continue the tradition, but she also said there are bigger reasons behind why Northwood continues to do this. “We want to expose kids to the outdoors who don’t normally get the chance to do that activity because of their sport or maybe where they are from,” Nurse Marge said. The biggest goal of this day, though, is to build and strengthen the community at Northwood. When making the groups, Mr. O’Connor and Ms. Maher made sure to put lots of thought into it. Every group was unique, with kids from all different sports, different areas of the world, and different backgrounds. Climbing up 4,000 feet of elevation is a good time to bond with the kids you may not talk to every day at school.

For many kids, it was their first time completing a hike and observing the nature of the Adirondack Park. Anton Stackow mentioned that it was a great experience for him and something he thinks everyone needs to try at some point in their life. He also said he built relationships with new people and feels much closer to the community at Northwood because of Mountain Day.

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All photos provided by group leaders or members.