Brunswick’s ice hockey team concluded its regular season and clinched a NEPSAC Elite 8 Tournament playoff spot with a 4-1 win at Trinity-Pawling School on Friday night. 

The Bruins learned today that they qualified to compete in the Elite 8 Tournament. Brunswick has secured the No. 5 seed in the Elite 8 Tournament – the program’s highest-ever regular-season ranking – and will travel to No. 4 seed Noble and Greenough School in the quarterfinal round on Wednesday. Game time is TBA.

“Unlike in 2015-16, when the Bruins last appeared in the Elite 8, ‘Wick will not just be a happy-to-here participant and believes it can do some real damage in this tournament,” Brunswick coach Mike Kennedy noted.

Against Trinity-Pawling on Friday, the Bruins scored one goal in the first period, added one goal in the second and two in the third. The last goal was an empty-netter, which sealed the victory against an always scrappy and physical Pride team. 

Senior alternate captain Eli Friedman registered the first two tallies and juniors Brendan Giles and Sean Gibbons recorded goals in the final frame to conclude the matchup’s scoring. 

“But the story of this one was senior co-captain Brendan Holahan, who made at least five or six highlight-reel saves to keep T-P off the board until they finally broke through with three minutes to play and the goalie pulled,” Brunswick coach Mike Kennedy noted. “A few came on an extended 5-on-3 advantage for the Pride in the second, when the lead was just two for the Bruins.”

Brunswick certainly enters the postseason on a winning note. The Bruins are riding a nine-game winning streak and sport a record of 20-9 heading into postseason tournament play.