SPS 4 - Kent School 3 
Friday, December 19th
Jennings-Fairchild Arena—John T. Gardner Rink
Avon Old Farms Christmas Classic
Avon, Connecticut

In the third game of the Avon Old Farms Christmas Classic, the "Big Red" earned their first win of this year's tournament by defeating the Kent School "Lions" by a score of four - to - one. Fourth Former Jack Bentley '28 led all St. Paul's School skaters by registering two assists, while the "Big Red" had four different goal scorers in this early evening game. Jaden Ficek '26 scored the "Big Red's" first goal of the game four minutes into the contest when he skated by a Kent defender on the weak side of the ice to receive a pass from fellow Sixth Former, captain Harry Dermody. Then, when Ficek was all alone on the Kent goaltender, he shifted to his backhand to deposit the puck inside the left post. Kent quickly responded with a goal of their own to tie the game at one goal apiece. With ten minutes left in the first half of play Chay Simons '27 would put St. Paul's School up by a score of two - to - one when he redirected a Jack Bentley shot from the left half board. Several minutes later, Mitchell Smith '27 won a faceoff at the left offensive zone face-off dot cleanly back to Fin Kilbourne '27, who fired the puck through a nice screen set by Max Romano '27 to give the "Big Red" a three - to - one lead. The line of Jai Perry-Pereira '29, Carter Doherty '27, and Jack Bentley struck again for the fourth and final goal of the game when Bentley broke up a Kent transition play along the right side-boards in the Kent defensive zone. Bentley recovered the loose puck and then attacked the net and slid a nice pass to Carter Doherty camped out on the backside for the final goal of the first half and the game.   

In the second twenty-five minutes of play, neither team scored another goal, and both teams lost their ability to execute as precisely as they would have liked due to playing a lot of competitive hockey in a short period of time.   

The St. Paul's School "Big Red" boys varsity hockey team will take on the Loomis Chaffee "Pelicans" tomorrow morning, December 20 at 10:30 in the fifth/sixth place game of the tournament before heading out on the holiday break.